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Mouride brotherhood in New York City.
Since the 1970s, more than 10,000 Senegalese immigrants have established one of the largest Mouride communities outside West Africa—right here in New York City. The Mouride Brotherhood, a Sufi Islamic order founded by Sheikh Amadou Bamba in the late 19th century, blends deep spiritual devotion with a strict hierarchical structure. Rooted in the holy city of Touba, Mouridism has spread globally through a culture of migration, labor, and mutual aid.
In Harlem, the Brotherhood’s vertical loyalties and communal rituals remain remarkably intact: weekly dahira gatherings echo with zikr (Sufi chanting), magal festivals honor religious figures who shaped the movement, and everyday acts of financial and emotional support continue to bind the community. This project explores how faith, migration, and solidarity intersect in these urban spaces—where immigrants sustain enduring ties to a spiritual home across the Atlantic.
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Interview Script with Wali (06/02/2025)
What brought me to work as dasher was when I got here in the US, I didn't have anything to do and since my uncle got here before me and had a door dash account, he gave his account to work with it and that's how I became a dasher doing delivery .
First of all, it was something new and extraordinary to begin with. Also, I was very surprised and amazed after three weeks. I started getting along with and comfortable so I continued and kept at it until I got my documents (social and working permit).
[ Arisa Comment: Asylum seekers must wait around 180 days to receive work authorization, which forced him to work under his uncle’s account — making it difficult to obtain compensation if a workplace injury occurs.].
After that I started filling out applications for job purposes to the day I received a call from an amazon warehouse manager located in New jersey. I talked to my friends and packed my stuff and went there with some of them.When we got there our boss took care of us by giving us a place to stay at that moment which was 14 minutes away from the warehouse but I was amazed and surprised by things that I discovered and found.
One thing I learned during my journey was the people I met, the things I learned and knew along the way marked me and more I was going more I know and observe .While working at the amazon warehouse, I proposed to my boss to brought some others friends of mine that I knew and he accepted and call two of them (Fallou and Cheikhou).
After a while we faced hour shortages and cut down that resulted to our termination at the amazon warehouse and came back to new york).[ Arisa comment: the president of senegalese assiciation told me informally that the closure was due to the Trump administration. The manager feared a crackdown since the warehouse employed many undocumented workers.
Once back in new york we rented an apartment my friends and I and since we didn't have anything to do at that time, we decided to pick up our old jobs which was full time dasher.knowing that rent was due every month by any means I became dasher once again in order to provide for my family.
InSeven working days had past and on a rainy friday while going toward 135th to collect an order between 135th and 134th I accidently got hit by a manoeuvring car witch cause my unconsciousness right away. After fainted for a minute and didn't know where I was I woke up in the ambulance on our way to the hospital. I requested to make a phone call in order to let my friends MORE and ZALE know about my accident and condition.after being released and got home.
I was told to collect my prescription at the 116th pharmacy until now I still haven't get some of the expensive medecins I suppose to get due to lack of insurance coverage on certain drugs I wasn't comfortable with myself and started to feel lot of pain in my arm and shoulder which leads me to a traumatologic situation but thank god for giving the me the chance to still be here and talk about it because it could have been worst.
Since my accident the doctor asked me to take at least two weeks off to avoid the cold. I had to slow down because I was not totally heal and shoulder is still in pain but knowing that I have to pay my rent no matter what and one thing I remember was when I got hit by the car and fainted was to call so that my bicycle could get collected and put to a safe place. at last while I was in the ambulance my thoughts went directly to my parents,kids,wife and family because I was the main provider for them.due to that I felt very lonely at that time and very difficult for me because of the trauma was how to take care and provide for for my family while having accident. My insurance issue made situation very complicated and my wishes are to get another job to be able to fulfil my goals because this delivery job is very dangerous and risky to perform here......