Abdi Nor Iftin is a reporter and the author of “Call Me American,” a memoir of his immigration to the United States. Growing up in Mogadishu, Somalia, Iftin learned English by watching action movies. When U.S. Marines landed in the 1990s to get involved in the civil conflict, Iftin felt it was an arrival of real-life action heroes and grew fascinated with American culture. Sporting hip-hop clothes and dance moves, he became known as “Abdi American.”
In 2006, as conflict again emerged in Somalia, Iftin risked his life posting secret dispatches to NPR. He eventually fled to Nairobi, Kenya as he became a target. In an eventual stroke of luck, he won entrance to the U.S. in the annual visa lottery, though his route to America—which was documented on the radio show This American Life—did not come easily.
Iftin is now a US citizen. His naturalization ceremony took place in Portland on Jan. 17, 2019. He lives in Yarmouth and writes a regular column for the Forecaster. He is also working on a documentary about his life story.
Iftin was interviewed by Portland Press Herald reporter Eric Russell.
Daniel and Marcia Minter are a Portland power couple in the arts, advertising, culture and history scenes. In 2019 they co-founded the Indigo Arts Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to the creative cultivation of artists of African descent.
Daniel Minter is an internationally exhibited artist, visual storyteller and illustrator. His artwork reflects abiding themes of displacement and diaspora, ordinary and extraordinary blackness, spirituality in the Afro-Atlantic world, and the creation and recreation of meanings of home. He has illustrated over a dozen children’s books, was twice commissioned to create stamps for the U.S. Postal Service and co-founded the Portland Freedom Trail. He teaches at the Maine College of Art.
Marcia Minter is a seasoned creative professional who has spent her career as an executive creative director for some of the world’s most iconic brands, including an extended time as Vice President Creative Director with L.L. Bean. Marcia is a dedicated arts advocate and community leader, deeply committed to social and cultural activism. Currently she serves on the Maine Arts Commission, the Board of Directors for Maine Media Workshops and College and Portland Ovations and is a Trustee of the Portland Museum of Art.
Video of this conversation is available at: https://youtu.be/41-jsuE7CoY
Meir lived in space for 205 days on the International Space Station. She conducted three spacewalks with crewmate Christina Koch of NASA, for a total of 21 hours and 44 minutes outside of the ISS. Meir has a Ph.D. in marine biology.
She contributed to hundreds of experiments in biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development while onboard the orbiting laboratory.
This interview was recorded in June 2020. Video is available at: https://youtu.be/swiDaA2jy1w
Timothy Simons grew up in Readfield and attended University of Maine in Orono, where he discovered his love of acting. He then worked in the Chicago theater scene before moving to Los Angeles. In just a few years, he landed his breakout role on HBO’s “Veep,” starring as the lovingly hated Jonah Ryan alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tony Hale. Now, Simons has amassed nearly two dozen film and television credits, including the limited series “Looking for Alaska” on Hulu, “The Hustle” opposite Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway and voicing characters for “Robot Chicken,” “Big Hero 6: The Series” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet.” He is currently developing his own comedy for HBO, about a man who runs an assisted suicide business.