My research encompasses over 400 years of African migration into New York and Harlem, so I have had to rely on many sources to get a broader understanding of the multiple histories involved. However, aligning with the African Communities Together (ACT) membership, I am hoping to focus on the recent wave of African migration into the city for past four decades.
During my first week at ACT, I got the chance to read Money Has No Smell, published in 2002 by Paul Stoller, a cultural anthropologist, and professor at West Chester University. His book, an ethnographic study conducted in the 1990s, describes the West African immigrant experience in New York, and in particular, that of West African street vendors in Harlem. In his study, he delves into the trade networks of these merchants as well as how they’ve come to construct community and space in Harlem given the challenges and barriers they face as immigrants.
I was instantly intrigued by this source for many reasons. For one, it provided me with a broader understanding of some of the motives for the migration of African immigrants. My own father is among the generation of migrants that Stoller describes in detail, makes me wonder how many first-generation African immigrants have similar stories. Stoller establishes a theme with these merchants: they immigrate without the intention of staying, with the goal of just doing business, but the reality of the economy and structures in the city, provide them with very few ways of becoming the prosperous businessman they had envisioned they’d be. This brings forth questions I would like to explore in my research. Besides the immigration policy changes in the 60s, why were African migrants coming over in droves, to urban centers like Harlem? What did they expect in coming here and how did their realities compare to their expectations?
Stoller also discusses what it means to be an African immigrant in a predominantly African American context. Many of the merchants were selling their goods to African American customers, so interactions between the two groups were the norm. Yet, Stoller describes how removed the African merchants seemed to be from their community–they did not want to establish roots, because most had no long-term intention of staying. I found these conclusions interesting and want to unpack those findings and explore how things have changed in the twenty years since Stoller conducted his research. I wonder if this distance from the community that Stoller describes relates more to single merchants who have no established families in the city, who believe they have nothing to gain from establishing relationships with those from different communities. Does this change when recent migrants begin to settle down and have their own families–does the distant remain? Are first and second generation Africans fostering relationships with their broader geographic communities and if not, what are the factors at play into those interactions?
I also appreciate Stoller’s description of how West African merchants have forged their own sense of communities and space in Harlem. They formed loose associations, established complex and savvy trading networks and practices, and consistently stood their ground when other city agents tried to undermine their right to exist and thrive in the city. I have seen that legacy of that empowerment continue with organizations like ACT, that are mobilizing African immigrants to recognize their collective power and right to carve out space for themselves in the public arena. I hope to explore the growing collective might of first and second generation Africans.
During the second half of my internship, I hope to use Money Has No Smell, to inform the kind of research I do on recent African migration. Stoller laid the foundation in terms of the various themes and complexities of the African migrant experience, and I hope to expand on them and explore how they have changed over time.
I’m glad Amaha shared this book with you. It sounds like a rich study that can help you frame questions over a shorter period of time (20 years vs. 400!) and develop some hypotheses about how African immigration has changed or stayed the same since the 1990s. You ask good questions that could be refined for the purposes of an oral history interview. For example, you might ask an interview collaborator: “What did you know about New York City before you arrived? What sources did you rely upon to learn about the United States before you arrived? What were your first impressions of New York when you first arrived? What did you know or imagine about African-Americans before you came to the U.S. and how has the changed or stayed the same? And, of course, there is a lot to learn about what we call the “push” factors of emigration, as you point out. It wouldn’t hurt to find a text or two that gives an overview of the continent since its constituent countries earned independence. I’m not suggesting you read the whole text, but it might be good for reference in case you schedule any interviews by the end of the summer.