New meaning for MLK Day: Immigrant inspired by U.S. example

This new citizen has a unique understanding of the inauguration and Martin Luther King day. DP

By VICTORIA GUAY

Seifu Ragassa, 31, of Gilford, said Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which will be celebrated a day before President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday, has added meaning this year for people of many nationalities and cultures.

Ragassa has lived in the United States for almost 10 years, after being forced to flee Ethiopia due to political persecution.

A former journalist, Seifu said he and other journalists were threatened by the Ethiopian government when they reported on corruption there.

Ragassa was settled in the Lakes Region in 1999, where he became a corrections officer and worked toward earning his citizenship. He is a sergeant with the New Hampshire Department of Corrections-Laconia Facility.

He became a U.S. citizen in 2006, so November was the first presidential election he was able to vote in since leaving his own country.

In Ethopia, Ragassa said elections were often corrupt and citizens were persecuted for voting for a certain party over another.

Ragassa said when the first African-American president takes office, it will be a historic moment for people all over the world.

He said knowing that Obama's father was an immigrant from Kenya gives immigrants hope that their children, if born in the United States, could one day be president.
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