MinnPost: Tour of Africa - Ellison Found Hope But Also Huge Challenges

In one African country, Rep. Keith Ellison witnessed arguments that would have been settled with AK-47s a decade ago be decided by dialogue.

But a bomb exploding amongst soccer fans in Uganda, planted by an out-of-control terrorist group from Somalia, served as a bloody reminder that there remains much to do.

Ellison's tour in Africa over the July 4th recess was arranged under the banner of the House Democracy Partnership Commission, which sends members of Congress to mentor the leaders of developing democracies.

"I am of the mind that Africa is doing way better than it has, and the stereotype of Africa being a place of coups and famine and war is not accurate anymore," Ellison said. "That's not to say these things don't happen, but they don't mark the continent like at one point they used to."

Africa may seem a world away from Minnesota, but the two find themselves connected in many ways. About 25,000 Liberians are now in Minnesota, 1,000 of whom are refugees. The state has been a destination for the so-called "lost boys" of the Sudan region as well as Somali refugees.

This year's tour went to Senegal, Liberia, Kenya and Tanzania. Ellison returned to the states before the tour concluded in Mali.

Ellison is the first Muslim member of Congress, and as such has quickly become a leading voice on issues in the Islamic world in a legislative body where things outside Israel, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan are often overlooked.