Sam Aboah looked around with pride at the dark-skinned and brightly-dressed crowd of people gathered in the Bronx’s Crotona Park on a hot Sunday afternoon in August.

He was surveying the results of the first-ever Ghanaian parade and festival and the culmination of months of hard work by himself and many of his fellow Ghanaian transplants.

“The important thing to know is that the Ghanaian population is growing here in New York,” Aboah said.

In 2000, there were 24,842 people living in New York City who either were born in Ghana or have Ghanaian ancestry according to Census figures. According to the latest estimates, from 2007, there are more than 50,000 Ghanaians now living in the city, with the majority residing in the Bronx.  

There are whole buildings and blocks in the borough dominated by Ghanaians. Aboah called Tracey Towers on Mosholu Parkway, where roughly half the tenants are of Ghanaian descent, “Ghana House.” And there are high concentrations of Ghanaians near Crotona Park, on the upper Grand Concourse and in Co-op City.

As Aboah spoke, the heavy sound of bass from Ghanaian pop music boomed in the background. A handful of young ladies danced together in a style that was half African, half American hip-hop. 

A group of elders, draped in traditional bright primary colors and mammoth gold jewelry looked on stoically. Young men wearing expensive jeans and diamond earrings punched their iPhones.

It was gold rings meets new bling.

“We’re trying to bridge the gap and create unity between the elders and the youth,” said Mohammed Mardah, another of the Ghanaian festival’s organizers. “We want [the youth] to know their culture.”

“[Events like these] makes us feel like we’re in Ghana, but we’re not,” said 25-year-old Nana Danso.

Derek Darko, 21, was born in Ghana, grew up in England and now lives and goes to school in Queens. He said staying in touch with his Ghanaian heritage and culture is a state of mind. “It depends on you, who you are,” he said.

Yet another event organizer, Tony Essien, a native Ghanaian, moved to the Bronx 25 years ago. He owns a small bar in the south Bronx on 138th Street called Oze Tavern. His two children were born in the Bronx.

The aims of the event were not only to bridge the gap between young and old, Essien says, but also to develop the Bronx Ghanaian population’s political voice. He cited the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans as ethnic groups that have leveraged their numbers into political strength.

Ghana was the first African country visited by Barack Obama after he became president earlier this year. Essien says Ghanaians in the Bronx are hoping to build on that momentum and get organized locally. “It’s always tough getting people together,” he said, “but this is a good turnout, a good start.”

Danso and Darko both liked the idea of the Ghanaian community growing its presence in the Big Apple. “It’s great to know that your country is known,” Danso said.