Omar Bah is a Gambian American psychologist, author, former journalist, refugee, and global survivor leader residing in the United States. He is the founder and executive director of the Refugee Dream Center in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. In 2022, he ran for the United States House of Representatives in Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district.
Early life and career
Omar Bah grew up in a small village in The Gambia, where he was one of the few children to attain a high school education. At the age of 21, while the country was under the control of dictator Yahya Jammeh, Bah sought to become a human rights lawyer to fight political corruption and injustice. However, he could only complete two years of the necessary law program in The Gambia, as students had to travel abroad in order to attain the full degree. Instead of pursuing his legal studies abroad, Bah “decided to combine the legal skills he had acquired with his passion to help the community, and became a journalist” in 2000, specializing in court reporting and seeking to strengthen the freedom of the press.
Journalism work
During his first year of work at The Independent newspaper, Bah was kidnapped while reporting on a secret trial taking place at a military barracks. He was attacked, tortured, and confined to a closet-sized cell by soldiers, which left him with several injuries. He was held for a day until several witnesses, including human rights workers and fellow journalists, called for his release.
From 2002 to 2006, Bah wrote a column for The Daily Observer, the largest Gambian newspaper at the time. Bah was frequently targeted by government officials for criticizing Jammeh. After two and a half years, a pro-government editor began to censor Bah’s column. Bah then began publishing articles anonymously on the oppressive regime’s murders and torture practices in an online news site called Freedom Newspaper, which was operated by a Gambian exile in the U.S.
Life as a refugee
In May 2006, Freedom Newspaper’s website and emails were hacked by the government and Bah’s identity was exposed, which led to The Gambia Police Force declaring a national manhunt to find him, as they circulated his name and photograph in the media. On May 29, 2006, at the age of 26, Bah undertook the dangerous journey to escape the country, first passing through Senegal with the help of human rights activists from the Media Foundation for West Africa to arrive at a refugee camp in Ghana, where he was accepted to be resettled in the United States. After spending a year at the refugee camp, Bah arrived in Rhode Island on May 24, 2007 and began his journey to resettlement with the help of the Dorcas International Institute (formerly the International Institute of Rhode Island), the largest immigration service in the state. He began working as an escrow representative at Rhode Island Housing and taking evening classes at The University of Rhode Island’s Providence Feinstein Campus. Bah’s wife, Teddi Jallow, joined him in the U.S. in 2009.
Refugee pioneer work
Despite the challenges of navigating his new life in the United States, Bah found it easier than most refugees because he could already speak, read, and write English as a result of his former career as a journalist. He began volunteering at various organizations to help newly arrived refugees. After a few years, he worked with several refugee community leaders to establish the Center for Refugee Advocacy and Support, which brought to light the cultural nuances and social determinants of health affecting refugees in Rhode Island. The Center partnered with various health and educational institutions to promote integration, cultural bridge-building, research, and social services for refugees.
Advocacy for safe refugee housing
Through his work with the Center for Refugee Advocacy and Support, Bah discovered that refugee children were subject to the highest rate of lead poisoning per capita among all children in Rhode Island. He worked with local leaders to encourage federally-funded refugee resettlement agencies to change their policies in housing placement for refugees, coordinating with US State Department officials to ensure this policy change was realized in Rhode Island. A new policy ensured that refugees were placed only in lead-safe certified homes. From 2010 to 2015, Bah was invited to serve on the board of the Childhood Lead Action Project to strengthen safe housing for the refugee community. The Rhode Island Department of Health awarded Bah the Healthy Housing Advocacy Award in 2011 for his efforts.