One of our responsibilities, as people who provide books to community members, is to be sure there is a diversity of material content – so everyone can see themselves and everyone can see some new voices and perspectives. So, it’s wonderful to see good books coming from St Cloud’s Diverse Voices Press!

Check out this excerpt below, and you can read the whole article right here.

“Abdi Mahad and his wife Hudda Ibrahim founded the company during the pandemic after seeing a lack of representation for Somali children in the books children read.

“There was a gap in literature, especially children’s books,” Abdi said. “We need just to close that kind of gap.”

Abdi said the idea came from his time teaching English to a group of Somalis who asked if he could provide books in Somali or with Somali characters. Many of the students left Somalia at an early age and had no real connection to their native language and culture in America, according to Abdi.

Hudda said the need isn’t specific to the Somali community but can be seen in other immigrant communities.

“We created Diverse Voices to basically elevate and empower multicultural and multilingual identities,” Hudda said.

Hudda and Abdi have a background in education. Hudda is pursuing a doctorate in Education and Leadership, and is a faculty member at St. Cloud Technical and Community College, where she teaches diversity and social justice. Abdi has a master’s degree from St. Cloud State, where he studied applied linguistics and curriculum design. He was born in Somalia and moved to the United States when he was 14.

The majority of the books published by the couple’s company have been children’s books. Along with representing their cultures in the texts, Hudda said the other goal is to grow children’s aspirations.

Books like “Lula Wants to Wear a Badge,” written by Hudda about a Black Muslim girl wanting to be a police officer, help introduce children to nontypical career fields given their backgrounds.”

You can read the whole article right here.