Why so many Somali Americans celebrate their birthdays on New Year’s Day
Mahamed Cali is executive director of KALY 101.7, a Somali community radio station based in South Minneapolis. He is one of thousands of immigrants in Minnesota whose official birthdays are Jan. 1. Cali celebrates this by playing Somali birthday songs on KALY 101.7 each New Year's Day.
Courtesy of Mahamed Cali
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To some people, the new year is an opportunity to start a new chapter or hang a new calendar. To others, it’s just another day when rent is due. For many Somali Americans, New Year’s Day is also their birthday.
Somali refugees and other immigrant communities did not always have records of their birth date when they moved to the U.S. Some lost records while fleeing war in their home country and others never had a reason to track their age to the exact day. When filling out paperwork to resettle in the U.S., many immigrants chose or were assigned Jan. 1 as their birthday.
According to a 2013 Minnesota Law Review report, more than 200,000 immigrants and refugees in the U.S. have Jan. 1 as their date of birth.
Mahamed Cali, executive director of the Somali community radio station KALY 101.7, joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about what the day means to immigrants in Minnesota.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: To some people, the new year is an opportunity to start a new chapter, hang a new calendar, or just another day when the rent is due. For many Somali Americans, New Year's Day is also their birthday.
There's data to back this up, plus social media jokes posted every year around this time, like this video.
MAN 1: New Year's, January 1. It's the Somali homie's birthday. You already know it's going down.
MAN 2: Hey, it's my birthday!
MAN 3: It's my birthday too!
[CHEERING]
MAN 2: It's my birthday!
[CHEERING]
NINA MOINI: Well, the reason for this is that Somali refugees and other immigrant communities as well, did not always have records of their birth date when they moved to the US. Some lost records while fleeing war in their home countries.
Others never had a reason to track their age to an exact day. So when they filled out paperwork to resettle here, many immigrants either chose or were assigned January 1. So joining me now to talk about this is Mahamed Cali.
He's executive director of KALY 101.7. It's a community radio station that broadcasts Somali music and information from South Minneapolis. Welcome to the program, Mahamed. Really appreciate you being here.
MAHAMED CALI: Thank you for having me.
NINA MOINI: And I guess happy belated birthday.
MAHAMED CALI: You can say that, yes.
NINA MOINI: And your birthday as well is listed as the 1st.
MAHAMED CALI: That's right. We can say happy birthday and happy New Year too.
NINA MOINI: Sure. Can I ask? Did you do anything to celebrate?
MAHAMED CALI: Oh, sure. Yes, absolutely. As you know, usually we celebrate as a family. We eat together. We come together, have a good dinner, and a little bit seeing each other. So that would be fun.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. And you have eight children, right? So are they really paying attention to you or--
MAHAMED CALI: Oh, absolutely. I mean, I'm a father. And I'm very happy to see-- we live in Minnesota nice. And four of them right now, they graduate in college. And the other three, four they are in high school. We are part of the Minnesota nice. And this is a great place to be in the United States.
NINA MOINI: Oh, that's wonderful. So a celebration January 1. Do you know a lot of other people who have that birthday? Or what is it like on that day?
MAHAMED CALI: Sure. If you go back a little bit, the history about why we have 01/01, if you go back, Somalia, usually Somalia, we used to have only the year. Month and day is not a big deal. For Somalia, it's 1969 to '91. Usually, most of the people about-- they didn't care about the date of birth because government is taking care of everything.
So your passport is only showing the year. Your birth certificate is showing the year. So really, we come new country care about the date of birth and everything. And our kids, as you know, when we land in this country in 1993, almost over 30 years now, our kids, we know they have a different birth day. And their passport, citizenship, everything is shown about the date of birth and hospital and everything.
So really is the history, what we're reading. But as go back to Somali government, we never cared about the date and the months. Usually we used to put everything for the year.
NINA MOINI: Do you mark birthdays in Somalia at all?
MAHAMED CALI: Usually we don't celebrate our birthday like we come this great country. Our people, a lot of them celebrate when it comes to the birthday. But at home, what we celebrate if the girl born or if the man or woman-- the children, when they born, that's the time we celebrate.
And we have very amazing fun bringing all the neighbors and family and relatives. That is our birthday.
NINA MOINI: The real day.
MAHAMED CALI: Real day.
NINA MOINI: That's the original birthday.
MAHAMED CALI: Correct.
NINA MOINI: Why do you think that is? Do you think it has to do with perhaps a more collectivist versus an individualistic type of culture? I feel here, people really love their birthdays.
MAHAMED CALI: They love because every year, you got years added for your time. And really, it is very important to know about the history every year, what you are doing the day you graduate, the day you get married, the day you celebrate your loved one. So really, date is very important to put the record. Yes. You're right.
NINA MOINI: And with your great work at the radio station, I understand you played some birthday songs-- because so many people have birthdays-- on KALY radio for January 1. Let's take a listen to one of them.
[NON-ENGLISH SINGING]
Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you.
NINA MOINI: Oh, I love that.
MAHAMED CALI: Yes.
NINA MOINI: Mahamed, tell me a little bit about this song. Who was it by?
MAHAMED CALI: I think the singer is the lady called Fatima. And it's really a great song when everybody, they have their birthday. That's the song we sing as a family. And it is great to remember. And now we put together, as you know, Somali and English both so the younger generation can see we have a history about when it comes to the birthday and the song to sing.
NINA MOINI: So you've actually been featured in news articles about this idea of the birthday. And do you think it's funny that people want to know about it? And do you feel a certain responsibility as a person working in radio and working with your community to share and learn about different cultures?
MAHAMED CALI: 100%. I think what we did is we did 2020. That's five years ago today. That's what we did similar for our birthday. And it's good to know Minnesota, nice to know about our history, our date of birth. And we want to tell them more about Somali, great Somali, large Somali community growing in the state of Minnesota and all the great and success the community are giving and all the good work we are doing as a citizen.
And I hope people to-- invited them to come to our radio to share with their thoughts, to see what we gone through and how we succeed in part of the great Minnesota. And I used to live in North Carolina. And when I moved here in Minnesota, it's a really big difference.
People don't know about why we're here in Minnesota because Minnesota nice and Minnesota welcome. Minnesota understand about immigrant community. And now we are the part of the Minnesota, any level, city level, state level, and federal level.
And we want to be part of our input and make a difference not only all those bad news but also a lot of good news. We are part of the neighborhood cleaning, be part of the safety, helping them senior, taking care of one another. And come and see how they feel in our South Minneapolis and North Minneapolis and Bloomington and Richfield, all the places we live, how the neighborhood is feeling, living together and making great state.
NINA MOINI: How long have you been at the radio station?
MAHAMED CALI: Almost 10 years right now. We got the FCC first FM radio, 101.7 FM. And it's not only radio. This is saving life. When the COVID come, when the missile broke down, coming out, when every issue come, this is where we speak our own language and understand.
And the other good thing is Somalia right now, Somali government and Somali parliament, they are working on make sure people vote and elected our elected official. Look, we have great country. We part of the great Minnesota. And we hope and a lot of Minnesota will welcome and be respected and stand with us together.
I think in the song saying, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. So together we can make great country.
NINA MOINI: Wonderful. I love that you're doing all that work. It's fun stuff. It's happy birthday, but it's also a lifeline, getting information out, being a resource. That's what it's all about. Before I let you go, though, I do have to know. Did you, on your birthday, slash, New Year's Day, did you make any resolutions?
MAHAMED CALI: Oh, yes. Absolutely.
NINA MOINI: Do you want to share?
MAHAMED CALI: That's a good thing. Absolutely. I think if I share with-- I just want to-- I want to finish my graduation. I did my undergrad, but I want to do also my master's. Right now is a good time to do it.
Also, I want to help-- continue helping the community, helping the loved one. A lot of immigrants coming to this country, they don't have good information. The radio is not only radio, it's a saving life and sharing the information. And we want to thanks for NPR to working with us and helping us and mentoring us to how we can do better in KALY radio.
NINA MOINI: Thank you very much, Mahamed Cali for being with us. And thank you all for listening. That's it for Minnesota Now. Have a great rest of your day and a great weekend. We'll see you back here on Monday.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
There's data to back this up, plus social media jokes posted every year around this time, like this video.
MAN 1: New Year's, January 1. It's the Somali homie's birthday. You already know it's going down.
MAN 2: Hey, it's my birthday!
MAN 3: It's my birthday too!
[CHEERING]
MAN 2: It's my birthday!
[CHEERING]
NINA MOINI: Well, the reason for this is that Somali refugees and other immigrant communities as well, did not always have records of their birth date when they moved to the US. Some lost records while fleeing war in their home countries.
Others never had a reason to track their age to an exact day. So when they filled out paperwork to resettle here, many immigrants either chose or were assigned January 1. So joining me now to talk about this is Mahamed Cali.
He's executive director of KALY 101.7. It's a community radio station that broadcasts Somali music and information from South Minneapolis. Welcome to the program, Mahamed. Really appreciate you being here.
MAHAMED CALI: Thank you for having me.
NINA MOINI: And I guess happy belated birthday.
MAHAMED CALI: You can say that, yes.
NINA MOINI: And your birthday as well is listed as the 1st.
MAHAMED CALI: That's right. We can say happy birthday and happy New Year too.
NINA MOINI: Sure. Can I ask? Did you do anything to celebrate?
MAHAMED CALI: Oh, sure. Yes, absolutely. As you know, usually we celebrate as a family. We eat together. We come together, have a good dinner, and a little bit seeing each other. So that would be fun.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. And you have eight children, right? So are they really paying attention to you or--
MAHAMED CALI: Oh, absolutely. I mean, I'm a father. And I'm very happy to see-- we live in Minnesota nice. And four of them right now, they graduate in college. And the other three, four they are in high school. We are part of the Minnesota nice. And this is a great place to be in the United States.
NINA MOINI: Oh, that's wonderful. So a celebration January 1. Do you know a lot of other people who have that birthday? Or what is it like on that day?
MAHAMED CALI: Sure. If you go back a little bit, the history about why we have 01/01, if you go back, Somalia, usually Somalia, we used to have only the year. Month and day is not a big deal. For Somalia, it's 1969 to '91. Usually, most of the people about-- they didn't care about the date of birth because government is taking care of everything.
So your passport is only showing the year. Your birth certificate is showing the year. So really, we come new country care about the date of birth and everything. And our kids, as you know, when we land in this country in 1993, almost over 30 years now, our kids, we know they have a different birth day. And their passport, citizenship, everything is shown about the date of birth and hospital and everything.
So really is the history, what we're reading. But as go back to Somali government, we never cared about the date and the months. Usually we used to put everything for the year.
NINA MOINI: Do you mark birthdays in Somalia at all?
MAHAMED CALI: Usually we don't celebrate our birthday like we come this great country. Our people, a lot of them celebrate when it comes to the birthday. But at home, what we celebrate if the girl born or if the man or woman-- the children, when they born, that's the time we celebrate.
And we have very amazing fun bringing all the neighbors and family and relatives. That is our birthday.
NINA MOINI: The real day.
MAHAMED CALI: Real day.
NINA MOINI: That's the original birthday.
MAHAMED CALI: Correct.
NINA MOINI: Why do you think that is? Do you think it has to do with perhaps a more collectivist versus an individualistic type of culture? I feel here, people really love their birthdays.
MAHAMED CALI: They love because every year, you got years added for your time. And really, it is very important to know about the history every year, what you are doing the day you graduate, the day you get married, the day you celebrate your loved one. So really, date is very important to put the record. Yes. You're right.
NINA MOINI: And with your great work at the radio station, I understand you played some birthday songs-- because so many people have birthdays-- on KALY radio for January 1. Let's take a listen to one of them.
[NON-ENGLISH SINGING]
Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you.
NINA MOINI: Oh, I love that.
MAHAMED CALI: Yes.
NINA MOINI: Mahamed, tell me a little bit about this song. Who was it by?
MAHAMED CALI: I think the singer is the lady called Fatima. And it's really a great song when everybody, they have their birthday. That's the song we sing as a family. And it is great to remember. And now we put together, as you know, Somali and English both so the younger generation can see we have a history about when it comes to the birthday and the song to sing.
NINA MOINI: So you've actually been featured in news articles about this idea of the birthday. And do you think it's funny that people want to know about it? And do you feel a certain responsibility as a person working in radio and working with your community to share and learn about different cultures?
MAHAMED CALI: 100%. I think what we did is we did 2020. That's five years ago today. That's what we did similar for our birthday. And it's good to know Minnesota, nice to know about our history, our date of birth. And we want to tell them more about Somali, great Somali, large Somali community growing in the state of Minnesota and all the great and success the community are giving and all the good work we are doing as a citizen.
And I hope people to-- invited them to come to our radio to share with their thoughts, to see what we gone through and how we succeed in part of the great Minnesota. And I used to live in North Carolina. And when I moved here in Minnesota, it's a really big difference.
People don't know about why we're here in Minnesota because Minnesota nice and Minnesota welcome. Minnesota understand about immigrant community. And now we are the part of the Minnesota, any level, city level, state level, and federal level.
And we want to be part of our input and make a difference not only all those bad news but also a lot of good news. We are part of the neighborhood cleaning, be part of the safety, helping them senior, taking care of one another. And come and see how they feel in our South Minneapolis and North Minneapolis and Bloomington and Richfield, all the places we live, how the neighborhood is feeling, living together and making great state.
NINA MOINI: How long have you been at the radio station?
MAHAMED CALI: Almost 10 years right now. We got the FCC first FM radio, 101.7 FM. And it's not only radio. This is saving life. When the COVID come, when the missile broke down, coming out, when every issue come, this is where we speak our own language and understand.
And the other good thing is Somalia right now, Somali government and Somali parliament, they are working on make sure people vote and elected our elected official. Look, we have great country. We part of the great Minnesota. And we hope and a lot of Minnesota will welcome and be respected and stand with us together.
I think in the song saying, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. So together we can make great country.
NINA MOINI: Wonderful. I love that you're doing all that work. It's fun stuff. It's happy birthday, but it's also a lifeline, getting information out, being a resource. That's what it's all about. Before I let you go, though, I do have to know. Did you, on your birthday, slash, New Year's Day, did you make any resolutions?
MAHAMED CALI: Oh, yes. Absolutely.
NINA MOINI: Do you want to share?
MAHAMED CALI: That's a good thing. Absolutely. I think if I share with-- I just want to-- I want to finish my graduation. I did my undergrad, but I want to do also my master's. Right now is a good time to do it.
Also, I want to help-- continue helping the community, helping the loved one. A lot of immigrants coming to this country, they don't have good information. The radio is not only radio, it's a saving life and sharing the information. And we want to thanks for NPR to working with us and helping us and mentoring us to how we can do better in KALY radio.
NINA MOINI: Thank you very much, Mahamed Cali for being with us. And thank you all for listening. That's it for Minnesota Now. Have a great rest of your day and a great weekend. We'll see you back here on Monday.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
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