Building a New Dream: Mohammed Mardah and the Making of West African Community in the Bronx

Authors

Hatoumata Tunkara, Fordham UniversityFollow

Comments

Bronx African American History Project (BAAHP)

BAAHP Undergraduate Assistant, Hatoumata Tunkara

Analytical Essay: Mohammed Mardah Interview

INTERVIEW LINK: https://research.library.fordham.edu/baahp_oralhist/55/

Disciplines

Black History | Oral History | Public History

Abstract

The life of Mohammed Mardah, as demonstrated through his interview, is more than just a personal immigration story. Instead, it is seen as a view into the lived realities of West African migrants in the late twentieth century. His path from a young man looking for opportunity to becoming a community leader symbolizes how African immigrants in the 1980s and ‘90s influenced the Bronx not only by surviving hardship, but also by building networks and institutions that reshaped the cultural and social life of the borough. Mardah’s story enunciates that immigration is not a straight path toward individual success; it is a collective project rooted in obligation, resilience, and the reconstruction of identity in a new world.

Recommended Citation

Tunkara, Hatoumata, "Building a New Dream: Mohammed Mardah and the Making of West African Community in the Bronx" (2025). Occasional Essays. 47.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/baahp_essays/47