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Interviewee: Nosagie Ekhator

Interviewer: Steven Payne

Transcription by the Bronx Historical Society

Summary by Serena Velasquez

May 18, 2022

Disciplines

African American Studies | Public History

Abstract

Growing up in New York City and Pennsylvania, in the city and suburbia, Nosagie Ekhator navigated and rotated between two worlds that shaped his frame of reference. Having built community through this experience, whether it be through the shared memories of moving or Nigerian social clubs and conventions, he was able to create an identity of commonality. Although he felt the differences when shifting through both worlds, he was able to find people that understood his experience, as well as understanding his own individuality through food, music, religion, and being one of the only Africans in his public and private schooling in Pennsylvania. However, once he reached public high school, he started attending a predominately African American school, pursuing engineering. Though he appreciated the diversity of his later education, he refused to continue small-town life and wanted to expand his worldly views from his mother and father’s encounters with diversity in the Bronx. His memories from college were a collection of his learning from Kindergarten to high school, an “all-in-one” moment in his life that formed the path to his adulthood.

After obtaining his degree, switching his major to Criminal Justice and getting his Master’s in Information Technology at Penn State, Ekhator was compelled to move back to NYC due to the opportunities it offered and the accessibility of public transport. Living in Harlem with his father, it was easier for him to adjust than it had been when living in Pennsylvania. This necessary change allowed him to grow into the person he is today, compelling him to realize the important impact NYC had on his identity. Being introduced to Greek life through Kappa Alpha Psi (KAP) in high school at his cousin’s wedding prompted this extension of community he had in Pennsylvania when he lived in NYC. Ekhator pledged its Bronx alumni chapter after he graduated, demonstrating how the combination and interests of his youth’s experiences became an extension of what he wished to pursue in his adult life; learning more and more each day and continuing to create communities wherever he resides. Ekhator claims that the Bronx allows him to feel at home once more. Being a part of KAP’s community-based Bronx chapter propels him to consistently give back to his community and become a staple for its achievements. His goal is to continue to grow this community and its outreach throughout the states.

Ekhator continues to be a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, works as a payment analyst at an insurance company, and is on the board of directors for The Bronx Scholarship Committee. He is a prime example of someone who utilizes their life experiences in order to develop communities wherever he is at, and specifically the community that shaped his childhood and family life: the Bronx. Even through the COVID Epidemic, Ekhator has and continues to create change, growth, and achievement by building community in order to sustain the Bronx and and applying his collective mindset of giving back to a society he learned so much from.

Link to Video Recording: https://cdm17265.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/baahp/id/63/rec/12

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