The Refugees Who Saved Lewiston

I have grown up in lewiston and still live in lewiston.
Thats the truth and from the perpective of a dirty lew born and raised resident this is my opinions,
Crack cooked in every neighborhood heroin distributed by "thugs" and kids alike , fiends in the parks lighting up there pipes, go down on lisbon street all it is, is porn shop sex shop head shop tattoo shop bar and bar and bar Liqour store pawn shops and plenty bodegas then you get to the court. NOT only that take a stroll threw the LEW, look at some one for a while he probly will come up to you and *** with you, Drugs every where pot smokin crack smoke dope and all that open and inside , you can find hookers for anthing from a 100 bucks every twenty minuttes to less then that even, churches are know heritage places, and the churchs left is a mosque and a few old ppl hang outs. THATS REAL, The whites somali and blacks, do all the smae *** nothing makes it better it just gets worst, cops are bad out here they never show up and if they do they cause more problems half the time, there some streets around here were if you got nice shoes, they will get took, These refugees havent saved us.... nothing! saved us and i got somali freinds but on some real, LEwiston saved them we give food stamps and welfare cheaks for no reason, go to tall pines or knox st or any neighbor hood in lewiston half these mother *** arnt workin but drive real nice rides, I ride the bus to work. Thats lewiston, and then we have the retarded white power asses, nuff said bout them,. thats the real lewiston. BATES COLLEGE AND ALL THAT , they can keep there rich asses there, because to me there not in lewiston.

I live out of state, however, I was born and raised in Maine. My family still lives there. I can't believe that the federal government in concert with Catholic Charities of Maine would bring these people to Maine. It does nothing positive for the economy like some of these comments state. The liberal elected officials give them welfare and send their children to college free, while the good hard working residents have to apply for loans etc. Why not bring the entire country over? We seem to be a nation of do-gooders who are afraid to give their real opinion of things

Mr. Chip Morrison, the Chamber of Commerce President states, ""Young people didn't want to go to a place that's all white." That's why Maine was all white, they didn't want to go to a place that's all black, like Somalia, you nitwit.

Why don't you encourage local population growth with stimulus money? Your comments sound like a "Hate Whitey" speech.

David so just because we are north of Portland we are judgmental of "outsiders"? So, the 2nd largest city in Maine and the second largest metro area in Maine which holds the Great Falls balloon festival which 100,000 "outsiders" come to, the FrancoFun festival which people come all over the country and Canada, and there is also the MaineIACS where fans come from again all over New England and Canada to come watch is judgemenal? You can't really be serious. The thing that has everyone pissed off bout this article is the fact that it's inaccurate and one-sided. If you read quite of few of the response you would see proof that while they had some impact not ALL of it is good and to say that it was them and not the hardworking people in the L/A area who since the early 90's have been working on improving this area. As, was posted by students at Bates who did research for Maine/Lewiston over 50% of them live off of welfare. How is that reviving Lewiston? As, for the shops helping Lewiston are we talking about the 3-4 shops that at one point that had "no whites" in the front windows? That's reviving this city? Oh and do you also mean that boost in crime since Somalians arrived (not saying all of it was just the Somalis, but it's not just a coincidence)? That's helping revive this city? Lastly, the enrollment in college, you know how easy it is to enroll in Andover one of my friends works in the enrollment in that place everyone is obviously gonna go there before CMCC, USM L/A campus, UMA L/A campus or Bates College. Not only that, but it's pretty cheap to go to school there then any of those listed previously. Now you can call me judgemental or racist, feel free. I know not all Somalians are "bad" people. The only reason I bring up the bad is that fact that this article is spitting in the face of the people who have worked to help better this city LONG before the Somalians even came. I know quite a few Somalians, one whom is as much my brother as my blood brothers. Hell even my lil cousin is part Somalian. I know some of them are helping to benefit this community, but to say that it was JUST them who revived the city is just absurd. Apparently, this article/journalist and the rest of the world forgot about the 33,000+ people who have been here threw thick and thin working hard to "revive" this city.

I too am a live long resident and continue to reside in Lewiston as well as pay taxes to the city of Lewiston. Although the Somali community may have played a "part" in the re-birth, this article is far from the truth. Catholic charities appeal was the direct reason the the Somali's came to Maine and Lewiston in particular. Unfortunately the influx of the Somali move was due to the ease of attaining welfare here in the State of Maine and hence the word spread. I have no objection to anyone wanting to live whereever they should choose but welfare should not be the primary reason. This is not just a Somali issue but one that has plagued the state of Maine for many years and it always seems that those who truly are in need cannot qualify for the help they should have, but for those who know how to play the system it works every time. The rebirth of Lewiston is not due to the Somali move but to the hard working citizens of Lewiston / Auburn. This journalist should have written the article which included all of the information he was given and not on his biased opinion. Lewiston is a great city in which to live and raise a family with all of our ethnic diversity. Thank God that those of us who live here really know the truth!

I have lived in Lewiston from 1977 to 1993. In 1993 I moved to Auburn across the river. The plans and actions to improve Lewiston had been under way long before the Somali moved here. We lost the mills but we still have Geiger Bros., Phillips Element, Dingily Press, Penn More Lithography, Country Kitchen, Federal Distributors, Central Distributors, and other businesses that took up the slack and kept the good people of Lewiston working. When down town lost it's stores to the local malls, Accountants, banks, and lawyers offices replaced the stores.
That the Somali are taking part in Lewistons rebirth; I'll give them that. Just remember those of us that did not give up on our town, and worked hard to keep it alive. It takes more than just one group of people to keep a town alive. Every one has to work hard and dream. Dream of a town that we can be proud of.

What the f***c are you talking about ? are you in pain or in sane ?

The UK banned Geert Wilders but have no problem admitting to the United Kingdom the likes of Dr Ijaz Mian, who preached as follows at the Ahl-e-Hadith mosque in Derby and recorded for a television documentary,UNDERCOVER MOSQUE:

'You cannot accept the rule of the kaffir. We have to rule ourselves and we have to rule the others... King, Queen, House of Commons: if you accept it, you are a part of it. If you don't accept it, you have to dismantle it. So you being a Muslim, you have to fix a target. From that White House to this Black House, we know we have to dismantle it. Muslims must grow in strength, then take over... You are in a situation in which you have to live like a state-within-a-state - until you take over.'

Stand Up Or Be Stood On.

ok

Hey guys gues what? I got free Car it is a brand new Van and gues who gave me (LOL). And also they gave a brand new house for free you guys soo generous tahnk you for the free car. Is this children story book? That somali free car please tell if you know the location so i can get me free car.

i think what we seem to owe mario is a trip back his beloved african tribe

LESSON 2 OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH COMINGUP SOON1!!!!

Whether White people like it or lump it, get it or don't, people of color are owed a whole lot more by this society than one month of reflection a year. The hard work and creativity of people of color are evidenced everywhere you look in this country and they have at no point been invited to fully participate in the benefits they made possible for White citizens who have, in fact, paid far less dearly for what they have always expected to receive, accumulate, and enjoy. African-Americans are not even allowed full citizenship in their own country. That's apartheid, just like South Africa had.

I'm always fascinated by the way some folks say this nation demonstrates its godlessness by not having prayer in school. I think it demonstrates its godlessness by brutalizing people of color (all over the world) for money right up to the present and pretending it's not happening. Until that's understood, we better keep right on having Black History Month. If knowledge is power, then there's a whole lot of White folks in this country in dire straits because they don't know their asses from a hole in the ground.
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Another argument I sometimes hear for doing away with the practice of honoring our African-American heritage as a crucial part of our national history and focusing appropriately on White participation in the oppression of people of color is that Black History Month somehow keeps the problem of race relations in this country all "stirred up" instead of "letting" us all learn to "love" each other (as Christian doctrine teaches).

In reality, Christianity as an organized religion has participated in the process of oppression against people of color since it helped to invent the concept of "race." There are and have always been some Christians who are committed to fighting injustice and oppression, but most church-goers who look like me just talk about love and being "one in Christ." While the family in the pew next to them might be African-Americans, they're basically being given positions as honorary White people for church-going purposes only. Let them wake up on Monday morning with a taste for parity in the job market and watch what happens--and who doesn't want to get involved with "that sort of thing."

Race, as I so often say and write, was socially-constructed about five hundred years ago and there are those who call for brushing it aside as a concept now. Unfortunately, however, despite the category of "race" being a fabrication, rampant racism and, in fact, institutionalized oppression against all people of color and women are still fully functional throughout the society we live in. Because of this, we have no choice but to continue the practice of trying to give Truth a word in edgewise.

Some folks suggest that observing Black History Month keeps us stuck in the past. They apparently imagine that two hundred fifty years of slavery was the only oppression ever perpetrated against African-Americans when that's far from the case. Historical oppression is still taking a toll because it made White society rich at the expense of people of color and that huge foundation creating and bank-rolling the White power structure has yet to be addressed. But even so, statistical data clearly documents that full-tilt discrimination against people of color and most particularly African-Americans is as United Statian as apple pie right now.

LITTLE HISTORY SINCE ITS FEBRUARY AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS "BLACK HISTORY MONTH"
The reason we have Black History Month is because we don't typically have history taught as it actually occurred. In essence, we have White History Month all year round. What we should be doing is having True History taught all the time, but we're nowhere near this happening at this point since White Supremacy is still the default position in this country. So-called Black History Month is a knee-jerk concession to the fact that we don't intend to change the way we teach history in general because it makes White people look as if they're the only ones important enough to study seriously--when they're not.

What makes you think the world is perfect now cojr? We don't see things eye to eye. Why don't you come out of your little perfect world and see what i see. Because you can't you refuse to see the reallity.