Africans in Harlem: An Untold New York Story by Boukary Sawadogo (review)

Reviewed by: Africans in Harlem: An Untold New York Story by Boukary Sawadogo Abou-Bakar Mamah (bio) BOUKARY SAWADOGO, Africans in Harlem: An Untold New York Story, Empire State Editions, 2022. xiv + 224 pp. ISBN 9780823299126 In Africans in Harlem: An Untold New York Story, Boukary Sawadogo casts new light on the modern-day Africans in Harlem and their complex relationship with their predecessors and historical legacy. Many works have focused on the history and contributions of African Americans and left out Blacks who arrived in New York directly from Africa after the abolition of slavery. Africans from various nationalities are present in Harlem, adding to its ever-changing demographics and social landscape. So "Even though African communities are visibly present, they are not always part of the Harlem narrative" (13). While there are well-known community clusters around the city of New York, such as Chinatown and Little Italy, there are also African-based communities, such as Little Egypt (55), Little Senegal (70), and Burkina Land (73), that miss the spotlight of the narrative about the tapestry of cultural and economic dynamics of the neighborhood. As a scholar in the fields of cinema, literature, and Black studies, Boukary Sawadogo takes an interdisciplinary approach to reveal the Untold New York Story: "I have written this book to rectify that absence of Africa from the Harlem narrative while also addressing the intellectual, artistic, and creative exchanges between Africa and New York dating back to the 1910s, a story that has not been told in its full form" (12). From a historical perspective, Sawadogo went back as far as 1613 to show that the "free Black named Juan Rodriguez is considered the first known non-indigenous settler of Manhattan Island" (16). This premise is the basis for demonstrating the historicity of the Blacks in Harlem and all the ideological, cultural, social, economic, and political transformations of their presence throughout the centuries. On the one hand, the book celebrates the success of African Americans and their historical attachment to Harlem. On the other hand, it acknowledges the arrival of a new wave of African immigrants from the 1980s and their increasing influence in all activities. Sawadogo, in his approach, uses all societal indicators that contributed End Page 91 to Harlem's establishment as a haven for African Americans and their cultural and economic heritage. This is illustrated by the presence in the book of iconic figures and social movements that contributed significantly to Blacks' sociopolitical and economic emancipation. The list includes the Harlem Renaissance movement and its poets such as Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen, the writer W. E. B. Du Bois, the activist Marcus Garvey, and other critical social movements like the Black Panther Party. All these historical celebrities, the cultural and economic prosperity resulting from their dynamism and inventiveness, and the gathering and convergence of other Blacks from around the world toward an iconic place as the ideological crucible of Black emancipation confer on Harlem its metaphorical nickname of Black Mecca. Sawadogo starts with the pull and push factors to demonstrate the continuous migratory flow of Blacks to their former stronghold: Harlem in New York City, even though a neighborhood like the Bronx is no less important in welcoming new African immigrants in significant numbers. In the past, Africans from English-speaking countries like Nigeria and Ghana rushed to the United States due to linguistic convenience. However, Sawadogo shows that starting from the 1980s, this trend shifted in favor of Africans from French-speaking countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, and Togo. Nevertheless, this geographical diversification only strengthens the African community's presence in New York and enhances its cultural enrichment and economic development. Even before the massive immigration of recent decades, prominent African politicians and intellectuals were already visiting New York to meet with African American figures from the literary world and civil society who were fighting for their emancipation through the Civil Rights movement. This political and identity-driven momentum catalyzed African intellectuals' and politicians' rebellion against colonialism and their mobilization in the struggle for independence. Thus, the umbilical cord connecting the two transatlantic activist groups is pan-Africanism, whose key figures include Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Julius...