1952/2013 The Reunion
On October 26, 1952, The Pakistan League of America held a special dinner in honor of Congressman Arthur Klein at the League’s clubhouse on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The Pakistan League’s membership consisted predominantly of former ship workers from what was then East Pakistan (what would later become the independent nation of Bangladesh), along with their wives, who were predominantly African American and Puerto Rican, and their American-born children. On July 21, 2013, as part of a shoot for the documentary “In Search of Bengali Harlem”, Director Vivek Bald and Co-Producer Alaudin Ullah staged a reunion of sorts; they assembled a group consisting of the children and grandchildren of several of the men and women who were present at the 1952 banquet. These included family members of Ibrahim Choudry; Idris and Annie Choudhury; Habib and Victoria Ullah; Mohamed Ali; and Masud and Barabara Choudhury. These are some still and video images from the reunion.