Saturday August 15, 2015
Hassan Diis is the East African liaison for the 37th legislative district
Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O'Toole says she's concerned about gang violence among members of the East African community. Investigators believe gangs are involved in some of the recent high profile homicides in the city."Right now we're concerned about a gang feud between two East African gangs," O'Toole said. "And we're dealing with it head on."O'Toole revealed one of two men placed at the scene of the the Donnie Chin murder in the International District is East African.
She points to other recent shootings as well. Three men were shot, one was killed in a drive-by in Federal Way in July. A day later 20-year-old Zakariya Issa was shot walking home in the New Holly neighborhood.
"We're doing a lot of good progress. But we're having this issue of youth violence," said Hassan Diis, the East African liaison for the 37th legislative district.
The struggle with the youth in the community is similar to that of other immigrant groups over the years. A group of young people come to the U.S. with hopes of prosperity, but grapple with language, cultural, and economic barriers.
"We're growing very fast," said Diis. "We're being disadvantaged. We have not been engaged. And those kids feel like it's not for me, it's for them."
But some are making inroads into the civic infrastructure. In June, Seattle Police hired their first civilian liaison for the East African community.
Diis serves a similar role for the 37th legislative district. But with the gains also come setbacks.
He points to the Mayor Ed Murray's crackdown on hookah lounges as an attack on their culture. The backlash was evident at city hall this week.
"He's targeting the wrong thing at the wrong time," said Diis.
Many East Africans see the city's effort to shut down the lounges as a desperate attempt to place blame.
O'Toole insists she's not blaming them for the actions of a few criminals.
"We care about that community. We need to show the vast majority of decent people in that community that we're with them," she said.
The best way to do that would be to provide opportunities and programs offered to other youth in the city, according to Diis.
"We are a community of religion. We love each other as a community but we want to feel like we've been treated right," he said.