Marilyn Halter and Violet Showers Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814760581
- eISBN:
- 9780814789254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814760581.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter examines the rise of a West African enclave economy in America. In particular, it considers how entrepreneurship and self-employment became the most conspicuous marker of the West ...
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This chapter examines the rise of a West African enclave economy in America. In particular, it considers how entrepreneurship and self-employment became the most conspicuous marker of the West African diaspora in America. It explores how some of the new West African entrepreneurs moved from work in the wage economy to start and manage their own business ventures in order to capture opportunities that distinctly favored their West African backgrounds and American experiences. It also discusses the economic culture within which the West African immigrants function as entrepreneurs and its importance for the specific detour opportunity areas in which they have established their businesses, especially restaurants and clubs, hair braiding, health care staffing and pharmacy, grocery stores or African supermarkets, and fashion production and merchandising. Finally, the chapter explores some of the reasons for the weakening or demise of West African businesses in America.Less
This chapter examines the rise of a West African enclave economy in America. In particular, it considers how entrepreneurship and self-employment became the most conspicuous marker of the West African diaspora in America. It explores how some of the new West African entrepreneurs moved from work in the wage economy to start and manage their own business ventures in order to capture opportunities that distinctly favored their West African backgrounds and American experiences. It also discusses the economic culture within which the West African immigrants function as entrepreneurs and its importance for the specific detour opportunity areas in which they have established their businesses, especially restaurants and clubs, hair braiding, health care staffing and pharmacy, grocery stores or African supermarkets, and fashion production and merchandising. Finally, the chapter explores some of the reasons for the weakening or demise of West African businesses in America.
LaShawn Harris
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252040207
- eISBN:
- 9780252098420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252040207.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This concluding chapter documents the more contemporary proliferation of New York African braiding hairstylists and the popularity of unique hair-braiding styles and how, as cultural producers and ...
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This concluding chapter documents the more contemporary proliferation of New York African braiding hairstylists and the popularity of unique hair-braiding styles and how, as cultural producers and businesswomen, hair-braiders are reaping noticeable economic benefits from an exclusive yet expanding labor market. Contemporary New York newspaper editorials and opinion pieces on urban hair-braiders cast a spotlight on modern-day New York women's labor as informal economy workers. Today, New York female underground laborers, consisting of native-born and naturalized New Yorkers, undocumented immigrants, and migrants from across the nation, engage in a wide range of underground vocations for a variety of socioeconomic and personal reasons. The chapter goes on to reflect on the striking similarities in socioeconomic conditions of these women then and now.Less
This concluding chapter documents the more contemporary proliferation of New York African braiding hairstylists and the popularity of unique hair-braiding styles and how, as cultural producers and businesswomen, hair-braiders are reaping noticeable economic benefits from an exclusive yet expanding labor market. Contemporary New York newspaper editorials and opinion pieces on urban hair-braiders cast a spotlight on modern-day New York women's labor as informal economy workers. Today, New York female underground laborers, consisting of native-born and naturalized New Yorkers, undocumented immigrants, and migrants from across the nation, engage in a wide range of underground vocations for a variety of socioeconomic and personal reasons. The chapter goes on to reflect on the striking similarities in socioeconomic conditions of these women then and now.
