Black travel experiences in Europe

Photo and copyright: Lola Akinmade
How do black people experience travelling in Europe? Do they feel stared at, feel welcome, or is it a bit of both. And in which Western European countries do they feel most comfortable?

To find out I sampled the experiences (2008 and 2009) from Rick Steves’s Minority Travelers Forum. Most experiences are from African-Americans who visited Europe.

I could have asked photographer and travel writer Lola Akinmade about her travel experience, but on her blog are all the answers. In pictures and in stories. See Lola's blog Geotraveler's Niche. So I stayed on Steves's forum.

To get a big picture of all the experiences I placed the reactions in the categories negative, neutral and positive. Negative means when someone felt being treated negatively. Neutral means, no problems. Positive speaks for itself.


Click on the image to enlarge

1. In England or the UK – Most travellers had a great time. No stares, hardly any discrimination. With 2 negative and 9 positive reactions the absolute winner.

2. Germany – Second best with 1 negative reaction, 1 neutral and 3 positive reactions.

3. The Netherlands – One traveller felt very race conscious in the Netherlands. With 2 negative reactions, 1 neutral and 3 positive reactions third place.

4. France - Very mixed responses. Most black travellers liked it, but the French language barrier remained. Most Americans had neutral feelings about France, but over all they weren’t negative. With 2 negative reactions, 7 neutral and 4 positive reactions fourth place.

5. Italy – Here things started to get dramatically negative. Some loved Italy, others were less positive. Some reported being stared at. To put it in perspective, 4negative reactions, 2 neutral and 3 positive. Fifth place

6. Spain – This country is considered the worst Western European travel destination by most African-Americans on the forum. Most travellers see Spain as a very racist country. However one traveller was aware of racial climate in Spain, but still went. He had a great time in Spain. With 6 negative reactions, 2 neutral and 3 positive reactions it’s a country that leaves a lot of black travellers with some bad memories, but with good ones as well.

Countries as Belgium, Zweden, Austria, Creece and Ireland I didn't include because there were just one or two reactions.

Of course you can’t get a good impression if you have nine responses or less of each country. And it also depends where travellers had their experiences: big city or country side.

Minority
Lola Akinmade is using her blackness to experience traveling to the max. In an interview she explained why she loves traveling as a minority. "Being able to seamlessly move because people automatically assume I’m a local impoverished immigrant allows me to observe and immerse without sticking out like a sore thumb in some places. I get to experience the true attitudes of locals towards others very different from them – both great and bad.

I have experienced everything from utmost rejection to gawks of fascination that a lot of bright-eyed backpackers could never endure. It is at the low times I question the purpose of travel and then Mark Twain’s quote always comes to mind….“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."…… Mark Twain."
Read the whole interview here

First black Miss England sparks controversy

Rachel Christie is the first Miss England who is black. Christie, 20, a heptathlete from London, is the niece of Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Linford Christie.

But her election has already sparked controversy. Not because she is black, but because she won with only nine votes from the public. The runner up won the public vote with 2,013 votes. But in spite of low public vote the organisers chose Rachel Christie as Miss England 2009.

The organisers defended their vote. Angie Beasley, director of Miss England, said the public played only a part in the contest, choosing one of the 15 top finalists with this vote amounting effectively to a seventh judge in the final selection. Read Organisers defend Miss England vote

See Uk blog Mad news for some black responses.

Black French celebrities attend Trace TV event

Photo and copyright: Régis Durand de Girar

The French urban media organisation Trace has moved to a new location in Paris. On July 8th Trace celebrated the event by throwing a party for French urban celebs and media officials. Almost 300 people attended the event. The French blog Fxgpariscaraibe made full a photo report of the day. For the photos click here. (On the photo: Vicelow de Saïan from the Supa Crew and Virginie Koné from Trace.)

Humorous videos of white and black racism

The video ‘racism in the elevator’ from Reckless Tortuga is a humorous video about an irritating situation. The video is about the situation where a white woman is clutching her purse when a black man is around.




The other video is about black racism. It’s about the situation where a black man who wears a suite is seen as a white man, an uncle tom or an ‘elitist’ by an other black person. The best part of the video is the end.

Very creative Japanese video

Summer news. The Japanese band Sour made a very creative video with webcam shots of their fans. The video is great, but don't forget the music.

This music video was shot for Sour's 'Hibi no Neiro' (Tone of everyday) from their first mini album 'Water Flavor EP'. The cast were selected from the actual Sour fan base, from many countries around the world. Each person and scene was filmed purely via webcam. (youtube)

Saw it on Noah Sow blog

The Michael Jackson memorial was impressive

I've watched the Michael Jackson memorial, very impressive. A Dutch commentator said, it looked as if the black community took him back. And somehow it felt that way too. Especially the speech of Rev. Al Sharpton was powerful. He was right about that Michael Jackson paved the way for a lot of black people, including Obama.

Fresh Off The Boat, the film debut of Femi Oyeniran (UK)

A teenager joins his mother and siblings from Nigeria but struggles to adapt to an alien way of life in London

Femi's short film "Fresh off the boat" has been nominated for Film London's Battle of the Boroughs(BoBs). It is currently being developed into a TV series

This short film doesn't only gives you a short glimpse in one of the many black communities in London, but also in the daily live of black teenagers at school and on the streets. You can see the whole film. Fresh of the boat

For a broader view on this film read the post of Shadow And Act

Michael, we salute you too

Here's the video of the rehearsal two days before his death. Thanks to CNN for the footage. CNN reports that there is over 100 hours of rehearsal footage.

NewsOne.com covered the Apollo Theater Tribute to Michael Jackson the King of Pop. Those in attendance included Rev. Al Sharpton, film-maker Spike Lee, and of course his loyal and devoted fans of all ages.

The memorial service will be held on tuesday July 7th. Live broadcast in Europe will start at around 7pm.



Apollo Theater Tribute to Michael Jackson

The nominees of the Trophées des Arts Afro-Caribéens 2009 (France)

On June 26th the nominees for the ‘Les Trophées des Arts Afro-Caribéens’ were disclosed. See list below.

Les Trophées des Arts Afro-Caribéens (The Afro-Caribbean Arts Awards) is the annual French award ceremony for black cultural achievements. Since 2006 The Good Music Association has organized the award ceremony, formerly les Césaire de la Musique, to pay tribute to the founding father of the Negritude movement, and to promote cultural diversity of French Afro-Caribbean arts in the fields of cinema, music, literature ...

Although the name Afro-Caribéens refers to Afro-Caribbeans, artists from the overseas department Reunion and from the former French colonies in Africa are also nominated.

The award ceremony will be held on September 21th 2009 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. It will be preceded by a public vote.
For more information go to ‘Les Trophées des Arts Afro-Caribéens’

Nominated in the categories

Artiste de l’année (Artist of the year)
Patrick Saint-Eloi
Tanya Saint-Val
Davy Sicard
Rokia Traoré

Meilleur groupe (Best group)
Baster
Amadou et Mariam
Magic System
Ti Kabzy

Révélation de l’année (Revelation of the Year)
Erik
Medhy Gerville
Jessy Matador
Sandra Nkaké

Album de l’année (Album of the year)
Madagasker - Ziskakan
Victor Démé - Victor Démé
Ouvrir mes ailes - Medhy Custos
Inspiration information vol 3 - Mulatu Astatké

Meilleur documentaire (Best documentary)
Katanga business de Thierry Michel,
Le pays à l’envers de Sylvaine Dampierre
Jacques Roumain d’Arnold Antonin
Mémoire vaudou d’Irène Lichtenstein
Tu n’as rien vu à Kinshasa de Mwézé Dieudonné Ngangura

The other categories are: best clip, literature, best essay, best novel, and best fiction.

Les Trophées des Arts Afro-Caribéens 2008

Les Trophées des Arts Afro-Caribéens au Théâtre du Châtelet
Geüpload door LesCesaire.

N.E.R.D. get the plug pulled on them at the Glastonbury Festival (UK)

Summer news. The organisers of Glastonbury Festival pulled the sound on N.E.R.D. The band were an half hour late starting their performance (June 26). But band leader Pharrell Williams told the audiance the band would play the full set. That didn't happend. Read the full story here

N.E.R.D is an American rock, funk and hip hop band of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. The Glastonbury Festival in the UK is the biggest outdoor festival in the world.

N.E.R.D made a video about the economic crises called Sooner or Later. The sound is so European.

Sooner or later

Ital food: Eating vegetarian like a Rasta man

In urban city life vegetarian food with a touch of spirituality is seen as food for tree huggers only. But vegetarian Ital food of Rastafarian roughnecks of Jamaica is – of course – a different story.

Since I watched the video of London chef Hassan Defour going back to his Caribbean food roots and meeting Rasta farmer Iral Axum, I am interested in being a little bit green.

So what is Ital food? Is is just health food or more?

Ital is a term used by Rastas, derivated from "vital", who means a natural and sane way of life. One aspect of Ital is the Ital food: because the body is a temple, you should not eat unpure food. Also you must take care of your body, cause it is Jah creation.

Ital is generally a vegan diet, even if some Rastas eat fish. Some prohibit salt, some not.

In all cases, Ital prohibits pork, preservatives, chemical ingredients.
Ingredients have to be the most natural possible.

In Jamaica, Ital cooking is most often inspired from Indian and African cooking. But lot of recipes can be "Italized" if prepared only with vegetables and natural ingredients. (Rasta meal.)

The video

See more videos at UK Itzcarribean.com

In the video Iral made a shake called ‘Live forage’, it's made of:
Raw oats
Peanuts
Sesame seed
Pumpkin seed
Raisins
Molasses
Bananas

(It tastes very sweet!)

To end, some recipes links and comments

Ital on Wikipedia

Earthcultureroots - 24 Ital recipes from a Yard man (Jamaican). But there is much more to see on the site Earth Culture Roots

Rastafarism - More then ital 10 recipes, information about Rastafarism and a dictionary of Rasta slang.

Jamaican Vegetarian Food…Ital! Jamaican-recipes - 5 Ital recipes, some anecdotes and Rasta wisdom from a Jamaican

The Rasta Cookbook: Vegetarian Cuisine Eaten With the Salt of the Earth

The dread library "Ital is Vital"- A long interesting story about Ital food with recipes from The Rasta Cookbook. If you want check out the recipes first, go the last page and scroll up!

The reggae vibe - 1 recipe! Ital stew

Rastaseed – information about the Ital ingredients

Dem belly full: the evolution of ital food - An article about the Ital eating habits of Bob Marley

Where's the Revolution? - A vegetarian food experience in the Caribbean

Michael Jackson is dead

Michael Jackson, the show-stopping singer whose best-selling albums -- including "Off the Wall," "Thriller" and "Bad" -- and electrifying stage presence made him one of the most popular artists of all time has died. Michael Jackson, August 29 1958 – June 25 2009, became 50.

Rest in peace and thanks for the music and the memories.

This is my pick too.


Man In The Mirror 2

Dutch commemoration of the abolition of slavery in Amsterdam

On July 1, 2009, the Dutch institute for slavery history, NiNsee, will organise for the eighth consecutive year the National Memorial of the Dutch Slavery Past. On July 1, 1863 slavery was abolished in the former Dutch colonies of Suriname and Netherlands Antilles. Thus ended a period of more than 200 years of slavery in the colonies. This part of Keti Koti (broken chains) includes the formal commemoration at the monument in the Oosterpark in Amsterdam.

This memorial has now developed into a ceremony with speeches by ministers on behalf of the government, the mayor of Amsterdam, representatives of the Ghanaian, Surinamese, Antillean and Aruban governments. The ceremony will begin at 10:45 to 12:30, from 14:30 to 18:30 there will be live performances

Keti Koti program Amsterdam (Dutch)