When freshman Mushtakh Mohammed thinks about the community, she wants to help make it a better place for the people of African heritage, which is why she wrote letters to congresswoman Peggy Flanagan.

“Our goal is to make a better place for future Somalis, future black people and future Muslims,” Mohammed said. “We want to make them feel welcome, because not a lot of people are welcome in this country.”

According to her website, Peggy Flanagan served in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2015, and is the first Native American woman to address a convention of a major political party. Flanagan works to fight for raising minimum wage, worked for education and helps Native American families.

Eastern African Association advisor Chris Weaver said he wanted the club to write letters to Flanagan because he knows Park has connections with her.

“I picked her because I know she’s connected to our school. She graduated here, taught here and worked here,” Weaver said. “It’s good to ask somebody in a higher position that’s connected to you for help, and I know she wants to be an advocate (for us).”

Mohammed said she believes in Flanagan to help the community come together after all of the difficulties.

“The congresswoman wants to do something (for us),” Mohammed said. “We see hope in her.”

Weaver said the club members voicing their opinions in a helpful and constructive way was his main focus.

“The goal was to participate. I wanted to be able to give the kids the ability to use their voice in another way other than going out and protesting,” Weaver said.

Weaver said there’s nothing wrong with protesting on the streets, but there are other ways to express frustrations regarding problems.

“The more we can let people process what’s going on in a constructive way the less anxiety there is around issues,” Weaver said. “If you do nothing, nothing will happen.”

The Eastern African Association meets every other Tuesday in room C350 during various school periods.