New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Meet Abdourahmane Doumbouya, 26 year old Senior Software Support Engineer and Musician from New Bedford.
Abdourahmane, also known as Abdou, moved to the United States in the December of 1996 from Senegal, West Africa, after a quick stay in France. As a kid he always felt a barrier between himself and others, as a young, black, Muslim living in the country. In Africa, he had the freedoms of a teenager and had to revert back to doing the things children do here.
He found that once he stopped trying to fit in with everyone around him, he found himself and actually started to make friends. This was all great until the unfortunate events of 9/11, where he was treated as an outcast, even by some teachers, for weeks.
As most children who are immigrated to the states, he found himself without documentation. The attacks on 9/11 made it even harder for his family to get him any type of citizenship with added security measures put into place. As all of his friends were getting their licenses and picking out colleges, Abdou felt alone once again, even making excuses to why he couldn’t join in these activities with them. During this time, he really poured his life into making music, not only to cope with these struggles but to give a voice to those who were stuck in the same situation.
It wasn’t until 2012, where after working multiple jobs under the table and trying to just get by he was covered until President Obama’s Dream Act, which failed twice in Congress before he put it into effect with an Executive Order. This allowed for children who didn’t have the option to come into the country and had excelled in school to become a legal resident in the United States.
Shortly after he began his career working for LogMeIn where he is a high level support engineer on two of their products, Rescue and BoldChat. Aside from that his music career is able to now reach heights he couldn’t get to in the past in fear of facing deportation. Recording between Boston, New York, and LA he is hoping to put out two albums this year under his moniker ‘Caliph.’ He hopes that his music becomes the voice for the millions of others who struggle just as he did to make a place in this world.
“If what I am leaving in this world changes one person’s life for the better, then I’ve done my job. I hope to do that and positively impact the world.”
Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com
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