When Zainabou Thiam’s family came to America from Senegal they arrived in New York, which is the general location for most Senegambian immigrants. Her father came to RI in the late 90’s due to some members in the Senegal community informing him of the jobs and affordable housing the state had to offer. He was among hundreds of Senegabians to move to Rhode Island (most members of the community living in Providence or Pawtucket). Her mother came to Rhode Island in the 2000’s for college at New England Tech. It wasn’t until 2005 when Zainabou was born, that her parents decided to move to Woonsocket due to the city’s affordable housing during the mid 2000’s as well as the large Senegambian community in the city. Her and her family have lived in Woonsocket for over 10 years now and continue to stay due to their beautiful (and affordable) home and the Seneambian community.
The decisions of Zainabou’s family cultivated fertile grounds for her numerous accomplishments and echoing impact that she has made for herself and for the city of Woonsocket. Nabou is a social entrepreneur who loves the work she does which includes: community organizing, public speaking and running her own business. Since the age of 14 has been practicing and executing youth advocacy. Between organizing peaceful protests, community sports tournaments, speaking at town hall meetings, political canvassing, creating community dialogue, hosting poetry events, helping with COVID-19 clinics, hosting the first ever Juneteenth celebration and more, she is truly creating & facilitating change in the city of Woonsocket (all before she has even graduated from High school).
As a young entrepreneur Zainabou has expressed the challenges in the lack of economic growth opportunities in Woonsocket saying, “business is slow, it’s not efficient as owning a business in Providence or Warwick”. In addition to economic challenges, she has also faced the challenge of a poor education system in the city. Her parents had a hard time finding good education for their family. Nabou has been to two highschools outside of the city and currently drives 25-35 minutes to school everyday. While her parents are deciding to keep her brother in private school and her sister in charter schools because of this challenge.
Changes Zainabou hopes to see in Woonsocket include: more active businesses in the community, more bus stops, more after school programs, more social workers at schools and more mental health services within communities. She admits that even though her efforts, projects and events have been positively received by the city, she has yet to receive the turn out of volunteers from the community that she has needed.
As a first generation immigrant Nabou has experienced imposter syndrome paired with a personal identity crisis. However through her building connections with friends and coming together to commune in shared struggles she has learned to not only accept but be proud of her culture. A culture she keeps alive through traditions of food, music, and language, all of which bring her closer to home while simultaneously keeping her identity alive.