Building and Bridging

Presents

Building and Bridging Communities

African Immigration In The Nations Capital

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Introduction

Whether characterized as American Africans, African transnationals, African newcomers, hyphenated African-Americans, or Africans of the new Diaspora, new communities of recent African immigrants have emerged in the United States since the mid-1960s, joining older African American populations in several U.S. urban centers. One hundred fifty years ago, communities of Lusaphone immigrants from the Cape Verde islands, off the West African coast, came to the United States in whaling boats and settled in New England where they played a large role in building the cranberry industry. Later, beginning in the 1960s with the post African colonial era, communities of Africans residing in the United States have taken their places within the multi-cultural landscape of the nation. The constituents of this new African Diaspora in the United States come from all regions of the African continent. According to figures available from the U.S. Census Bureau, the overall African-born population of the United States in 2000 was 881,300. Of those, 10.58% or 93,271 African born immigrants reside in Washington D.C.

Building

African newcomers to the United States include those who consider their residence as temporary and plan to return to live in their countries of origin at a later date. Many actively move between residences on the African and North American continents. Some have chosen to reside permanently in the United States, but still find it important to teach their children everything they need to know to maintain ties with relatives in Africa, if only during brief visits "home." Researchers have found, in speaking to African-born residents of the United States some of the same issues and concerns kept coming up. These concerns included: (1) the social, emotional, and economic need to maintain connection with people and things from home in order to survive in America; (2) the need to pass on to children of African-born parents growing up in the United States, a sense of cultural grounding in the key values, beliefs, and knowledge that will enable them to have smooth social relations in the home of their parents as the children learned to function in American society; (3) the wish for Americans to have more balanced and informed representations of Africa and Africans; and (4) the desire for more dialogue and closer relationships with other Americans, especially those of African descent with whom they invariably felt strong historical and cultural links.

Bridging

A few generations ago, many African Americans moved from the rural South to northern cities, building new communities while maintaining ties with those back home. Africans of a new Diaspora have followed a similar pattern, fashioning lives in America while extending support to their families across the ocean. They contribute to America's cultural landscape new energies and institutions, new goods and services, and new forms of culture and art. There seems to be a gradual bridging between continental African, African American and Caribbean communities in Washington D.C., who share experiences of immigration and cultural accommodation as well as transnational interests. They also share an identity based on African ancestry and a history of struggles for freedom. African immigrant, Caribbean, and African American communities often share this consciousness which creates a concomitant sense of solidarity.