African Immigration to Greater Metropolitan Detroit
Basic Information
Category:
Others
Tags:
#business
#africa
#Immigration
#african hair braiding
#Detroit
#research
#Michigan
#taxi drivers
#entreprenuers
Location:
Detroit, MI, United States -
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Description:
“African Immigrants and the Global Midwest: Greater Metropolitan Detroit”
Oral History Research Project | Department of History, University of Michigan... more“African Immigrants and the Global Midwest: Greater Metropolitan Detroit”
Oral History Research Project | Department of History, University of Michigan
‘African Immigrants and the Global Midwest’ is an ongoing oral history project that captures the life experiences of men and women who have immigrated from sub-Saharan Africa to Detroit and surrounding areas since the 1980s. Our goal is to enhance academic and public understanding of how Africans of diverse origins have shaped and established dynamic businesses, neighborhoods, religious and educational institutions in greater metropolitan Detroit.
We will draw on oral history interviews to write academic articles and build a public website documenting the recent history of African migration to Detroit. The website will include photographs, articles on different African communities and businesses in Michigan, and feature select individuals.
Our research team is led by Nancy Rose Hunt, Professor of History at the University of Michigan. Doctoral students and advanced undergraduates are also conducting interviews. Our research is part of the ‘Global Midwest Project,’ a group of scholars working across the American Midwest. Collectively, our research aims to reveal the Midwest as a major force in this century’s global economy and culture. Our research is funded by the ‘Humanities Without Walls’ consortium, based at the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
We anticipate this research will generate compelling, unexpected, and largely untold stories of how African immigrants are shaping communities and economies in Detroit and the surrounding area. We welcome you to visit our website for further details about our research: http://hww-consortium.wikispaces.com/African+Immigrants+%26+the+Global+Midwest.
Who can participate in this project?
We are currently recruiting individuals over the age of 18 who are willing to sharing their experiences as immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa living and working in Detroit or in southeastern Michigan. We are particularly interested in interviewing owners, workers, and patrons of hair braiding salons, taxi companies or other transportation businesses, as well as leaders and members of mosques and churches.
Participation in this research is completely voluntary, and you can decide to withdraw from the study at any time. If you are interested in sharing your stories with us, please contact one of our research team members (contacts are listed below). We will explain the research project in greater detail and how we will protect your privacy if you wish to participate in the project but would like to remain anonymous. If you are still interested in participating, we will then arrange a time and place to meet with you.
Interviews will last between 1 and 1.5 hours. In appreciation of your time, we offer each participant $40 upon completion of the interview.
Who to contact for more information or to schedule an interview:
Alyssa Feenstra, Project Researcher, University of Michigan, feensaly@umich.edu
Christian Bashi, Project Researcher, University of Michigan, cbashi@umich.edu less
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