Talking Black Europe, identities and languages: A conversation with Emmanuelle Maréchal (co-creator of Blackcoffee Podcast)

Following the murder of George Floyd in the USA by police, on 25 May 2020, Black Lives Matter protests and demonstrations were held all over Italy. Italians and primarily Black Italians occupied streets and squares not just to condemn what happened in the USA but to say that Italy is not immune to racism. Acknowledging that diverse forms of racism operate in Italy, they aimed to assert that, starting from citizenship rights and recognition, Black people in Italy experience denials and violations on a daily basis. This was probably the most evident proof of the sense of community surfacing among Black Italians. In recent years, young Black Italian people have started using social media (especially Instagram) to open up about their stories and experiences. By doing this, they have started reflecting on their multicultural identities. These are not fixed or rooted in a specific place but are complex, multifaceted and mobile. I had the opportunity to discuss these issues with Emmanuelle Maréchal, the co-creator of Blackcoffee Podcast which was first released during the pandemic, in May 2020. Together with Ariam Tekle, an Eritrean-Italian director born and raised in Milan, they created a podcast to freely talk about Blackness in Italy. Emmanuelle and Ariam decided to interview Black Italians who would narrate their stories to counter what is generally published in the Italian press. Their main purpose is to show that Black identities have many facets. Emmanuelle is French Cameroonian. She was born in Cameroon and she grew up in France, in Bordeaux. She moved to Bologna, Italy, to study at the University of Bologna. Later she also lived in Munich and London. While growing up, both Emmanuelle and I mainly navigated white spaces. Thus, we had somehow to learn what it means to be Black