SE3/EP23: Conversation with Dr. Boukary Sawadogo: Africans in Harlem: An Untold New York Story

Dr. Boukary Sawadogo is an Associate Professor of Cinema Studies and Black Studies at the City College of City University of New York in the department of media and communication arts. Originally from the West African nation of Burkina Faso, he is an academic, author, filmmaker, and African animation film festival founder in Harlem. He has published extensively on African cinema. In 2020, Dr. Sawadogo launched the first animation film festival in the U.S. called Harlem African Animation Festival, devoted to animation films and series from Africa, whereby technology innovations were used to bring traditional African stories to the world. Recent trends of his work concern the new African diaspora—immigrant communities in Harlem—featured in his new book Africans in Harlem: An Untold New York Story (Fordham University Press, 2022). Dr. Buokary Sawadogo and I first met in Harlem at Kente Royal Gallery, owned and managed by Dodji and his wife, Phyllis. Dodji invited me to do traditional African storytelling for the opening night of one of the shows at his gallery. Dr. Sawadogo was among the audience, and he approached me after the story to introduce himself. At the time, Dr. Sawadogo talked about the project he was working on, and he asked if I could do traditional African Storytelling at the event. The event was scheduled to take place at the same time COVID-19 crippled the world, and as a result, the event was canceled. Early in March 2022, I received an email from Dr. Sawadogo about his forthcoming book titled African in Harlem: An Untold New York Story. I immediately sent Dr. Sawadogo an email to ask him to be a guest on the Pánsá Pánsá podcast, and I was grateful when he accepted my invitation. As I indicated during my conversation with Dr. Sawadogo, Harlem has been a manifestation of the black renaissance since the 1920s, which was not only limited to the revival of African American culture in music, dance, and theater but intellectually and political movements. I was interested in this particular subject as many new African immigrants, primarily francophone speakers, have taken home in Harlem. I was also interested in African immigrant businesses in Harlem and illuminating African immigrants' contributions to the development of Harlem economically and culturally. I wanted to know if African immigrants were given the due respect they deserved or recognized for their contribution. Dr. Sawadogo is an associate professor of cinema studies and black studies at City College of New York. Before we dived into his book, we talked about his area of teaching at the college. The discussion led me to ask about his view on African cinema, which includes the authenticity of African cinema and the influence of Europe and the western world on the image we see in African films today. During our discussion, the animation project he launched in 2020 was not left out. In discussing his new to-be-released book, Dr. Sawadogo gave a concise description of the book and the inspiration that led to this book project. What sometimes inspires us to work on a specific project may also encourage self-reflection to gain some clarity on how we see ourselves. We talked about African immigrants' experiences, black identity, and struggles in balancing both worlds. We discussed the tension between African immigrants and African Americans as a thousand-pound gorilla in a room that is often not addressed. African immigrants have contributed to the revitalization of Harlem economically, culturally, and socially, but the positive impacts were hardly recognized. He documented African immigrants' experiences and challenges in Harlem since the 1980s. The book includes the personal stories of a diverse group of African immigrants in Harlem, which is not limited to the traders but the restaurant owner, cab drivers, white collar workers, and immigrants from different works of life. The story of African-born immigrants and their fundamental contribution to Harlem