Searching for a "Bengali Harlem"
‘In Search of Bengali Harlem’ explores the life of Bengali men who jumped ship in the early 1900s
The documentary will be shown as part of the Freep Film Festival’s Asian American Pacific Islander film series.
Still from the film, 'In Search of Bengali Harlem.'
Photo credit: 'In Search of Bengali Harlem'
‘In Search of Bengali Harlem’ is a documentary film about comedian Alaudin Ullah who went on a journey to learn more about his Bengali father.
Ullah and co-director Vivek Bald discovered a society of Bengali men who married Puerto Rican and African American women to build communities from Harlem to Detroit in the early 1920s.
Bald says this was a large community.
“When we started looking into the actual history, it became clear that Alaudin’s father was not an isolated case, he was part of a much larger undocumented migration of working-class folks from places that became Bangladesh, Pakistan, et cetera, who were actually coming to the United States from the early 20th century, all the way to the present,” he says.
Bald says thousands of Bengali men came to the U.S. after boarding ships in Calcutta under British colonialism, jumping ship at ports in Detroit and Baltimore.
Directors of ‘In Search of Bengali Harlem,’ Vivek Bald and Alaudin Ullah.
Ullah says his interest in learning about his father’s past was spurred by a stunt in Hollywood where he says he was being cast for stereotypical roles of Muslims and South Asians. He wanted to change that narrative. What he discovered in the process was a whole different side of both of his parents and a deeper appreciation of their struggles to raise a family in the U.S. as first-generation immigrants.
“I realized I was more Bangladeshi than I thought,” Ullah says.
The film will be shown at the Detroit Historical Museum on Friday at 7 p.m.
The original article was published in WDET, Detroit’s NPR station.
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Introducing Financial Planner Fahmin Fardous
When it comes to all things financial, Fahmin Fardous is sharing tips and tricks in the financial sector. She brings forth her years of experience, cultural understanding and ability to bridge the gap between traditional wealth management and working toward creating better understanding of what it means to create wealth from the bottom up. Fardous will be sharing her tips with us in the Saa Nasta Newsletter. Follow her on Instagram @fahminknowsfinance.
Fahmin Fardous joined Zenith Wealth Partners in 2022 as an Associate Financial Planner. Prior to joining Zenith, Fahmin served as a Trust Advisor in the private client division of one of the nation’s largest banks, specializing in helping clients to implement financial plans, estate plans and charitable gifting strategies. Through that experience she recognized that the traditional wealth management model not only contributes to the wealth disparity, but further widens the wealth gap.
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