A three-part series on Black Italian identity and the Black Lives Matter movement in Italy featuring filmmaker Fred Kuwornu, radio producer and podcaster Ngofeen Mputubwele, and rapper Amir Issaa.
Lecture by Fred Kuwornu: “Black Lives Matter Italy and the Legacy of Italian Colonialism”
October 6, 2020
About Fred Kuwornu
Italian-Ghanaian filmmaker-activist Fred Kuwornu's credits include work on the films of Spike Lee and a series of well-received documentaries on the experience of Black Italians in history and on film.
His comments will address the topic of “Black Lives Matter Italy and the Legacy of Italian Colonialism” and will feature a Q&A session with our students.
Lecture by Ngofeen Mputubwele: "Black Italians Fight to Be Italian"
October 15, 2020
A lecture on the topic of Black culture in Italy, by Ngofeen Mputubwele, producer and narrator of the recently aired New Yorker Radio Hourpiece, “Black Italians Fight to be Italian.” Mputubwele, an attorney, opera singer, and host of Duolingo’s French-language podcast, will talk about his work in preparation for this story, as well as the Afro-Italian bloggers, intellectuals, and writers he met in Italy along the way.
"Vivo per Questo–Home Edition": a conversation with rap artist Amir Issaa
October 26, 2020
A conversation between students of Italian and Italian rap artist Amir Issaa, featuring live performances of Issaa’s songs and a discussion of the relationship between music and anti-racist activism. Issaa has toured the US discussing his music and recently-published biography, and has conducted workshops with university students across the US (a short list: Georgetown U, OSU, Dartmouth College, U Vermont, U Rhode Island, Mount Holyoke College, San Diego State U, Chapman U, U San Diego); he is the only rap artist to date invited to perform at NYU’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Merimò.