What does it mean to be both African and European? Author Johny Pitts hosts a six part series exploring major European cities and the art, politics and history ...
On the last leg of the Afropean Podcast’s journey, Johny arrives in the city of romance, Paris France, home to Europe’s largest Black population outside of London. He links up with neo-soul legends Hélène and Célia Foussart (Les Nubians) to talk about Black empowerment through music, follows the route of Black History walking tour to learn about the whitewashing of French heroes with Black heritage such as author of The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas, and pays a visit to academic Olivette Otele, who breaks down why its a problem to refuse to acknowledge Black citizens who aren’t deemed ‘exceptional’.
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5 - Lisbon
Johny arrives in Lisbon, deconstructing the myth of the ‘good coloniser’ through conversations with innovators and intellectuals of African descent in Portugal. He hears from Kalaf Epalanga of the band Buraka, who pioneered the frenetic Angolan afro-techno musical genre kuduro and then speaks to artist and activist Raquel Lima, whose research on slave rebellions in the former Sao Tome colony inform her resistance to social inequality in the present day.
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4 - Stockholm
In Stockholm, where Swedish-style social democracy has positioned the country as a world leader in development aid and refugee intake, Johny hears the complicated ways African voices are marginalised. With Minna Salami, he compares her term ‘Afropolitan’ with his term ‘Afropean’, and discusses challenging European intellectual hegemony through ‘sensuous knowledge’. And with musicians Stephen Simmonds and Sofia Janberg, he enjoys a more rhythmic examination of the Black Swedish experience.
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3 - Berlin
Johny finds himself at the fault-line of the 20th century. Berlin is where Cold War divisions between East and West and colonial histories continue to leave a mark on both German and African identities. Celebrated soul singer Joy Denalane shares stories about her upbringing near the former Berlin Wall, partying and crafting her musical identity in local nightclubs while having to dodge neo-Nazis from East Germany. And in the Wedding neighbourhood, internationally-renowned curator Bonaventure Ndikung discusses African art and explains the problematic context behind streets named after African countries and German colonisers.
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2 - Amsterdam
Johny takes a Black Heritage tour along Amsterdam’s canal-lined landscape to understand how a Dutch national identity can champion progressive politics, yet remain unwilling to properly acknowledge four centuries of colonial expansion. Along the way, he speaks to Vincent de Kom, the great great grandson of Anton de Kom, anti-Nazi freedom fighter and one of the first to write about Dutch-imposed slavery in Suriname. We also hear from Akwasi, whose brand of hiphop melds Ghanaian and Dutch influence into a textured, sonic concoction. Written and hosted by Johny Pitts, the producer and composer is Femi Oriogun-Williams. A Reduced Listening and Afropean co-production.
What does it mean to be both African and European? Author Johny Pitts hosts a six part series exploring major European cities and the art, politics and history of their Black communities.
Experience Europe through a lens often missing from tourist guides and official national narratives. Each episode dives deep into a different capital city: Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Stockholm, Lisbon and Paris.
The Afropean Podcast is a co-production by Afropean and Reduced Listening. It is written and presented by Johny Pitts. The producer, sound designer and composer is Femi Oriogun-Williams. The assistant producer is Charlie Towler and the executive producer is Chris Elcombe. With thanks to National Geographic for their support of Season 1.
You can read more stories from Black Europe in Afropean: Notes From Black Europen which is out now, published by Penguin in the UK and translated into French, Spanish, Italian, German, Polish, Dutch and Portuguese. Afropean Journal, a photographic essay bringing together 20 years of images and ephemera from Johny's work, is out now published by Morel. And you can contribute your own story to the website Afropean.com.
Netherlands