By Ray Glier | OZY

Bethlehem Fleming, a native of Ethiopia, has carried around for almost three years President Donald Trump’s vulgar denouncement of African nations as “shithole countries.” It enraged her, but not as much as the president’s scornful sequel from the Oval Office on Oct. 23, when Trump said Egypt might just have to bomb Ethiopia’s $4.6 billion Blue Nile Dam to settle a water dispute.

In less than a year, Oballa Oballa became a U.S. citizen, welcomed his daughter into the world, and won a seat on the Austin City Council. He expects to graduate in December with a four-year college degree.Written

By Jordan Shearer | Post Bulletin

By Salem Solomon | Voice of America

He grew up in the Gambella region of Ethiopia, where he witnessed mass killings that took the life of his uncle and hundreds of others. He survived a two-week trek across treacherous terrain to reach a refugee camp in Kenya. He spent 10 years in camps where he often didn’t have enough to eat. Now he has been elected to the City Council of his adopted hometown of Austin, Minnesota. He is the first refugee, first immigrant and first person of color to serve on the council. He said he never doubted he’d reach this destination.

By JOEY PETERS | SAHAN JOURNAL

Oballa Oballa, a former refugee from Ethiopia who became a naturalized citizen less than one year ago, made history this election by winning a city council seat in the southeast Minnesota city of Austin. 

By Samuel Getachew | The Reporter

Two Americans with roots in Ethiopia have become a City Councilor and a State Senator, achieving an Ethiopian–American political milestone. Oballa Oballa was elected to a council seat in Austin, Minnesota, and Samra Brouk was declared a winner in New York as a State Senator.