Welcoming a New American Into Our Nation. So Proud of Abdi Hirabi For All He's Accomplished. #AmericanDream

Abdinoor was a research participant who quickly was brought into my CNY family and became a young man that I knew I was committed to for life. Yesterday, Abdi was sworn in as an American citizen and I couldn't be more proud of being part of the ceremony of his naturalization at Onondaga Community College. I feel fortunate that I was in Syracuse on the date for this event and that I could be there with him to celebrate.

Abdi arrived to CNY in 2006 and I met him at Nottingham High School. Since meeting him and working with him in Writing Our Lives, at the Somali Community Center, and in his English classrooms in Syracuse, he quickly became an adopted son and a young man I will look out for as long as I'm alive.

Yesterday's naturalization was a humbling experience. Over 86 individuals took an oath to the United States and, at least in the case of Abdi, renounced the histories of civil wars, violence, refugee camps, and hatred in their home nations. He is a new father, too, and so his commitment to American democracy means that much more to me.

Times are what they are in terms of global politics and those of us who live in privilege as a result of the greatest civilization in human history sometimes forget what life is like in other nations. Recent refugee plight has caused reason for concern in regard to American and European safety and I understand some of the reservation that comes from the controversy. All one needs to do is watch the nightly news to realize that we live in conflicted time and in the shadow of terror.

This, however, is not the case for the individuals sworn in yesterday. A large majority of the new Americans are already enlisted into the armed forces and they stand as testimony to the ideal of American democracy. Yes, caution is a necessity, but when the United States looks to the 60 million people displaced as refugees, we have to return to the core of what our nation stands for.

I have been working with relocated individuals since 2000, and I attest that their influence on my life has been monumental. The backlash towards refugees with the amount of hatred I've seen posted on social media is alarming and harsh. There are some who may relocate with mischievous intentions, but the vast majority are from nations where safety, security, and opportunity were eradicated. These are people who have been forced to live in total fear for their lives.

I, for one, stand in solidarity with those who struggle to simply have a place on earth to live with a peace of mind. I believe that love prevails and that the union of like-minded, caring individuals can conquer such hatred...this hatred includes the venom being spit by my fellow-Americans and their anti-refugee backlash. Learn history. Understand global politics. Check privileges. And act. Just because we live as we do does not mean others have the same - our world is propped up by a world of corruption, inequity, colonial practices, and violence.

Attending a naturalization ceremony was a life-changing experience and anyone who questions what America stands for should attend such an event. Only 1% of those living in fear of their lives are granted asylum. A majority continues to live in squalid conditions with limited hope for their future.

We live The Hunger Games. We cannot forget this and, as always, we must be in touch with our humanity. This I learned from young men like Abdi.