Transatlantic Slavery

A section of a print of the Brookes Slave Ship diagram dated 1791 forms part of the collection in the Wilberforce House Museum in Hull, England. According to the museum the print is arguably one of the most recognisable images from the campaign to abolish the Transatlantic Slave Trade in Britain. The publication of this image provided the public with a clear visual representation of conditions on board slave ships for the first time. August 2019 marks 400 years since the slave trade to North America began. Photo: Russell Boyce/Reuters.

Goliardic youth

On Wednesday, August 15, 2018 three young people, including two minors, shot pellets from a window in Aprilia, a town south of Rome, Italy and wounded a Cameroonian man in the foot. The incident follows the killing of a Moroccan man in the same city last July 29, when three men — who later said they took him to be a thief — decided to take justice into their own hands. With respect to Wednesday’s shoot-off, the three young people deny any racial reason.

A young man removes graffiti reading “Free Mandela” from a wall of King’s College Chapel in the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England in 1965. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned in 1964 for opposing the Apartheid of the South African government and was not released until 1990. He later became South Africa’s President. Photo © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images.

• Ylenia Gostoli, 9 shootings in 50 days: Italy’s ugly face of racism, Deutsche Welle, August 17, 2018

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

The Wikipedia page on “Racism in Italy” recaps the story of racism in Italy, from the infamous “racial laws” promulgated in 1938 till the racists attacks, shootings and murders in 2018.

The goliards

Minorities including a one-year-old Roma child shot following far-right gains, but discrimination often unacknowledged. [Read more].

• Ylenia Gostoli, In post-election Italy, violent racist attacks becoming routine, Al Jazeera, August 7, 2018

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

• Jamiles Lartey, Oppression in America: “To root this out we need a movement against racist policies”, The Guardian, June 6, 2018

Demonstrators protest outside the Starbucks cafe in Philadelphia, United States where last April 12 two black men were led away in handcuffs after the manager called police, saying the men refused to order anything. After the fact, the Starbucks chief executive Kevin Johnson came to Philadelphia to apologize to the men. He also announced that more than 8,000 Starbucks stores in the U.S. would close on the afternoon of May 29 so nearly 175,000 employees can get training against racial bias. Photo: Ron Todt/AP.

Birds of the feather flock together

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?”, U.S. President Donald Trump roared, after being presented with a bipartisan proposal to restore protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and all of Africa. Furthermore, he said he wants immigrants “who speak English”, preferably from Norway. In the meantime, Trump has had to cancel his visit to the United Kingdom next month to open the new U.S. Embassy in London, due to fears of mass protests.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s hair shines as he speaks at a cabinet meeting in the White House in Washington, D.C., United States. Photo: AFP/Jim Watson.

Outdoor Theatres

Cape Town councillor June Frans surveys an open-air toilet in Khayelitsha, South Africa.

For Yellows Only

• Matthew Weaver and agencies, Air China magazine condemned over “racist” guide to London, The Guardian, September 7, 2016

Air China magazine warns London visitors to avoid ethnic minority areas. Photo: CNBC (@CNBC).

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Italy debates how law must tackle racism as Chinyery Emmanuel is granted asylum after husband’s death The wife of a Nigerian man beaten to death in Italy has been granted refugee status in Italy, as the country debates how society and lawmakers should respond to racism. Italy’s interior ministry announced on Friday that Chinyery Emmanuel had been given asylum a day after her husband, Emmanuel Chidi Namdi, died from injuries sustained in the attack in Fermo, a small town in central Italy. [Read more].

• Rosie Scammell, Widow of Nigerian man beaten to death in Italy granted refugee status, The Guardian, July 8, 2016

Emmanuel Chidi Namdi & his wife-to-be, Chinyery Emmanuel
Photo: Facebook

Mississippi Burning

• Paolo Gallori e Chiara Nardinocchi, Fermo, difende la compagna da insulti razzisti. Nigeriano picchiato a morte da ultrà locale | Fermo, Italy: Nigerian defends his girlfriend by racist assault. Fermana ultra hitted him to death, la Repubblica, July 6, 2015

Emmanuel Chidi Namdi, 36-year-old, who escaped Boko Haram together with his wife-to-be Chinyery, 24-year-old, was hitten to death by an Italian ultra yesterday in Fermo, Italy. The violence of the Fermana ultra broke out when the Nigerian defended Chinyery by a racist assault, both verbal and physical. Both Emmanuel and Chinyery had requested asylum in Italy and were presently housed at the Archbishop’s seminary in Fermo. [Read more].

Emmanuel & Chinyery (won’t marry anymore)
Photo © ANSA