I sat down with Maimouna Dieye, program manager at African Communities Together (ACT), earlier this week to hear her thoughts on my historical research project on African migration into Harlem. At ACT, Maimouna works on the organization’s language access and hair braiding initiatives within the African community. She leads the language access program which recruits members of the community to serve as legal interpreters for Africans who speak a diverse set of languages including French, Wolof, and Arabic. She is also in charge of ACT’s hair braiding initiative in which she meets with braiders to investigate the issues they face as business owners and beauticians, and to present those findings to legislators for policy changes.
I briefed Maimouna on the overall research project titled, “In One Place: A History of Intergenerational and Informal Social Institutions of Harlem’s African Diaspora,” and described both its historical research and oral history components. I explained the ultimate goal of the project, which is to elevate the stories and histories of African immigrants and intergenerational African Americans within the realm of Harlem. I wanted to get a sense of the influence she felt this project would have on ACT members and the broader Harlem community. She expressed its impact in relation to her community of interpreters and hair braiders. For the latter, she felt this project would show that hair braiding is a part of Harlem and its history—that it has been in the community for a while and “makes Harlem.” In terms of the influence on the community of interpreters, Maimouna sees this project as illuminating Harlem as a hub of rich and diverse languages. Africans have been living in Harlem for a long time, and Maimouna believes that people should know how the presence of their diverse languages has shaped the neighborhood landscape.
We also discussed the impact that this project would have on ACT members and the African immigrant community. She believed that this research would instill a sense of pride among Africans, such that they will start seeing themselves as part of the fabric of Harlem life. When community members begin learning about the history of Africans who have been living in Harlem prior to the recent wave of migration, they too will feel a sense of ownership of that space. As Maimouna related, people will boldly state that “this is my place,” in reaction to sentiments that African immigrants are somewhat alien to Harlem.
Maimouna sees that sense of pride rooted in knowing one’s history. She recalled some of the major African leaders who had come to Harlem in the early 20th century: “most people don’t know about that history.” She believes that if they did, Africans would feel much more emboldened to claim Harlem as their space alongside other community members. Maimouna herself has been living in Harlem for eleven years and is just beginning to learn more about the history of the neighborhood in relation to her African heritage. She professed that in doing so, she falls more in love with Harlem and its history; “we only talk about slavery, but there were Africans who came here on their own and established great things.” She hopes that this project will elevate those stories as well.
I too hope that this project will illuminate both the visible and invisible histories of the African diaspora in Harlem. It was gratifying to hear the positive feedback and excitement that an African community member had about this project, and the tangible benefits they see it having within their community. I do wish that this project instills a sense of pride within this community as people learn more about their distinct histories. Beyond that, my greatest hope is that African immigrants begin to see the parallels between their histories and that of black New Yorkers who came before them—to see how the legacy of slaves and other black migrants within Harlem shape their experiences of what they know as the “black mecca” today. I hope that folks in the African community use this project to reflect on the ways in which their past and current struggles are aligned with those of multigenerational African Americans. For example, I see African immigrants using this research to explore how their independence struggles in colonial Africa influenced the civil rights movement in the US and vice versa; or examining how their current efforts of empowerment mirror those of the new Negro movement. Overall, I hope this project will inject the pride within the African immigrant community that Maimouna wished for, while also expanding its understanding of its histories as they relate to that of multigenerational African Americans.
You’ve learned so much about your topic in such a short period of time and there are bits of this interview with Maimouna that really show it. Being able to see the transatlantic histories of the battle for civil rights, as well as the many iterations of “Black is Beautiful” that have emerged over time in Africa and the U.S., helps you emphasize the shared experience of these populations. There is specificity in these experiences, of course, and the traumas, triumphs, and battles experienced by different communities of the African diaspora are unique. But, through this project, it seems that Maimouna shares your belief that recognizing the rhymes of these histories can help build greater solidarity in Harlem. I actually think the moment you tell someone something they don’t know about their own history — whether it’s the history of where they live, a moment of dissonance from the given narrative, or a history of their own families — you open up some potential for changed perspective and conversation. This work seems to be inspiring Maimouna and, hopefully, that will translate to others in Harlem!