Giulia Fabbri

In the last decade, digital platforms have assumed an increasingly

central role in social movement strategies and in political engage-
ment, both as media of communication and information and as

tools for establishing global connections. In Italy, social media are
increasingly used by Black Italian women writers, activists, and

artivists to draw attention to issues traditionally under-
represented in mainstream communication, such as racism, citizen-
ship, sexism, and intersectional discrimination. Digital narratives

and debate initiatives on social media allow for the creation of

transnational solidarity networks and strengthen the forms of off-
line anti-racist and feminist activism. Analyzing the digital content

produced by Espérance Hakuzwimana Ripanti, Djarah Kan, and Oiza
Queens Day Obasuyi – such as the Facebook Live format “Non me
nero accorta”, and Facebook and Instagram posts – this article
examines how social media are reconfiguring social and cultural
activism by creating a space where intersectional and decolonial
epistemologies are produced.

In this article the author explores the cultural movement called Afrofuturism, tracing its origins, features, simbology, and its historical and political meanings. Starting from the (supposed) discoursive gap between African and African American people on one side and technology and science fiction on the other, this paradigm addresses themes related to the intersection of African Diaspora and African cultures with technology and science fiction, with the aim to recover the history of slavery and racism through the projections into alternative space-time contexts. In particular, the author explores the feminist afrofuturism perspective in order to examine the specific oppression and cultural production of African and African American women. In doing so, the author analyzes the development of afrofuturism in Italy, focusing on the work of the singer and beatmaker Karima 2G.

In this article the author explores the path and the evolution of race and racism studies in Italy from the early 1990s to the present day. 1990 represents a turning-point in this field of study: until then the racial question and structural racism had not represented a significant research topic within the Italian academic context. With the beginning of the new decade and under the impulse of social and cultural factors a new academic production begins, which reveals specific features and implements groundbreaking theories and methodologies from overseas. The article, therefore, aims to trace the different phases of this path, underlining the strong connection between the theoretical production and the historical, social, political and cultural context within which it is included.

Oltre a un complesso sistema di rapporti di potere di natura sociale, politica ed economica, il colonialismo ha prodotto anche un apparato di costruzioni discorsive relative alla nerezza e ha svolto una funzione centrale nel processo di strutturazione dell’identità italiana come bianca in modo omogeneo. Tali costruzioni hanno plasmato uno specifico immaginario ancora oggi pervasivo che reifica specifici processi di razzializzazione.
Attraverso una prospettiva intersezionale, il volume rintraccia l’articolazione delle categorie sociali del genere e della razza in relazione alla cultura visuale contemporanea. In particolare, l’indagine si focalizza sul modo in cui la razza viene visualizzata e, dunque, sulla stretta relazione tra la perce-zione delle categorie razziali e i processi visuali. Attraverso l’analisi di una serie di immagini proprie della cultura di massa italiana contemporanea (pubblicità e fotografie), viene mostrato come tali fonti ripropongano un immaginario coloniale relativo alle rappresentazioni delle donne nere, che pone i soggetti all’interno di specifici processi di ipersessualizzazione e di negazione dell’agency. La visualità è dunque un campo all’interno del quale si riproducono le costruzioni razziali e di genere, ma si configura anche come uno spazio in cui tali costruzioni possono essere contestate. In quest’ultima direzione si situano pratiche artistiche “controvisuali”, come il progetto di Karima 2G, cantante italiana di origine liberiana che sviluppa un’autorappresentazione dirompente e oppositiva della nerezza.