59 | P U L Double-A R - Episode Transcript
Brooklyn, USA | February 9, 2022

[INTRO]
[MUSIC BED: Alsarah & The Nubatones live performance on B-Side, produced by BRIC TV]

Khyriel Palmer: You’re listening to the Brooklyn, USA podcast – an occasional audio love letter from Brooklyn to the world.

Khyriel Palmer: The struggle to keep a language alive is connected to so many things – assimilation, colonization, and dominance and defiance of narrow nationalisms of the past century. To sustain a language, you must confront both English and other colonial and national languages imposed on your community. Here's producer Shirin Barghi… [FADE OUT MUSIC]

[MUSIC BED: Arooj Aftab live performance on B-Side, produced by BRIC TV]

Shirin Barghi: “Fulani” is a language group with profound internal diversity, including multiple disparate languages, and dialects. What the language is called often depends on who you ask! In West Africa, the language is called Pulaar. Further East, it is called Fulfulde. At the Pulaar Speaking Association on Fulton Street in Bed-Stuy, it is often just called "Fulani". There, speakers and non-speakers from across Brooklyn and the world gather to preserve their shared culture and language. We dropped by on a Friday afternoon after Jummah prayers to speak with the association’s president and community. [FADE OUT MUSIC]

[PULAAR SPEAKING ASSOCIATION]
[Ambient sound from Pulaar Speaking Association] Pulaar Speaking Association (PSA) Member: Yes, how are you doing? How are you?

Shirin: Hi, how are you? How are you

Shirin: Could you, how long have you been coming to the association

PSA Member: More than 20 years. I’m from Senegal, Mauritania. I have both family.

Shirin: And what language do you speak?

PSA Member: Fulani. Fuliani. I speak Wolof and French, but Fulani is my… my language.

[Call To Prayer in Bed-Stuy]

Hamel Toure: My name is Hamel Toure. I'm the president of Pulaar Speaking Association.

Hamel Toure: Here is called Bed-Stuy. We are located in Fulton Street, 1169. We own the building. We bought it since 1994. We are teaching English here, Fulani, and Koran.

[Ambient sound of Fulton Street] Treasury General: This the building, we own this. Even this is our association. That’s why we make it everything, everything for the community. My name is [?], I’m the Treasury General for Pulaar Speaking Association. Every Friday when we finish to pray, we came in here. You see the food, we bring it. Anyone who want to come to eat and everything we join here together, and then we bring our family and everything like that.

Hamel Toure: I've been here since 1990. from Senegal, a West-side country in Africa. My first language is Fulani. Fulani is the people, but the language is Pulaar. P U L double-A R.

[sound of radio tuning] [CLIP from Radio Pulaar]

Hamel Toure: Pulaar speaking, the majority are Mauritanian and Senegalese. Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia. But the majority, Mauritania and Senegalese. [CLIP from Radio Pulaar] It’s a dialect and the dialect is also kind of a little bit amazing because the Pulaar we spoke in Senegal is not the same as the Pulaar spoken in Guinea. When I see a Guinean people, we can talk in Pulaar. In 99.9% when we talk, we can understand each other. Fulani spoken in Mali, in Massena also, is kind of different from Senegal, from Guinea. But this is all Fulani, it’s all called Pulaar anyway. [CLIP from Radio Pulaar continues] [radio static] [click]

[MUSIC BED: Amir Sou live at the Pulaar Speaking Association in Brooklyn]

Hamel Toure: The main organization is here in New York. In New York, we, we really have 4000, 5000 people.

[Fulton Street ambi] Treasury General: We are starting Pulaar Speaking on ‘89. 32 years, or 33 years.

Shirin Barghi: OK.

Treasury General: And then, it’s a community. Always, anybody, even you can be on the membership. Every month you can giving 5 dollars only.

[CLIP of speech from former Pulaar Speaking Association President] President: [talking about the Pulaar Speaking Association in Pulaar]

Hamel Toure: Pulaar speaking is not only New York. Altogether, around 15,000. We have 30 states within the 50 states that Pulaar Speaking.

[FADE UP ambient sound of subway] Hamel Toure: Pulaar speaking was born around 1989. What's happening is we have an immigrant called Ibrahim. He is from Senegal, but he emigrated to Gabon, from Gabon he was here. The subway station on Utica and Fulton Street at that time it was really crowded. So many bandits, violent people at the time. He did have a kind of necklace. It’s not even gold, but tinted gold. One of the boys just take it out. He was with his friend. He went back home because he was living in Bambridge, not far from the station. But, he go back, wanted to take back the necklace, and they… they shot him, they killed him. [FADE OUT subway ambi]

Hamel Toure: When they killed him, the African immigrants don't want to be buried in here. So, they gathered, they contributed funds, they returned the body home, and they create this organization. Since then, 1989 to now, if any member in this organization pass away, we ship them back home. Anyone who is sick, who want to go back home, we help them to go home. We were concerned about our well-being in this country. That's why, usually, the Fulani people, they all live together. Same area, same buildings, same apartments, something like that. And then we create the organization, and we are very serious about the organization.

[MUSIC BED: Amir Sou live at the Pulaar Speaking Association in Brooklyn]

Hamel Toure: We be cultural, we promote the African culture in this country, of course. And we teach English, we teaching Koran, we teaching Fulani. The culture, we sometimes bring many famous musicians like Baaba Maal. We doing some conferences. People can, can give lecture in Fulani. And sometimes we did what we call African Cultural Week.

[CLIP from BK Live] [MUSIC: Lively drums and singing]
Aaron Watkins: Over the 4th of july weekend in Commodore Barry Park right here in Fort Greene, The 45th annual International African Arts Festival will take place. It’s going to offer everything from music, dance and poetry, to martial arts and natural hair workshops, including a celebration of the founding of the Zulu nation two centuries ago. For a full picture we’re going to turn to our guest Dr. Según Shabaka…

Dr. Según Shabaka: We started, as you said, 45 years ago. We bring to the people what they want and need which is culture, history, arts, entertainment, entrepreneurship, all wrapped into one major event that has actually been the birth mother to many of the festivals that celebrate African-American and African culture around this country. [FADE OUT MUSIC]

[MUSIC: “Dans la peau” by Circus Marcus ] Hamel Toure: From the elementary school to university in Senegal, all we learn is French. When you go to high school, you can choose a different language – a second language, they call it. You can choose English as a second language, or Germany, or Arabic, but the main language is French. Every class has to be, to be in French, study in French, and the exams… French.

Hamel Toure: Pulaar is my mother language, is my dad's language. I was raised in Pulaar. My dad cannot speak French. My mum, too. So, Pulaar is my natural language. But, at the age of five, six when you go to school, you're not going to learn Pulaar in school, you’re learning French. [CLIP of classroom] Teacher and young students: [Reading book aloud together in French]

Hamel Toure: You can't develop a country with another language. It's impossible. That’s what happened in Africa, it’s what happened to many countries colonized by the French. That's not fair.

Hamel Toure: You think French. You write French. Because the French, they, they always practice what they call assimilation. That’s why you can see so many, so many African people who… think like French people, live like them, forget all about their culture or something like that, because of that, because of the colonization, because of that, that, that language barrier. So, that’s an issue, a main issue. [FADE OUT MUSIC]

[CLIP of Malcolm X speech]
Malcolm X: In the past, because Europe was in power, or the European was in power, the European being in the position of power had one yard stick. He didn’t use anybody elses yardstick. His yardstick was the yardstick. His definition was the definition. What he said was all there was to be said. the non-Europeans weren’t in a position to say anything. They weren’t in a position to use their own brain and come up with their own definition. They weren’t in a position even to bring their yardstick out of the closet. [FADE UP ambi and music from African Culture Week]

Malcolm X: But what has happened, and most Europeans don’t realize it, time has changed. Wherein all the power used to be centered in Europe, it’s not centered in Europe anymore. It has shifted. And as the people in Africa and Asia get some power of their own, they get a mind of their own. They start seeing with their own eyes, and listening with their own ears, and speaking with their own mouth and coming to definitions from their own brain. The European definition now isn’t necessarily the definition. the European yardstick isn’t the yardstick. [FADE OUT ambi and music]

[Pulaar Speaking Association ambi]
PSA Member: At home, I speak only Fulani. I never speak English with them.

Shirin: Why is it so important for your kids to speak Fulani? Why is it so important for you?

PSA Member: It's very important because that’s my language. You know, when they go back home, they can speak, my mom, the family, easy.

[Fulton Street ambi]
Treasury General: They speak Pulaar, they speak English, they speak other languages…

Shirin: Can I ask, if it's ok with you, can I ask him to say something in Pulaar?

Treasury General: Yeah. No mbaad daa?

Kid: Selli.

Treasury General: “No mbaad daa” it means “how are you doing?”. and then “mbiɗo selli” it means “I’m ok, I’m fine”. And then when you tell him that, he understands everything.

Shirin: Can you say that one more time?

Kid: Selli.

Treasury General: Mbiɗo selli.

Kid: Mbiɗo selli.

[MUSIC BED: Alsarah & The Nubatones live performance on B-Side, produced by BRIC TV]

Hamel Toure: Many of our children don’t speak Fulani at home. But most of the time the responsibility is not on the children, but on the parents. And what’s amazing is many of them don't even speak English very well. When the children come back home from school or something like that, they prefer talking that English language instead of talking Fulani. That's a problem, that's a big problem. That's why we encourage people to, to go to Africa with your family, you know, teaching them, initiate them on their language. But that's a very serious topic also, the children and the language, the children and the culture. The link is not, it's not there.

Hamel Toure: The Fulani people are a very important ethnic group in, in Africa. Fulani people are all over the world. So we are really concerned about, of course, the language, the culture, and we don't, we don't want the culture and our language to be dying all the time. There’s going to be a generation in the future who don't even know where they’re coming from. That's a problem. And we are really dealing with that issue

Hamel Toure: “On jaraama” meaning that, “thank you very much”.

[END SONG]

[Pulaar Speaking Association ambi]
PSA Member: “[Pulaar expression]” Fulani, they say, like uh, I don’t know how to say, uh, Musa! [speaking Pulaar] “[Pulaar expression]”

Musa: Uh?

PSA Member: [speaking Pulaar] “[Pulaar expression]”

Musa: “[Pulaar expression]”? [speaking Pulaar]

PSA Member: [Laughter] You have to, to be together.

Other PSA Member: “[Pulaar expression]”?

PSA Member: Yeah. People you – Fulani say like “[Pulaar expression]” have to be together.

Musa: It's like a relative, like a family, relative family.

PSA Member: Yeah. “[Pulaar expression]”

Shirin: Thank you so much

PSA Member: On jaraama

Shirin: On jaraama

[VOICE MEMO]
[BEEP] [voicemail audio] Amina: Hi, my name is Amina. I'm representing Queens as I grew up here for the most part of my life, but I work in Brooklyn now where I get to work my dream job and I get to work with families who speak the same language as I do. It's really fun and exciting, and I'm really passionate about my work. Growing up in Dhaka, Bangladesh, my first language, Bangla, was everything. I didn't speak English that much back then as everyone spoke in Bangla, and the school I went to had Bengali curriculum with just one English class that taught us basic grammar and how to write essays. My childhood was all about reading Bengali fairy tales and learning to sing in Bangla. I don't read Bengali books anymore, but Bengali music is something that I did not let go. It may be because my family really pushed me into singing even after coming to the USA at age 13. Even though there was so many challenges that me and my family went through, [sigh] the migration challenges, but I did get vocal trainings for 15 years, wore a sari when I sang, and I really celebrated the traditional holidays and cultural festivities. Those red and green saris! Yes, I do love red and green saris. The musical notes [spoken Bangla] were a part of my life back then when I was a child, and is still part of my life. And is something which constantly reminds me who I am, what really represents me, and what I love to do. Without these things, I don't know what my life would look like. I'm so glad they're part of me and my life.

[VOICE MEMO]
[BEEP] [voicemail audio] Dr. Khan: My name's Geoffrey Kahn. I'm a professor of Semitic languages at the University of Cambridge. Human language manifests itself in such a diverse number of ways and to fully understand human language in general, which one can argue is the most important manifestation of humanity, you need to have a more and more data. You need to see more and more manifestations of in every dialect. Every language has some kind of unique feature about it. The more languages are lost, the more dialects are lost, the less data linguists have to understand human language in general. And I've observed that, you know, loss of heritage, loss of culture, loss of language, which is the core of your cultural heritage, can cause a great trauma to communities. And I think this trauma is often a slow-acting trauma which only manifests itself as perhaps in somehow, even later generations. I've worked in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, in my field work, and I've seen a lot of the physical devastation, particularly after 2015 with the Islamic State destructions of a lot of the villages. Aid, sort of, organizations have been reconstructing a lot of the houses and a lot of the homes, meeting the physical needs of communities who have been traumatized by loss of physical property. However, what is not talked about as much is the trauma caused by loss of culture. Language is a very important manifestation of identity. I mean, not only different languages, I mean just variations within a single language. Like, I mean, you see it in English, I mean, in your speech or your innovations in speech or slang you might use, is used as an emblem of identity in particular groups in society. You know, different age groups or different, you know, different sort of social groups. As the language becomes lost, there's a sense of feeling a loss of the world that their ancestors came from. Therefore, there's a sort of a losing of their roots, if you can just put it simply as that. I think if you start losing knowledge of the language, you're a step further away.

[BEEP]

[CREDITS]
[MUSIC BED: Adesuwa live performance on B-Side, produced by BRIC TV]

Khyriel Palmer: Brooklyn, USA is produced by me Khyriel Palmer,

Emily Boghossian: and me Emily Boghossian,

Shirin Barghi: and me Shirin Barghi,

Charlie Hoxie: and me Charlie Hoxie,

Mayumi Sato: and me Mayumi Sato,

Khyriel Palmer: with help this week from Hamel Toure, and the Pulaar Speaking Association. To learn more about the Pulaar Speaking Association or become a member, visit www.pulaarspeaking.info.

Khyriel Palmer: Thank you to Dr. Geoffrey Khan, Adriana, Amina, and the Arab American Family Support Center for leaving a message.

Khyriel Palmer: To learn more about the Endangered Language Alliance, support their work, and view their interactive language map, visit www.elalliance.org.

Khyriel Palmer: If you want to tell us a story, or somehow end up on the podcast, check the show notes for a link to our guide on recording a voice memo on your mobile phone and sending it to us on the internet. And if you like what you hear or think we missed something, comment, like, share and subscribe, and follow at BRIC TV on twitter and instagram, for updates. For more information on this and all BRIC Radio podcasts, visit www.bricartsmedia.org/radio.

Khyriel Palmer: We are on the unceded territory of the Lenni Lenape, Canarsie, Shinecock, and Munsee people. We acknowledge the many Indigenous Nations with ties to this land and we recognize that the Lenape still call Manahatta home.

[FADE OUT MUSIC]

Google doc of transcript: https://bit.ly/3gDm9C5