Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons^™

True To The Game-Theory: A Game-Thoeretic Analysis Of Street Team By Joe Black, Jamie Feigenbaum

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

The title of this paper pays homage to the first Street Lit book I ever read: Terri Woods' novel, True to the Game. The title of the book raises the question, what is "the game"? And what does it mean to be "true" to it? In the first graduate-level class in America to read Street Lit as an academically worthy genre, my peers and I settled on several responses: "the game" was the crack-cocaine business, the hustle in general, or the ubiquitous exchanges between sex, money, and power; and to be "true" meant, as one classmate put it, "to keep …

M.O.M. Vs. Millionaires: The Fight For Equal Opportunities, Imani Edwards

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

Racial and social inequality is major influences on areas like the South Bronx that lack resources. It is especially important to know how race plays a role in the poor housing, employment, environmental, and public school conditions in the South Bronx and to what extent it does. Using Wilson's race-complex books, I will explain how over the years, direct racial inequality has been translated into social class inequality.

Imperial Domesticity: Native American Gender Ideology And Conformity In The Late Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Centuries, Christina Moehrle

American Studies Senior Theses

This project is informed by the history of Native American removal across Western lands, and the sociological and economic strategies that forced the assimilation of distinct native tribes into a mass, dominant white culture. Considering this assimilation through the imposition of domesticity and European gender ideology, this project aims to explore the political over and undertones of the cult of domesticity, and to analyze how domesticity and domestication were used to construct gender, social, and economic conformity. Post-bellum American politics regarded the women’s experience and domestic ideals as prototypes for national values. The importance of home production for the …

Hill, Elighu Eldrid, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Eldrid Hill

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Niason, Ricardo Soto-Lopez, Dana Driskell

Summarized by Sheina Ledesma

Eldrid Hill is a former lieutenant of the New York City Fire Department who has been a long time resident of both Harlem and the Bronx. He has also been deeply involved in local politics and urban planning and a member of Community Board 3 in the Bronx for several decades. Hill was born on July 12, 1928 in Harlem. His mother was from the Dutch side of the island of St. Martin while his father was from St. Kitts. His father was an alcoholic …

Cruse, Harrison Jr., Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Harrison Cruse, Jr.

Interviewer: Mark Naison

Summarized by Sheina Ledesma

Harrison Cruse, Jr. was born on August 10, 1935 in Morningside Heights, Harlem. His mother’s family was originally from Virginia and North Carolina but decided to move north during the 1920’s after experiencing an increasingly racist and violent climate due to activity by the Ku Klux Klan. His father was African American and Native American and had grown up on an Indian reservation with his mother in Roanoke Virginia. His father served in the First World War and later joined the Northwestern Railroad where he worked for many years. …

Grayson, Clydia, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Clydia Grayson

Interviewers: Mark Naison, Patricia Wright, Daniel Wright, Mary Ward

Summarized By: Eddie Mikus

Clydia Grayson is a former employee from the beauty business who moved to the Bronx from Louisville, Kentucky. In her interview, she discussed some of her experiences running a business as well as her life as an African-American woman.

Grayson graduated from beauty school in 1932 after training under Madam CJ Walker. After moving to New York upon her marriage in 1944, she worked for a beautician on Madison Avenue and then operated two stores in New York City. She said that she worked …

Harrell, Zainabu, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Zainabu Sesay-Harrell

Interviewers: Dr. Mark Naison, Dr. Jane Edward, Dr. Bernard Hayford, and Kojo Happa

July 21st, 2010

Summarized by Andrea Benintendi

Zainabu Sesay-Harrell is an African American nurse who was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, in 1977. As a young child, Zainabu’s family came to America and settled on Long Island, in the town of Roosevelt. Her family strove to combine the new American culture with their Sierra Leonean culture through food, festivities, and language, and would often travel back to their home country to visit with family and friends. Zainabu’s mother would prove to be extremely …

Yartel Iii, Nan, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Nan Yartel III was born on the 15^th of an unmentioned month in 1965 in a village called Amatsou in the West African nation of Ghana. He attended primary school from 1971 until 1981. He is a member of the Fanti ethnic groups, one of the many different ethnic groups found in Ghana.

As a member of the Fanti people, he was able to obtain the position of chief, which enabled him the opportunity to finish his secondary education and thus came to the United States to do such that. He completed his education back in his homeland of …

Calderon, Nicholas Interview 2, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Nicholas Calderon

Interviewer: Mark Naison

Date: May 27, 2010

Nicholas found inspiration in the artistry of rapper Tupac Shakur back in the 90’s. Shakur’s experiences, and the ways in which he dealt with angst inspired him to enter the music field. Back in the day, battles were a norm and would take place throughout the Bronx. Nicholas describes going into certain neighborhoods where he knew of talented battle rappers; a challenge would ensue. He asserts that it was mostly for competition and “beefs” and animosity would not come about as a result of the battles.

Nicolas concludes that there …

Thiame, Birane, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Birane Thiame was born in 1976. Originally from Cote d’Ivoire, Birane he settled in New York in 1996. His family is originally from Senegal, but he also has family from Togo and Ghana. He speaks Baoule, a language of Cote d’Ivoire, and Mina, a language of Togo. His mother’s side was Christian, and his father’s side practiced Islam. Thiame’s mother worked as a banker and his father worked for Air Afrik. They worked in the capitol of Cote d’Ivoire, Abidjan.

Thiame attended public school in Cote d’Ivoire, which is free up through the college level. He attended college for three …

"The Invisible Victims: Wives And Families With Incarcerated Fathers", Sarah Quinlan

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

In the 2009 spring semester, I walked into the class called 'The Black Prison Experience" not fully aware of what the class entailed and not fully aware of what to expect. Nor did I realize and understand that a massive part of America's infrastructure is invisible to the average American citizen. Today, however, I can confidently say that after almost completing my final semester at Fordham, and in hindsight, this class has had the greatest impact on me in my four years at Fordham University. And without this class, I would have never come to fully understand the invisible victims …

Africans In Dublin: Race Relations, Cultural Preservation, And Working The Immigration System, Bridget Crane

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

"I did not even know there were Africans in Ireland," is the common response I received upon telling people about my research interests in Ireland. This exact response is what this paper seeks to disprove. Africans in Dublin: Race Relations, Cultural Preservation, and Working the Immigration System not only uncovers the existence of an African population, but documents fascinating immigration stories a few African interviewees experienced and their lives within the African immigrant community and within the larger Irish society. My interest in this topic derives from my two passions: Irish history and the African Diaspora. One characteristic both Ireland …

Failure Repeated: An Analysis Of Urban Design In The Central Ward Of Newark, John O'Neill

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

This thesis is a study of the rebuilding of Newark Housing Authority structures in an area of the Central Ward bounded by Gergen Street, Springfield Avenue, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and Avon Avenue. This half square mile area of study has a population of 8,584 and a population density of 17,527 per square mile. The area has a long a troubled history, beginning on the 1960s when revolt and then renewal began. This massive infusion of federal dollars failed to address the long-term needs of the residents and the maintenance of housing facilities. The result was the first …

Beer In New York City: A Social History, Ken Bergman

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

In 1937 the New York branch of the Brewers Board of Trade listed seventeen affiliated breweries in the New York metropolitan area (including northern New Jersey). With strong Irish, German, and Dutch traditions, and a predominately working class composition, beer was as much a part of New York as the Yankees. And because of the generally localized nature of the industry at the time, and the pride that the city's residents took in all things New York, New Yorkers drank New York beer almost exclusively. Reciprocally, New York brewing companies took much pride in serving New York residents, and played …

Hair Raising Power: Dominican Hair Salon Owners In New York City, Ginette Amezquita

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

My mother, Luisa Amezquita was, like many of her friends, a beauty shop owner in the Dominican Republic. Ever since migrating to New York City at the age of four, I always wondered what made my mother's background in hair styling so unique but yet so common amongst her many Dominican acquaintances. Although my mother did not take up the profession in NYC, Dominican women have always been known to be the best hair straighteners in the industry. While living in out small apartment in Chelsea, my mother's hair skills came in very handy when we ha no money to …

Calderon, Nicholas Interview 1, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWER: Mark Naison, Noel Wolfe, Dawn Russell

INTERVIEWEE: Nicholas Calderon

SUMMARY BY: Patrick O’Donnell

Nicholas Calderon (b. 5/12/1986) is a rapper from the South Bronx. He is also the founder and owner of Take Money Records. He was born in the Taft Houses in East Harlem to a Puerto Rican father and an African-American mother. Because his mother was a crack addict and his father was a heroin addict, he began living with his grandmother at the age of two. He was raised in the Beekman Housing Project in the South Bronx, near St. Mary’s Park. Calderon was …

Ogbuisi, Chief Paul Okali, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Chief Paul Okali Ogbuisi was born in 1954 in the Ugweke section of Nigeria’s southern Abia State capital, Umuahia. The eldest child of his family, Chief Paul was educated at both the primary and secondary school level, finishing at age 18 eighteen to join the textile business. When Chief Paul was six years old and still in primary school, Nigeria gained its independence. In 1967 when Chief Paul was thirteen years old, a civil war known as the Biafran war began between the predominantly Islamic north and the predominantly Christian south. Due to violent attacks on hospitals, churches, and schools …

Cadogan, Marjorie, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWER: Mark Naison

INTERVIEWEE: Marjorie Cadogan

SUMMARY BY: Patrick O’Donnell

Marjorie Cadogan (b. 1960) is a graduate of Fordham University and Fordham University Law, and she is an Executive Deputy Commissioner of the Human Resources Administration in New York. She is the daughter of Bajan immigrants. Her father immigrated twice (in the ‘40’s and then the mid ‘50’s), and her mother came to the US in the late ‘50’s. While her mother and father knew each other in Barbados, they did not get married until 1959, when they both lived in the US. Her mother was a licensed nurse in …

Curtis Mayfield: The Voice Of A Generation, Travis D. Viola

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

All my life, I have been a fan of music. My earliest memories include my family singing aw we gathered for the holidays. My mom and dad have always had music playing in our home and I grew up enjoying the sounds of not only my own generation of singers but their generation as well. No matter where I go, I have music with me. If it is songs downloaded to my iPod, cellphone, in the car or on my computer, I can instantly access all of the latest songs along with the classics like Sinatra or Bennett. In fact, …

Wallace, Kojo, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Born September 16, 1985, Wallace grew up with his family in Tarkwa, Ghana. In 1988, his father immigrated to the United States and has worked as a taxi driver. His father is also a leader within the Ghanaian community in the Bronx. In 2006, Wallace immigrated to the Bronx with his siblings and has been living with his father on Sedgwick Avenue. He will be attending medical school in the September 2010. He has an older brother who is talking college classes and is also in the United States Navy, a sister who is working to become a nurse, and …

Yonkers: The Class And Race Dynamic Of Waterfront Revitalization, Roisin Grzegorzewski

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

Long before the area that is now known as Yonkers was discovered by Henry Hudson in 1609, the land was already inhabited with Native Americans. The Indian village that was discovered after the Half Moon sailed down the Hudson River was known as Nappeckamack. "When the Manhattan Indians built their capital village of Nappeckamack, they selected what to them was the choicest sit along the full length of the Hudson River. It was easily accessible not only to the great rive but to the smaller river which offered a harbor for their canoes."¹ Ethnologists linked the Native Americans in …

Kontihene, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Kontihene

Interviewer: Dr. Jane Edward, Kojo Ampa, Kareem Salifu, Dr. Mark Niason

Summarized by Sheina Ledesma

Kontihene is a Ghanaian Hip Hop musician who has lived in the Bronx since 2004. Kontihene describes his own music as being Afro-Pop or Hip-Life because it combines lively beats with traditional Ashanti folk music from Ghana. Kontihene grew up in Ghanaian town called Kumasi with his parents and two sisters. His love for music developed at a very young age. By age ten he was already writing poems and songs that discussed his family life. Encouraged and mentored by a local musician …

Drammeh, Sheikh Moussa, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Sheikh Moussa Drammeh

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison, Dr. Jane Edward, Dr. Benjamin Hayford, and Kojo Ampah

Date of Interview: November 3^rd, 2009

Summarized by Michael Kavanagh

Born February 4^th, 1962, Drammeh grew up in Tendrami Joka, Gambia, a city bordering Senegal. He began his schooling at six years old in the Madrasas which focuses on memorizing the Qur’an. He has completed the Madrasas four times. His mother is Gambian and father is Senegalese, both died before he reached the age of ten, at which point Drammeh had to focus on making a living for himself …

Boakye, Benjamin, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Reverend Benjamin Boakye

Interviewers: Mark Naison, Benjamin Heither, Amy Davies, Jane Edward

Date of Interview: October 29, 2009

Summarized by Sheina Ledesma

Reverend Benjamin Boakye is a senior pastor at the Ebenezer Assemblies of God church in the Bronx and the president of the Ghanaian Ministers Fellowship. Boakye was born in 1962 in the Ashanti region of Ghana. He was the eldest of six children and as the oldest was given great responsibility within the family. From an early age Boakye was exposed to University life. His father was a plumber at the University of Science and Technology in …

Ampah, Kojo, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Kojo Ampah is the head of a student organization at Fordham University called the African Cultural Exchange and has a long history as a radio host, organizer of cultural festivals and educator in Ghana. He is a Phantee from the Southern tip of Ghana, Cape Coast and his father is Muslim, while his mother was Catholic but converted. His father always maintained four wives so he has many siblings. His father was the medicine man for the tribe in a type of Voodoo and worked with herbs etc ., in a blend of Islam and local traditions. His father taught …

Street Dreams, Carmela Muzio Dormani

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

K'wan presents us with a contemporary and complex street tale within which reference is made to the language, life and code of the streets, as well the roles of different populations in the lived experience of young people in the hood, including: hustlers, women, cops, white people and members of the older generation. What is more, there is an overt political consciousness to Street Dreams is relatable and contemporary in its usage of New York slang complex themes and substantial characters. Due to its complexity and K'wan's attention to detail and accuracy, Street Dreams feels more fleshed out, reflective of …

Mckinney, Todd And Mckinney, Stephanie, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

This is was a two-person interview by Dr. Naison. The interviewees go back and forth speaking in the transcription.

Stephanie Woods was born on May 4^th 1966 in Fordham Hospital in the Bronx. Her family was living at the 439 Crotona Park North in a private house until 1991. Stephanie’s mother was born and raised in Harlem. Stephanie’s father was from Danville, VA. Stephanie mentions that he mother loved Hip-Hop and was the reason for life long love of Hip-Hop as her mother was the one who introduced her to it and would take her to street event, known …

Silverman, Carol, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

BRONX AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY PROJECT

INTERVIEWER: Dr. Oneka LaBennett

INTERVIEWEE: Carol Silverman

SUMMARY BY: Andrew O’Connell

Carol Silverman, an anthropologist born and raised in the Northeast Bronx, sits with Dr. Oneka LaBennett in this interview to talk about her childhood, her witnessing of the community’s deterioration in the 1970s and her fieldwork as an anthropologist with Romani people in the Bronx.

Born on March 30, 1951 on Intervale Avenue in the Northeast Bronx, Silverman spent the first twenty some odd years of her life living in the borough. Silverman describes the area she grew up as secure as comprised of …

Peterson, Robert, Mark Naison

Bronx African American History Project (BAAHP)

Interviewee: Robert Peterson

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison, Kathleen Palmer

Date of Interview: August 5, 2009

Summarized by Michael Kavanagh

Born in Brooklyn, December 18th 1926, Peterson has lived in the Bronx most of his life. His Father’s parents were first generation European immigrants from Sweden and Norway, respectively. They both settled in Yonkers, NY, where they first met and later got married. In 1895, Peterson’s father was born in Yonkers, NY. At the beginning of World War I, his father joined the United States Navy as a ship navigator. When World War I ended, his father returned home and worked …

Cenance, Robin, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Robin Cenance

Interviewer: Mark Nasion

Date: July 15^th 2009

Robin Cenance was born in New Orleans and moved to Harlem at the age of one. Cenance went to PS 43 in the South Bronx; it was a predominantly black and Latino neighborhood and school. The South Bronx Community Action Theatre was a popular and successful program that provided dance classes, drama classes and plenty of other programs that encouraged kids to get into the arts.

Cenance goes on to talk about the living situation. The projects were completely different back in the 60s than they are now. They …