Pulaagam: A Celebration of Fulani Heritage
Celebrating Fulani culture and heritage at Pulaagam with the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, June 2025
“A river that forgets its source will soon dry up.” – Fulani Proverb
“Thousands of Fulani people have been quietly building their lives here and making Ohio their home for decades, but never forget where they came from,” said Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance. “We’re here to learn about their culture and celebrate it.”
That was the purpose of “Pulaagam: A Celebration of Fulani Heritage,” which took place on June 7, 2025 at the Columbus Arts Festival. It was the fourth year the Ohio Immigrant Alliance brought migration-themed programming to the Word Is Art & Acoustic Lounge Stage of this city-wide festival, as part of our Ohio Migration Anthology series.
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We shine together
The Fulani people are the largest nomadic ethnic group in the world, with significant presence in Ohio. Houleye Thiam, whose poetry was featured in Volume 1 of the anthology, anchored the event curated by Maryam Sy. Thiam welcomed the crowd with a brief introduction to Fulani pride and the program. “In Fulani culture,” she said, “in order for you to shine, I don't have to dim my light. We can all shine together.”
Habi Gawlo, a renowned griot based in Columbus — whose voice and style is known throughout the midwest and Africa — performed three songs on the gorgeous, sunny day. Griots are the memory-keepers and historians of West African families, communities, and societies. It is often said that when a griot dies, a library burns.
Before Gawlo began the first number, “Yela”, Thiam prepared the crowd to perform the juurgal, or money-spraying, to show their gratitude. “When the singer sings, you throw money at her to put value to what she is saying,” Thiam explained. The crowd was more than happy to get involved. Gawlo’s resonant voice drew them to the stage, where they tenderly placed dollar bills upon her as she sang.
Gawlo continued, performing “Hayo Bell” and “Dondo Bamba” before a crowd that appeared to be witnessing magic. During “Hayo Bell,” she was joined by Souleye Ball, a Columbus poet and comedian, in a spontaneous duet.
You welcomed me
Then spoke Teresa Temu, an educator, linguist, and cultural equity advocate. She is not Fulani, but was born outside the United States to a Tanzanian father and a Russian-Belarusian mother. She told the crowd that when she arrived in the U.S. — first in New York, and then in Columbus, she “felt hosted and received as a daughter” by Fulani people. “That is how America met us — with Fulani people,” she said at the beginning of her speech, which was an overview of core values in Fulani culture — values that include honesty and community.
Brave and strong survivors
Souleye Ball took to the stage and gave a crushing ode to brave people making the best in a series of difficult choices for themselves and their families. People who have to migrate over land and sea instead of taking a plane, because countries won’t give them visas to enter and they need to work to survive. “I would like to speak to you in my mother tongue, Pulaar, about the dark journey that took me from Africa to the United States,” he began. (“Pulaar” is the Fulani word for the language.)
“In the dead of night, one only hears the cries of birds mixed with those of wild animals.
Bandits blocked our way, threatening us with death. Some panicked, others cried out of hunger and thirst. On these same roads, we encountered others who had been deported and left with nothing.”
Souleye spoke in Fulani, but even those who could not understand the words understood the meaning from its rhythm. In the audience, an immigrant from Cameroon rocked with the memory. Migration is a basic part of being human. People move for safety and opportunity every day, and always will. In many cases, people are moving from countries in Africa, Central America, or other places because the United States and other wealthy countries have intervened in their politics and natural resources, then failed to build opportunities for them to work and earn a living at home, or to provide pathways for safe and dignified migration.
Many migrants die along the way. Those who reach the U.S. border are met with an antagonistic policy and government, despite a community — including Fulani people and Ohioans who are not of Fulani heritage — who believe Ohio is home for people who have chosen to make it so and are here to welcome them.
The cultural torch burns
Continuing on with the day, Houleye Thiam read some of her poems, in English and Fulani. Finally, Fatima and Nourou Barro presented the Fulani language preservation tools at Demgalam.com, a website they created to keep the culture and language alive in younger generations. “Our parents asked us to not only know our language, but to love our language,” they said, and the website is their expression of this. The Barro sisters also created the Demgalam because they want young Fulani-Americans to not only learn to count, learn the words for colors, and enjoy cultural fashion, but to be equipped to advocate for their community.
The duality of life as a migrant
To bookend the day, the audience was treated to recorded music from Salif Sarr, a renowned musical artist and vocal advocate for Black people of Mauritania. As Tramonte explained in her closing remarks, his song “Mi Suusa” expresses a fear many Black Mauritanians and other people of color can understand — the fear of being targeted by the police, while “Gillam E Pullam” is about being proud to be Fulani.
The two songs, like several of the speeches and performances throughout the event, she explained, represent two sides of the current Fulani experience in the United States — a combination of joy, love, and trauma depending on one’s immigration status. But for the day, the emphasis was on joy and love. Following the event, Habi Gawlo recorded a thank you video for Houleye and the Ohio Immigrant Alliance.
More music, culture, and art from OIA
Pulaagam was a follow-up from last year’s collaboration with Columbus Free Press, which introduced Columbus Arts Festival attendees to Tam Tam Magic’s drumming and the West African griot tradition.
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Photos and videos by Sikacapture