The D.C. area boasts one of the largest populations of African immigrants in the U.S., leading Maryland Gov. Wes Moore to proclaim September as African Heritage Month — something that’s been celebrated for the last few years in Prince George’s County.
According to the Census Bureau, the D.C. region has the fourth-largest African population in the country, though locally there’s an anecdotal belief that it’s a very undercounted segment of the population.
“I think we’re saying that maybe around 20% of the population is really not properly counted, because they don’t even count someone like myself, who is a second generation,” Prince George’s County Council member Wala Blegay said.
“My parents came here as immigrants, but I was born in the U.S., and it doesn’t even count their children. So really, we have a large growing population.”
“Typically African immigrants are counted just as Black people here,” she added. “And we are Black people, but we want to be recognized for the contributions that we have in the culture, which is important.”
The migration to the area began when some arrived as refugees, while others moved here for educational opportunities. Factor in the international community in D.C., between the World Bank and the embassies, and it was only natural that more people would follow.
“Even though you’re far away from your country, your embassy represents you, your country. So that helps people to naturally gravitate towards the DMV area,” said Remi Duyile, an adjunct professor of finance and internship coordinator at Bowie State University. She was born in Nigeria, before coming to America in the early 1980s.
“People want to be among their those that are their own. Some of them came here because they had family here, and their families encouraged them to come here,” Blegay said. “Many felt that this was a welcoming community. They started raising their kids here, and they … started to tell others to come. So we have had a huge amount of African immigrants start to move here.”
Blegay is one of three members of the county council — along with Wanika Fisher and Krystal Oriadha — who consider themselves part of the African Diaspora.
And these days, both in and outside of the Beltway in Prince George’s County, you’ll find grocery stores and restaurants that offer African-flavors and dishes — businesses that didn’t exist just a few years ago.
“That enterprising spirit is there for us,” Duyile said. “A lot of the millennials, the younger, the first generation kids who are born here, are beginning to embrace their African heritage, and saying, ‘You know what, I could be, whoever I am’ in a corporate setting.”
“It just really is a part of a community,” added Blegay. “And it’s really nice to be in a community that has all different types of cultures. And we want to make sure that the African culture is also welcomed in the county.”
As the community blossoms, it’s only going to attract more first- and second-generation immigrants from Africa.
“As the population grows, the niche marketing, the things that people need, the things I went through, I’m able to share my experience authentically with somebody who maybe is also an immigrant like me, who can say, ‘OK, yeah, Black, female, Nigerian accent,'” Duyile said.
“When you see someone like you who has been there and done it, it gives you that audacity, that boldness to say, ‘You know what I can do, this too,'” she added. “‘This is what I can do,’ and then you don’t sit in that pity party mode … You don’t worry about that. You just go about your business.”
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