Settlement Patterns and Organizations Among African Immigrants in the United States (Voices OF THE SUBALTERN: IDENTITIES, HIERACHIES AND SOCIAL STUGGLES IN A GLOBALIZING Age) (Essay‪)‬

INTRODUCTION Although the nearly 1.2 million African immigrants in the United States in 2004 may seem insignificant compared to other major immigrant groups in the country, this number represents a dramatic increase compared to just over a decade ago when the population was about 364,000. (1) From New York to California, and from New Mexico to North Dakota, it is almost impossible today to find a major American city where there are no African immigrants. Gone are the days when African immigrants were concentrated in cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Houston, and Dallas. A major reason for the increase in the population of African immigrants is the change in perception. While most of the immigrants in the 1960s and 1970s were students who saw the United States as simply an opportunity to acquire an education and the skills that would better equip and position them in the task of nation-building in the newly independent states, today's immigrants perceive the United States as a country with ample opportunities for self-actualization and hence, for permanent residence. As Femi Ojo-Ade aptly puts it, unlike Africans of yesteryear who: