Lexington’s diversity of immigrants makes it a better place | Opinion
On Dec. 31, 2020, the Lexington Herald Leader published my article “Let us now celebrate immigrants of color” under a picture of the new Vice President Kamala Harris. The article included examples of African immigrants’ stories from the oral history interviews that were the heart of our book, “Voices of African Immigrants in Kentucky.”
The last chapter of the book listed then President Trump’s many racist statements and actions related to immigrants. In the current campaign he has made new wildly inaccurate attacks, such as Haitians in Springfield, Ohio eating pets. Recently he accused Democratic Republic of Congo of emptying prisons to allow violent criminals to come to the U.S.
That is not true.
What is true is that Lexington has welcomed hundreds of Congolese refugees in the last ten plus years (about 1200 between October 2020 and 2021). It is true that Swahili is currently the third most spoken language in our schools after English and Spanish.
It is also true that current Congolese leadership in our community is impressive.
Gaston Ngandu Sankayi, African Specialist at Global Lex of LFUCG, who served as a judge in Congo, came to his position as Africa Specialist at Global Lex in 2023 with experience in his Empucate International organization which was dedicated to empowering immigrants, refugees and war displaced people to attain sufficiency and self-reliance, including beginning in 2015 by organizing driving and financial literacy classes. The Refugee Farming Cooperative began in 2017 and now includes refugees from both sides of the war in Eastern Congo who learn conflict resolution strategies as they work in teams to grow produce to eat healthfully.
Gaston says: “If you go somewhere and see people dancing on one leg instead of two legs, you have to learn to dance on one leg in the new culture.” The recent Sept. 14 African Harvest Celebration at the Senior Center introduced recent immigrants to the services that Center offers, and Gaston plans to initiate three times a week transport to take older immigrants to the Senior Center.
Elisha Mutayongwa, who arrived in Lexington as a refugee in 2014, is Executive Director of the colorful, welcoming Marafiki Center on Sparta Court. Swahili Day in June is their flagship cultural celebration event to recognize the contributions of the Swahili-speaking and African immigrant community to the cultural diversity of Lexington. Other programs include Shule Fest (a back-to-school resource fair), adult Swahili classes, parent engagement workshops, Swahili Club, Swahili Summer Camp, AfroLex Connect professional development training for youth and young adults, and an annual AfroLex Conference. Last year’s conference included sessions on topics such as gun violence, mental health, and civic engagement. The 4th Annual AfroLex Conference happens at the Lyric Theater on Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Pacific Mutayongwa, Elisha’s brother, serves as the Refugee/Migrant Advocate at Fayette County Public Schools and Assistant Soccer Coach at Tates Creek High School. Pacific’s ability to speak six languages is helpful as he advocates for the rights and needs of refugee students within the school system, working closely with administrators, teachers, and counselors to promote academic success, well-being, and integration of students and their families into the school community. Besides being a cultural liaison, Pacific provides individualized student support, engages with families, and collects data and reports the progress of the currently 571 students who are refugees from African countries.
Philip Manga leads Box 2 Box, offering spiritual formation, education, and soccer to rising fifth graders through seniors in an afterschool program at Dunbar Community Center. He wants students to “walk with their chests up.” The 40 students, immigrants from Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and several from the Middle East, receive tutoring and play soccer. The tutors are University of Kentucky International Studies students from Step-Up, a service-learning program initiated designed by Francis Musoni to mentor immigrant students. In summer 2024 Philip organized a six-week program that offered English Language Learning by pairing students with mentors. “You can make change!” Philip says.
The last sentence in our book reads: “African immigrants can become part of the “us” that is the United States, even be drawn in as part of bell hooks’ Kentucky “culture of belonging.”
That is happening.
Angene Wilson is co-author with Francis Musoni and Iddah Otieno and Jack Wilson of Voices of African Immigrants in Kentucky: Migration, Identity, and Transnationality.
This story was originally published October 25, 2024 at 11:27 AM.