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Afropean: Notes from Black Europe
'Afropean. Here was a space where blackness was taking part in shaping European identity ... A continent of Algerian flea markets, Surinamese shamanism, German Reggae and Moorish castles. Yes, all this was part of Europe too ... With my brown skin and my British passport - still a ticket into mainland Europe at the time of writing - I set out in search of the Afropeans, on a cold October morning.
Afropean is an on-the-ground documentary of areas where Europeans of African descent are juggling their multiple allegiances and forging new identities. Here is an alternative map of the continent, taking the reader to places like Cova Da Moura, the Cape Verdean shantytown on the outskirts of Lisbon with its own underground economy, and Rinkeby, the area of Stockholm that is eighty per cent Muslim. Johny Pitts visits the former Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow, where West African students are still making the most of Cold War ties with the USSR, and Clichy Sous Bois in Paris, which gave birth to the 2005 riots, all the while presenting Afropeans as lead actors in their own story.
Afropean is an on-the-ground documentary of areas where Europeans of African descent are juggling their multiple allegiances and forging new identities. Here is an alternative map of the continent, taking the reader to places like Cova Da Moura, the Cape Verdean shantytown on the outskirts of Lisbon with its own underground economy, and Rinkeby, the area of Stockholm that is eighty per cent Muslim. Johny Pitts visits the former Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow, where West African students are still making the most of Cold War ties with the USSR, and Clichy Sous Bois in Paris, which gave birth to the 2005 riots, all the while presenting Afropeans as lead actors in their own story.
393 pages, Paperback
First published June 6, 2019
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8359 people want to read
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July 14, 2019
Now, I'm openly biased when I say I loved this book. Having studied European Studies with French and Spanish I could probably count the number of works by and or centered Black Europeans that I studied throughout my 4 years of study on one hand. One of those being an extract from Franz Fanon’s `The Wretched of the Earth’ from an introduction to French culture in history module from my first year. (At 8:30am on a Monday morning, hardly anyone showed up…)
Approaching this book as someone who has searched high and low for black European narratives, has travelled across some of the cities mentioned and was even inspired to do so watching Cecile emeke’s Strolling documentary series on Youtube, it was a relief to finally see a book like this in print.
Part memoir, part travelogue, the book reads as a reimagined travel guide which comes face to face with the glossy images that we are usually accustomed to a European utopia. At times, it offers a stark and realistic additions to beloved favourites such a Lonely Planet guides notably in his notes from Lisbon: ‘Lisbon may be a masterpiece but look closer at the brushstrokes and you’ll find some troubling details’.
The beautifully shot black and white photography of Afropeans living authentically and going about their daily lives captures the many complexities and difficulties of living in Europe as part of the African diaspora and the overlapping identities. From Guerlain protesters assembling in the streets of Paris to a statue of Pushkin illuminated by copper street lights in Moscow’s Pushkinskaya Square, they wonderfully uncover the existence of an African presence in Europe that has survived for hundreds of years, as well as the modern-day impacts of navigating this complicated continent that many have made home.
Approaching this book as someone who has searched high and low for black European narratives, has travelled across some of the cities mentioned and was even inspired to do so watching Cecile emeke’s Strolling documentary series on Youtube, it was a relief to finally see a book like this in print.
Part memoir, part travelogue, the book reads as a reimagined travel guide which comes face to face with the glossy images that we are usually accustomed to a European utopia. At times, it offers a stark and realistic additions to beloved favourites such a Lonely Planet guides notably in his notes from Lisbon: ‘Lisbon may be a masterpiece but look closer at the brushstrokes and you’ll find some troubling details’.
The beautifully shot black and white photography of Afropeans living authentically and going about their daily lives captures the many complexities and difficulties of living in Europe as part of the African diaspora and the overlapping identities. From Guerlain protesters assembling in the streets of Paris to a statue of Pushkin illuminated by copper street lights in Moscow’s Pushkinskaya Square, they wonderfully uncover the existence of an African presence in Europe that has survived for hundreds of years, as well as the modern-day impacts of navigating this complicated continent that many have made home.
April 13, 2020
I purchased this book on first sight during a visit to Daunt Books in London last September, as the topic was of great interest to me. As an African American who has traveled to western Europe 2-4 times a year for the past 13 years, visited seven countries, and intends to retire there by the end of this decade I feel very comfortable and well treated as an American tourist, but I also recognize that my experience is very different from Blacks from Africa and the Caribbean, particularly recent ones, who are often viewed very differently than I am. I have also largely failed to connect with Black Europeans, save for those in the Netherlands of Afro-Surinamese descent, who often mistake me from one of them and greet me in Dutch, because of our similar mixed racial backgrounds and appearance. I read this book in order to gain greater insight about the Black communities in Europe, and their experiences living there as native born citizens and recent immigrants.
The television presenter, photographer and author Johny Pitts is an Englishman with a particularly unique background, as his father is a Brooklyn born singer in the moderately successful R&B group The Fantastics, who met Johny's Irish mother in a club in the town of Sheffield in South Yorkshire. He grew up within two cultures that he could not completely identify with, due to his mixed race, and he was subjected to racist abuse during his childhood. As he reached adulthood he became interested in the experiences of Blacks living in Europe. After years of saving money he embarked on a five month journey, in October of 2010 or 2011, I believe, to discover everyday and better known Afropeans living in major cities in Europe, to learn about their personal experiences and to determine what they all shared as members of the African diaspora living outside of their ancestral lands.
According to Pitts, the term "Afropean" was a 1990s creation of a Belgian-Congolese artist, Marie Daulne, and the American musician David Byrne, and it is the name of his blog (https://www.afropean.com), which he uses as a forum for himself and others to share stories, photographs and personal accounts of what it means to be Black in Europe.
'Afropean' begins with a description of Sheffield and Pitts' experiences growing up there, and the journey begins with a Eurostar train ride from London to Paris. Pitts and the reader, who is made to feel like a travel companion and confidant of the author throughout the book, join a small group of middle class African Americans on a tour of Black Paris, which was notable for the often boorish and prejudicial attitudes of the tourists toward their poorer and less polished Black brothers and sisters. He spends most of his time in Clichy-Sous-Bois, a well known banlieue (suburb) which is in close geographic proximity to the French capital, but isolated from it due to poor transportation to central Paris, poverty and a high concentration of African immigrants, which left Pitts dispirited in comparison to his experiences in the city. A short SNCF (French Railways) train takes him to Brussels, and a visit to a much more diverse and welcoming community in the Belgian capital, and subsequent rail journeys take him to Amsterdam, Berlin, Stockholm, Marseille and the French Riviera, and Lisbon. He also makes a brief airplane journey to Moscow, whose citizens have become extremely hostile and violent towards African university students after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and he escaped serious injury or death after he chose not to enter the car of a Muscovite who wanted to give him a "ride".
Pitts describes several vibrant multicultural communities where Blacks and Whites live harmoniously, such as Château Rouge in Paris, Matongé in Brussels, and the area that houses the Young African Artist Market in Berlin. He also travels to impoverished and segregated neighborhoods, including the Bijlmer section of Amsterdam and Cova da Moura, a favela on the outskirts of Lisbon, in addition to Clichy-Sous-Bois. He also describes how the people living in the communities came to live there, their experiences in their countries, and notable Afropeans from these areas, past and present, including the soul jazz duo Les Nubians, Otto and Hermina Huiswoud, who were members of the Harlem Renaissance but emigrated to Amsterdam after World War II due to their communist activities, and British author Caryl Phillips, who he met for the first time in Brussels. He also describes the experiences and homes of famous people who lived in these areas, particularly authors James Baldwin and Claude McKay, along with the notorious Congolese dictator Joseph Mobutu.
'Afropean' was an enlightening look into the lives and struggles of ordinary and famous Black Europeans, and I enjoyed the journey I took alongside its author. I'll follow his online blog, in order to learn more about my Afropean future brothers and sisters, and copy him by making more of an effort to engage ones I encounter during my future visits to the continent.
The television presenter, photographer and author Johny Pitts is an Englishman with a particularly unique background, as his father is a Brooklyn born singer in the moderately successful R&B group The Fantastics, who met Johny's Irish mother in a club in the town of Sheffield in South Yorkshire. He grew up within two cultures that he could not completely identify with, due to his mixed race, and he was subjected to racist abuse during his childhood. As he reached adulthood he became interested in the experiences of Blacks living in Europe. After years of saving money he embarked on a five month journey, in October of 2010 or 2011, I believe, to discover everyday and better known Afropeans living in major cities in Europe, to learn about their personal experiences and to determine what they all shared as members of the African diaspora living outside of their ancestral lands.
According to Pitts, the term "Afropean" was a 1990s creation of a Belgian-Congolese artist, Marie Daulne, and the American musician David Byrne, and it is the name of his blog (https://www.afropean.com), which he uses as a forum for himself and others to share stories, photographs and personal accounts of what it means to be Black in Europe.
'Afropean' begins with a description of Sheffield and Pitts' experiences growing up there, and the journey begins with a Eurostar train ride from London to Paris. Pitts and the reader, who is made to feel like a travel companion and confidant of the author throughout the book, join a small group of middle class African Americans on a tour of Black Paris, which was notable for the often boorish and prejudicial attitudes of the tourists toward their poorer and less polished Black brothers and sisters. He spends most of his time in Clichy-Sous-Bois, a well known banlieue (suburb) which is in close geographic proximity to the French capital, but isolated from it due to poor transportation to central Paris, poverty and a high concentration of African immigrants, which left Pitts dispirited in comparison to his experiences in the city. A short SNCF (French Railways) train takes him to Brussels, and a visit to a much more diverse and welcoming community in the Belgian capital, and subsequent rail journeys take him to Amsterdam, Berlin, Stockholm, Marseille and the French Riviera, and Lisbon. He also makes a brief airplane journey to Moscow, whose citizens have become extremely hostile and violent towards African university students after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and he escaped serious injury or death after he chose not to enter the car of a Muscovite who wanted to give him a "ride".
Pitts describes several vibrant multicultural communities where Blacks and Whites live harmoniously, such as Château Rouge in Paris, Matongé in Brussels, and the area that houses the Young African Artist Market in Berlin. He also travels to impoverished and segregated neighborhoods, including the Bijlmer section of Amsterdam and Cova da Moura, a favela on the outskirts of Lisbon, in addition to Clichy-Sous-Bois. He also describes how the people living in the communities came to live there, their experiences in their countries, and notable Afropeans from these areas, past and present, including the soul jazz duo Les Nubians, Otto and Hermina Huiswoud, who were members of the Harlem Renaissance but emigrated to Amsterdam after World War II due to their communist activities, and British author Caryl Phillips, who he met for the first time in Brussels. He also describes the experiences and homes of famous people who lived in these areas, particularly authors James Baldwin and Claude McKay, along with the notorious Congolese dictator Joseph Mobutu.
'Afropean' was an enlightening look into the lives and struggles of ordinary and famous Black Europeans, and I enjoyed the journey I took alongside its author. I'll follow his online blog, in order to learn more about my Afropean future brothers and sisters, and copy him by making more of an effort to engage ones I encounter during my future visits to the continent.
June 14, 2019
76th book for 2019.
An enjoyable, informative UK black-backpackers trip through Western Europe.
While I enjoyed the book, I would have liked deeper and broader overview (there is nothing on Eastern Europe—Russia gets a mention—and nothing on Italy or Greece). For instance, the only entry to Germany, was Berlin, where Pitts seemed to have divided time between Left-Radicals and the Jamaican community. I know there was a much more interesting and nuanced story here both for Berlin and Germany, which was missing from Pitts account; which makes me suspect this was also true to a greater or lesser extent for the other cities he visited. There was also little discussion of the refugee crisis and how this has complicated questions of "race" and immigration throughout Europe.
On the other hand, what is here is interesting, and it certainly part of a necessary broader conversation about what it means to be Black and European, at a time when many people are attacking the virtues of Europe, especially as a place of multicultural mix.
3-stars.
An enjoyable, informative UK black-backpackers trip through Western Europe.
While I enjoyed the book, I would have liked deeper and broader overview (there is nothing on Eastern Europe—Russia gets a mention—and nothing on Italy or Greece). For instance, the only entry to Germany, was Berlin, where Pitts seemed to have divided time between Left-Radicals and the Jamaican community. I know there was a much more interesting and nuanced story here both for Berlin and Germany, which was missing from Pitts account; which makes me suspect this was also true to a greater or lesser extent for the other cities he visited. There was also little discussion of the refugee crisis and how this has complicated questions of "race" and immigration throughout Europe.
On the other hand, what is here is interesting, and it certainly part of a necessary broader conversation about what it means to be Black and European, at a time when many people are attacking the virtues of Europe, especially as a place of multicultural mix.
3-stars.
March 10, 2020
I'm deeply torn by this book, which I found enthralling, informative, and innovative, but which is also littered with the sorts of problems that arise when the methodology is really thought through. The first 200 pages or so left me captivated, but the book began wearing out its welcome when the many flaws became more easily discernible.
The crux of the issues center around the fact that Pitts is a very good journalist, a so-so historian, and an extremely poor philosopher. Had he really stuck to relaying his experiences, and telling the stories of the people with which he came into contact, and maybe highlighted some of the historical situations, as he did, without attempts to proffer his own philosophical outlook, the book would have been tighter and far more valuable.
For example, on pages 360 and 366 Pitts notes that "blackness" is a construct, and therefore its value as a signifier of culture is limited, nuanced, and problematic. On this I agree, but while Pitts seems to recognize this fact in statements on pages 360 and 366, there is zero recognition of this through the rest of the book, and in fact such nuance actually seems to be missing from his perspective. Instead, he spends most of the book picking racial fights (at one point admitting he was doing so in order to have something to write about). Black is not monolithic, nor is Africa, nor is black Europe. Even the concept of "Afropean" can be problematic in this regard. Pitts wants solidarity among black people in Europe, over against the rise of nationalism, but it's exactly solidarity and empathy with the majority - meaning whites - and the forging of more racial integration, that will stomp down nationalism and ignite unity across the continent. This was also true of the civil rights movement in the U.S. The goal cannot be to hunker down and get even more tribal. Race is thrust upon people, but is not a necessary determining factor in who someone is at their core, as seen by white Africans who feel more African, and black Europeans who feel more European. Race doesn't work that way. Culture is created by; 1) a group 2) located in the same space 3) at the same time. Race is insignificant to the process, aside from the fact that groups are often forced into places and times by societal ignorance, such as many of the communities he meets in the book. His own perspective is also, at times, deeply racist, such as his thoughts about white and interracial groups at the Zap Mama and Public Enemy concerts, or his insistence that "black art" (if there is such a thing) is vibrant while "white art" (if there is such a thing) is lifeless and dull (p. 133, where he refers to European museums as "soulless"). His own ignorance seeps from these admissions, but he spends much of the book laying confident claim to his many assertions.
His ignorance also extends to his thoughts on places he has no position to judge, such as his ignorant stereotyping of the entirety of the American people and social situation (p. 212), and his philosophical depth seems wrapped up in a faux wokeness informed more by twitterverse platitudes than by deeply engaged critical thought (p. 292).
There is a deep irony in a lot of this. On page 330, when Pitts compares W.E.B. Du Bois and Claude McKay. Pitts seems to agree with McKay that Du Bois was really only effective as a racial propagandist, while McKay was the one who really understood art, and maybe, therefore, people. But, Pitts, in this book, in my opinion, is himself guilty of a fair amount of racial propaganda and surface level thinking about the true function of race, art, culture, and class in Europe. Now, I'm no expert myself. I'm an American born white guy, married to a black woman, and we have lived in multiple European countries, and I've read widely on the true nature and function of race, and been educated at a few universities both in America and 3 separate European countries. I'm no expert, but I know enough from my experiences to know that Pitts is more confident of some of his philosophical meanderings in the book than he should be.
This may sound overly critical, and I wish it wasn't, because I honestly genuinely enjoyed the book. But, I think, my biggest critique of all is that Pitts focused so much on looking for the sensational aspects of neglect and inequality that he said far too little about the ways that these communities actually LIVE. Like, the Sudanese cook in Berlin, who made Sudanese/German fusion food, or, the people listening to music in Lisbon into long hours of the night, or, the people near Brussels (about 15 minutes from my current home) who paint and play music. I wanted far more about what they do, and what they love, to be brought in along side of the extremely important discussions regarding the inequality aspects of race and class. The book really felt, by the end, that it was beating a single drum rather than painting a beautiful picture, and I think the book would have been stronger had it provided more nuance.
The crux of the issues center around the fact that Pitts is a very good journalist, a so-so historian, and an extremely poor philosopher. Had he really stuck to relaying his experiences, and telling the stories of the people with which he came into contact, and maybe highlighted some of the historical situations, as he did, without attempts to proffer his own philosophical outlook, the book would have been tighter and far more valuable.
For example, on pages 360 and 366 Pitts notes that "blackness" is a construct, and therefore its value as a signifier of culture is limited, nuanced, and problematic. On this I agree, but while Pitts seems to recognize this fact in statements on pages 360 and 366, there is zero recognition of this through the rest of the book, and in fact such nuance actually seems to be missing from his perspective. Instead, he spends most of the book picking racial fights (at one point admitting he was doing so in order to have something to write about). Black is not monolithic, nor is Africa, nor is black Europe. Even the concept of "Afropean" can be problematic in this regard. Pitts wants solidarity among black people in Europe, over against the rise of nationalism, but it's exactly solidarity and empathy with the majority - meaning whites - and the forging of more racial integration, that will stomp down nationalism and ignite unity across the continent. This was also true of the civil rights movement in the U.S. The goal cannot be to hunker down and get even more tribal. Race is thrust upon people, but is not a necessary determining factor in who someone is at their core, as seen by white Africans who feel more African, and black Europeans who feel more European. Race doesn't work that way. Culture is created by; 1) a group 2) located in the same space 3) at the same time. Race is insignificant to the process, aside from the fact that groups are often forced into places and times by societal ignorance, such as many of the communities he meets in the book. His own perspective is also, at times, deeply racist, such as his thoughts about white and interracial groups at the Zap Mama and Public Enemy concerts, or his insistence that "black art" (if there is such a thing) is vibrant while "white art" (if there is such a thing) is lifeless and dull (p. 133, where he refers to European museums as "soulless"). His own ignorance seeps from these admissions, but he spends much of the book laying confident claim to his many assertions.
His ignorance also extends to his thoughts on places he has no position to judge, such as his ignorant stereotyping of the entirety of the American people and social situation (p. 212), and his philosophical depth seems wrapped up in a faux wokeness informed more by twitterverse platitudes than by deeply engaged critical thought (p. 292).
There is a deep irony in a lot of this. On page 330, when Pitts compares W.E.B. Du Bois and Claude McKay. Pitts seems to agree with McKay that Du Bois was really only effective as a racial propagandist, while McKay was the one who really understood art, and maybe, therefore, people. But, Pitts, in this book, in my opinion, is himself guilty of a fair amount of racial propaganda and surface level thinking about the true function of race, art, culture, and class in Europe. Now, I'm no expert myself. I'm an American born white guy, married to a black woman, and we have lived in multiple European countries, and I've read widely on the true nature and function of race, and been educated at a few universities both in America and 3 separate European countries. I'm no expert, but I know enough from my experiences to know that Pitts is more confident of some of his philosophical meanderings in the book than he should be.
This may sound overly critical, and I wish it wasn't, because I honestly genuinely enjoyed the book. But, I think, my biggest critique of all is that Pitts focused so much on looking for the sensational aspects of neglect and inequality that he said far too little about the ways that these communities actually LIVE. Like, the Sudanese cook in Berlin, who made Sudanese/German fusion food, or, the people listening to music in Lisbon into long hours of the night, or, the people near Brussels (about 15 minutes from my current home) who paint and play music. I wanted far more about what they do, and what they love, to be brought in along side of the extremely important discussions regarding the inequality aspects of race and class. The book really felt, by the end, that it was beating a single drum rather than painting a beautiful picture, and I think the book would have been stronger had it provided more nuance.
April 21, 2023
Bardzo nierówna książka, której treść idealnie oddaje jej podtytuł- są to bowiem zapiski autora z jego podróży po Europie, często luźne i nietrzymające się jednej linii. Są tu fragmenty eseju, pamiętnika, książki historycznej i niestety taki miszmasz nie do końca się sprawdził. Na pewno można dowiedzieć się z niej wielu ciekawych rzeczy, ale generalnie jest to subiektywny przegląd informacji, z którymi autor chce się podzielić z czytelnikiem. Brakowało mi też szerszej perspektywy i lepszych proporcji, Europa Wschodnie jest np. prawie calkowicie pominięta (poza Rosją), a w tekście wyraźnie czuć perspektywę autora i wpływ jego dotychczasowych doświadczeń na całość książki.
June 15, 2020
I bought this book when it was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize earlier this year, since my purchase it went to win this prize.
I doubt there could have been a more apt time to read this than right now. Johny Pitts (with no book deal at this point, no army of researches, with a shoestring budget) leaves his home in Sheffield to backpack in winter to some European places to search for how Black people live and whether he and others like him have a place in this place dominated by whiteness.
"My skin had disguised my Europeanness; ‘European’ was still being used as a synonym for ‘white’."
Books that deal with questions about belonging are always once I seek out, belonging occupies my thoughts a lot. Yes, this book is part memoir, travelogue, bits of history, encounters, questions, but essentially it is about belonging. Pitts ventures to various places in Europe (and he says himself that he simply could not go everywhere) and recounts some of the things he observes and the people he meets in cities like Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Stockholm etc. He wants to know what it is like to live as a Black person in this place. The encounters are intertwined with Europe's colonial past, the impact of the cold war on countries in Africa, European countries' failure to deal with their legacy of colonial and post-colonial power and exploitation. And he often wonders if he could live there.
Naturally, for each place you could write more, there is more to explore, more to discuss, but this book's remit has never been to be the ultimate book on this topic. It is a conversation starter, a beginning to confront many questions of how we prevent Black (and Brown and other minority groups) from belonging in Europe. You could fill tomes about each country. He delivers a book that will hopefully encourage all of us to look more at the familiar scenes we see all over Europe and ask ourselves: How did this come to be? How do we create a Europe that allows all people living in it to belong? Encouraging me (and hopefully others) to not expect all answers to be delivered on a platter but to explore for ourselves and look beyond the facade of white Europe.
I doubt there could have been a more apt time to read this than right now. Johny Pitts (with no book deal at this point, no army of researches, with a shoestring budget) leaves his home in Sheffield to backpack in winter to some European places to search for how Black people live and whether he and others like him have a place in this place dominated by whiteness.
"My skin had disguised my Europeanness; ‘European’ was still being used as a synonym for ‘white’."
Books that deal with questions about belonging are always once I seek out, belonging occupies my thoughts a lot. Yes, this book is part memoir, travelogue, bits of history, encounters, questions, but essentially it is about belonging. Pitts ventures to various places in Europe (and he says himself that he simply could not go everywhere) and recounts some of the things he observes and the people he meets in cities like Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Stockholm etc. He wants to know what it is like to live as a Black person in this place. The encounters are intertwined with Europe's colonial past, the impact of the cold war on countries in Africa, European countries' failure to deal with their legacy of colonial and post-colonial power and exploitation. And he often wonders if he could live there.
Naturally, for each place you could write more, there is more to explore, more to discuss, but this book's remit has never been to be the ultimate book on this topic. It is a conversation starter, a beginning to confront many questions of how we prevent Black (and Brown and other minority groups) from belonging in Europe. You could fill tomes about each country. He delivers a book that will hopefully encourage all of us to look more at the familiar scenes we see all over Europe and ask ourselves: How did this come to be? How do we create a Europe that allows all people living in it to belong? Encouraging me (and hopefully others) to not expect all answers to be delivered on a platter but to explore for ourselves and look beyond the facade of white Europe.
March 15, 2021
Thought this was just okay.
A travelogue of sorts where Pitts back-packs though Europe looking for aspects related to his term Afropean. The subtitles reads Notes From Black Europe and I felt it was just that, notes.
While definitely an interesting topic, for me the book lacks structure and perhaps even a overall purpose. To be fair, the book doesn't claim to be a definitive study or something but i'd have liked it to provide us with more of one thing or the other.
There are a lot of literary references which are wasted on me. The writing is good and there are plenty of interesting insights but overall it felt more as a series of journalistic articles then a full fledged book. I guess I expected more.
For sure read it if you're interested in this topic though.
A travelogue of sorts where Pitts back-packs though Europe looking for aspects related to his term Afropean. The subtitles reads Notes From Black Europe and I felt it was just that, notes.
While definitely an interesting topic, for me the book lacks structure and perhaps even a overall purpose. To be fair, the book doesn't claim to be a definitive study or something but i'd have liked it to provide us with more of one thing or the other.
There are a lot of literary references which are wasted on me. The writing is good and there are plenty of interesting insights but overall it felt more as a series of journalistic articles then a full fledged book. I guess I expected more.
For sure read it if you're interested in this topic though.
March 5, 2020
I enjoyed this book on many levels.
I am a fan of factual literature but sometimes factual books can feel like they came from the same template: research findings + drawing conclusions (I think its called the translation method).
This book is very different. I was expecting to read about the history of black people in Europe, including statistics, some interviews and lots of dry facts.
I got none of that.
What I did get is a journey across Europe’s key capitals and their history, and it felt like a real experience, like I was there, accompanying the author into the hearts of the most interesting neighbourhoods, discovering the curious facts that have been weaved into the streets and buildings. Some of these neighbourhoods are dark and broken, some colourful and bohemian but all of them described in such a way that I could feel the flavours, smell the smells, feel the street atmosphere.
This book reminded me of a layered cake. Johny weaves into his description of the places the history of the place, of the people and the political reasons that led to the communities being shape the way they did.
He talks to people on the streets and tells their stories, if not for him, many of these fascinating stories would’ve died with the portagonist. Visits to Berlin and Amsterdam will stay with me for a long time.
This book beyond being interesting is so human that I was reading it breathless, waking up early in the morning to read before the day starts. Googling constantly to find out more about the historical events, amazing places and people mentioned.
I was reading, and a colourful mosaic of new information was forming in my mind, constantly changing like a beautiful kaleidoscope that creates new patterns that I suddenly can understand. This sensation is the reason I love to read, and it was so strong reading this book.
I added many new writers and books to my ‘to-read’ list. Colonialism is a subject that I know little about, beyond the common knowledge, and now its firmly in my topics to find out more about. I hope I can find someone who writes about colonialism in the same way Johnny writes. Any suggestions?
I highly recommend this book. And I think everyone should read it, black or white. Here is one of my favorite quotes:
”That is when a connection happens, you need to want to know more about the history that has never been taught to you, and seek out those who lived through it and encourage them to share their memories. What motivates this is when you realize that history is connected to who you are in a very real way, that knowing history is gonna help you know more about yourself and understand why you are so marginalized, socioeconomically, culturally and politically.”
I am a fan of factual literature but sometimes factual books can feel like they came from the same template: research findings + drawing conclusions (I think its called the translation method).
This book is very different. I was expecting to read about the history of black people in Europe, including statistics, some interviews and lots of dry facts.
I got none of that.
What I did get is a journey across Europe’s key capitals and their history, and it felt like a real experience, like I was there, accompanying the author into the hearts of the most interesting neighbourhoods, discovering the curious facts that have been weaved into the streets and buildings. Some of these neighbourhoods are dark and broken, some colourful and bohemian but all of them described in such a way that I could feel the flavours, smell the smells, feel the street atmosphere.
This book reminded me of a layered cake. Johny weaves into his description of the places the history of the place, of the people and the political reasons that led to the communities being shape the way they did.
He talks to people on the streets and tells their stories, if not for him, many of these fascinating stories would’ve died with the portagonist. Visits to Berlin and Amsterdam will stay with me for a long time.
This book beyond being interesting is so human that I was reading it breathless, waking up early in the morning to read before the day starts. Googling constantly to find out more about the historical events, amazing places and people mentioned.
I was reading, and a colourful mosaic of new information was forming in my mind, constantly changing like a beautiful kaleidoscope that creates new patterns that I suddenly can understand. This sensation is the reason I love to read, and it was so strong reading this book.
I added many new writers and books to my ‘to-read’ list. Colonialism is a subject that I know little about, beyond the common knowledge, and now its firmly in my topics to find out more about. I hope I can find someone who writes about colonialism in the same way Johnny writes. Any suggestions?
I highly recommend this book. And I think everyone should read it, black or white. Here is one of my favorite quotes:
”That is when a connection happens, you need to want to know more about the history that has never been taught to you, and seek out those who lived through it and encourage them to share their memories. What motivates this is when you realize that history is connected to who you are in a very real way, that knowing history is gonna help you know more about yourself and understand why you are so marginalized, socioeconomically, culturally and politically.”
August 23, 2020
“ I was sort of English, almost British, kind of European …I started to seek out answers about my European identity in relation to my black experience.”
After ten years scraping together enough money to take time off work, Johnny Pitts left his childhood home in Sheffield in search of Europe’s black communities. A backpacker on a budget, Pitts couldn’t afford the contemporary equivalent of a grand tour, so this isn’t a comprehensive look at ethnic minority experiences across Europe, it’s partial but still forceful and insightful. Pitts brings in an array of factual background material but his writing’s often more impressionistic than analytical, although he does provide a framework for thinking about his project in the opening chapters. Instead he expertly mingles the literary and the political with more personal questions of identity.
Staying in cheap hotels and hostels, he has a close encounter with racism in the Parisian suburbs, unexpectedly meets writers Linton Kwesi Johnson and Caryl Philips, and visits locations significant to James Baldwin, Franz Fanon and Claude McKay; ultimately producing this intelligent, accessible piece that recently won the Jhalak Prize - previously held by authors like Renni Eddo-Lodge and Guy Gunaratne. His website Afropean, Travels in Black Adventures in Black Europe is a great continuation of his project that brings in a range of voices and perspectives from across Europe:
http://afropean.com/category/travel/
After ten years scraping together enough money to take time off work, Johnny Pitts left his childhood home in Sheffield in search of Europe’s black communities. A backpacker on a budget, Pitts couldn’t afford the contemporary equivalent of a grand tour, so this isn’t a comprehensive look at ethnic minority experiences across Europe, it’s partial but still forceful and insightful. Pitts brings in an array of factual background material but his writing’s often more impressionistic than analytical, although he does provide a framework for thinking about his project in the opening chapters. Instead he expertly mingles the literary and the political with more personal questions of identity.
Staying in cheap hotels and hostels, he has a close encounter with racism in the Parisian suburbs, unexpectedly meets writers Linton Kwesi Johnson and Caryl Philips, and visits locations significant to James Baldwin, Franz Fanon and Claude McKay; ultimately producing this intelligent, accessible piece that recently won the Jhalak Prize - previously held by authors like Renni Eddo-Lodge and Guy Gunaratne. His website Afropean, Travels in Black Adventures in Black Europe is a great continuation of his project that brings in a range of voices and perspectives from across Europe:
http://afropean.com/category/travel/
January 14, 2022
Insightful and oftentimes reaffirming. I’ve been meaning to read Afropean for a while now, since I saw Johny presenting this book at the literature festival in Berlin in 2020. Though sadly, only virtually.
I found Afropean especially interesting because I’ve been to so many of the cities Johny has traveled to to write this book. And I realise now that I’ve often perceived them, sometimes superficially, through my whiteness and the classic touristic perspective, meaning seeing only what they want you to see. The only thing where I would probably disagree is Marseille, which with its macho and religious vibe didn’t necessarily struck me as the friendliest city for queers.
I’ve learned a lot from this book and of course it includes only limited perspectives from a self-funded journalist, but it’s definitely a great place to start.
P. S. Get the audiobook if you can, it’s read by Johny.
I found Afropean especially interesting because I’ve been to so many of the cities Johny has traveled to to write this book. And I realise now that I’ve often perceived them, sometimes superficially, through my whiteness and the classic touristic perspective, meaning seeing only what they want you to see. The only thing where I would probably disagree is Marseille, which with its macho and religious vibe didn’t necessarily struck me as the friendliest city for queers.
I’ve learned a lot from this book and of course it includes only limited perspectives from a self-funded journalist, but it’s definitely a great place to start.
P. S. Get the audiobook if you can, it’s read by Johny.
August 11, 2020
I always dreamed of writing a book like this one day. But Johny got there first, and has done it far better than anything I had dreamt of.
The book is a journey through African Europe, part travel literature, part history. We’re taken through Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Stockholm, Moscow, Marseille and the French Riviera, Lisbon, and Gibraltar.
What makes this special is not just the fact that it tells the oft untold stories of black people in Europe, but also that it’s a working class saga. We’re not taken to shiny postcard Europe, the Europe of tourists and state-sanctioned history. We’re taken to the place where real people live, where rich and robust communities exert their right to life and their right to exist on the planet earth, despite the high myths of the wealthy, with their careful fictions of who counts as human, of who gets what rights.
We’re taught of many black figures, political movements, and historical events associated with the spots we encounter. The book is excellently researched and the history never feels forced. It always feels like the natural reflections of an ambling intellectual; though, of course, there’s no way he could have learnt everything in the book from his travels alone.
This is a book that needed to be written. So long as the two land masses are positioned as they are on this planet, Africans and Europeans will forever be in flux. From the first emigration of Ancient Africans to the vicious exploitation of slavery and colonialism, the two continents have forged bonds sealed by blood and exploration. Today’s Afropeans are the contemporary manifestation of these bonds. It’s an identity we must reckon with, whether we like it or not.
The book is a journey through African Europe, part travel literature, part history. We’re taken through Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Stockholm, Moscow, Marseille and the French Riviera, Lisbon, and Gibraltar.
What makes this special is not just the fact that it tells the oft untold stories of black people in Europe, but also that it’s a working class saga. We’re not taken to shiny postcard Europe, the Europe of tourists and state-sanctioned history. We’re taken to the place where real people live, where rich and robust communities exert their right to life and their right to exist on the planet earth, despite the high myths of the wealthy, with their careful fictions of who counts as human, of who gets what rights.
We’re taught of many black figures, political movements, and historical events associated with the spots we encounter. The book is excellently researched and the history never feels forced. It always feels like the natural reflections of an ambling intellectual; though, of course, there’s no way he could have learnt everything in the book from his travels alone.
This is a book that needed to be written. So long as the two land masses are positioned as they are on this planet, Africans and Europeans will forever be in flux. From the first emigration of Ancient Africans to the vicious exploitation of slavery and colonialism, the two continents have forged bonds sealed by blood and exploration. Today’s Afropeans are the contemporary manifestation of these bonds. It’s an identity we must reckon with, whether we like it or not.
November 4, 2022
Più che consigliato. È tanto un libro, quanto un viaggio ma è anche un bagno in mezzo alla molitudije di esperienze e storie di vita vissuta più che mai.
February 24, 2024
“I didn't want only street festivals and carnivals, I wanted work commutes and the banal humanity of everyday life, which is closer to the reality of the black experience in Europe: we do more than just dance, sing and grin.”
A fascinating account of Black communities in European capitals and their current position in society. Pitts shares a lot of information about (colonial) history, sociology and politics and mixes that with interviews with people he meets along the way.
From frustrated teenagers in the banlieues of Paris, the motivated staff of the Black Archives in Amsterdam, to the cautious students of Moscow University, Pitts questions them about their understanding of blackness in Europe. What is the Afropean identity?
The writing is quite dense, academically sometimes, but I learned a lot from this book. I already knew about the infamous Africa Museum in Tervuren (Belgium) and Germany performing horrific scientific experiments in Namibia during their colonial regime, but other (historic) facts were completely new.
Rastafarianism, Pushkin's African heritage, the role the Soviet Union played during decolonisation (and America's violent response), Claude McKay's connection to Marseille, and much more.
Pitts made me look at Europe, its history and its citizens with different eyes, and I'm really grateful for that: 3,75/4 stars.
"Their friendship [between author Caryl Phillips and poet Linton Kwesi] personified what the construct of Black Britain should be at its core: an unifying search for truth and identity against the backdrop of colonial hegemony and misinformation, the creation or unveiling of a history that has been disfigured by the place you call home."
A fascinating account of Black communities in European capitals and their current position in society. Pitts shares a lot of information about (colonial) history, sociology and politics and mixes that with interviews with people he meets along the way.
From frustrated teenagers in the banlieues of Paris, the motivated staff of the Black Archives in Amsterdam, to the cautious students of Moscow University, Pitts questions them about their understanding of blackness in Europe. What is the Afropean identity?
The writing is quite dense, academically sometimes, but I learned a lot from this book. I already knew about the infamous Africa Museum in Tervuren (Belgium) and Germany performing horrific scientific experiments in Namibia during their colonial regime, but other (historic) facts were completely new.
Rastafarianism, Pushkin's African heritage, the role the Soviet Union played during decolonisation (and America's violent response), Claude McKay's connection to Marseille, and much more.
Pitts made me look at Europe, its history and its citizens with different eyes, and I'm really grateful for that: 3,75/4 stars.
"Their friendship [between author Caryl Phillips and poet Linton Kwesi] personified what the construct of Black Britain should be at its core: an unifying search for truth and identity against the backdrop of colonial hegemony and misinformation, the creation or unveiling of a history that has been disfigured by the place you call home."
October 23, 2019
Johnny Pitts travels across Europe, looking at how people of African descent and their communities have fared in that continent both historically and in the contemporary setting. From Britain to Russia and many countries in between, their stories are sometimes funny and at other times not so.
As a person whose work takes me across most of Europe, and having visited many of the counties he mentioned, I was able to identify with a number of the things highlighted in the book.
Overall, I found this book enjoyable, and it would be another of my recommendations.
As a person whose work takes me across most of Europe, and having visited many of the counties he mentioned, I was able to identify with a number of the things highlighted in the book.
Overall, I found this book enjoyable, and it would be another of my recommendations.
February 24, 2022
Absolutely brilliant, insightful and fascinating. I recommend the audiobook which is read by the author. This is a simply brilliant piece of articulate, educated northern working class writing, and is not to be missed. I could have continued to follow this, highly personal journey for twice as long. The only negative I have for this book is the lack of an Italian Afropean experience, something the Author acknowledges at the start of the book. Maybe an area that another author (or the same one preferably) can cover at a future date.
This book is a well deserved prize winner.
This book is a well deserved prize winner.
June 2, 2023
Genialna opowieść o historii kontynentu europejskiego i jej współczesnych skutkach z perspektywy jej czarnych mieszkańców. Historia, której nie uczy się w szkołach bo przyjmuje się bialocentryczną perspektywę. Historia momentami do cna smutna, bo pokazująca jak wymazujemy i spychamy na peryferie znaczą cześć mieszkańców Europy. Zdecydowanie warto dla poszerzenia wiedzy. Wiąże się jednak z nieprzyjemną refleksja nad tym, że jako biali europejczycy wciąż cechują się kolonialną mentalnością i dopóki to się nie zmieni to będzie istniało pole do rozkwitu rasizmu i podziałów społecznych.
January 23, 2023
Took my time with this but so so worth it. He finds the perfect balance in his narration, intertwining his personal experiences and anecdotes from black Europe with historical evidence. Johnny Pitts is a cool guy & Marseille is now top of the holiday list
December 23, 2022
Phenomenal. How does he make drizzly, wet and cold Europe sound so appealing on every page. I’ve now got a travel list and a reading list longer than the night train to Lisbon. Writing BANGS, history BANGS, context BANGS, final sentence BANGS.
April 24, 2022
There is a wide plethora of books on Afro-American experiences these days but “Afropean” by Johny Pitts is the first one that covers what it means to be Black in some European cities in the 21st century. The book was published in 2019 and is by no means a comprehensive analysis. Over the course of several months, Pitts, Sheffield-born and -based author and photographer, travelled to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Stockholm, Moscow, Marseille and Lisbon to find out how Afropeans live there.
Afropean experience is characterised by great diversity - and as Pitts says, it is much more nuanced and complex that the Afro-American one; in each European country there is a multitude of unique factors playing a role. In his journey Pitts meets ordinary people and scholars, first generation immigrants as well as those who have had roots in Europe for generations. He visits mainly cities of past colonial powers and reflects on how colonialism impacted current Afropeans. What struck him in many places was the obsession of some Black activists with the American version of activism, totally inapplicable to the European context. Another was racism among people of non-Western origin: “One of the few things that disappointed me about some of the communities I visited on my trip was that they hadn’t managed to connect with each other to solidify some kind of meaningful transnational grassroots movement against the structural oppression of their new home. I was frustrated at how comically disorganised and corrupt African consulates in Europe were, and constantly shocked by how divided the Arab world was, how the Turks looked down on the Kurds, how Ethiopians and Eritreans sometimes despised each other, how Moroccans often loathed Algerians. Back in Sheffield I have heard Yemenis say that Kosovans are lazy and dirty. I’ve heard Jamaicans use the word ‘Paki’, seen privately educated Africans look down their noses at people of Caribbean heritage, not to mention the shadism that exists within black communities”. I must say that I have noticed the same over the years and it always shocked me too.
“Afropean” is a gripping book if you accept that upon finishing it you will be left with more questions than answers. It’s an account of a thought-provoking journey into some Black communities, of which we need more. We need to hear more stories from all members of our societies, as diverse as people themselves are. There is a beautiful and poignant thought expressed in the last chapter: “History, as they say, is only told by the victor, and if you look at any travel section of a bookshop you might add: and the victor’s descendants. People who, to quote Henri Cordier in the introduction to Dunn’s book “wrote the history of their little world under the impression that they were writing WORLD history [emphasis my own]”. As a reader, I am very grateful to Pitts for expanding this little world a bit and adding to the world history, as well encouraging others to do the same.
Afropean experience is characterised by great diversity - and as Pitts says, it is much more nuanced and complex that the Afro-American one; in each European country there is a multitude of unique factors playing a role. In his journey Pitts meets ordinary people and scholars, first generation immigrants as well as those who have had roots in Europe for generations. He visits mainly cities of past colonial powers and reflects on how colonialism impacted current Afropeans. What struck him in many places was the obsession of some Black activists with the American version of activism, totally inapplicable to the European context. Another was racism among people of non-Western origin: “One of the few things that disappointed me about some of the communities I visited on my trip was that they hadn’t managed to connect with each other to solidify some kind of meaningful transnational grassroots movement against the structural oppression of their new home. I was frustrated at how comically disorganised and corrupt African consulates in Europe were, and constantly shocked by how divided the Arab world was, how the Turks looked down on the Kurds, how Ethiopians and Eritreans sometimes despised each other, how Moroccans often loathed Algerians. Back in Sheffield I have heard Yemenis say that Kosovans are lazy and dirty. I’ve heard Jamaicans use the word ‘Paki’, seen privately educated Africans look down their noses at people of Caribbean heritage, not to mention the shadism that exists within black communities”. I must say that I have noticed the same over the years and it always shocked me too.
“Afropean” is a gripping book if you accept that upon finishing it you will be left with more questions than answers. It’s an account of a thought-provoking journey into some Black communities, of which we need more. We need to hear more stories from all members of our societies, as diverse as people themselves are. There is a beautiful and poignant thought expressed in the last chapter: “History, as they say, is only told by the victor, and if you look at any travel section of a bookshop you might add: and the victor’s descendants. People who, to quote Henri Cordier in the introduction to Dunn’s book “wrote the history of their little world under the impression that they were writing WORLD history [emphasis my own]”. As a reader, I am very grateful to Pitts for expanding this little world a bit and adding to the world history, as well encouraging others to do the same.
April 27, 2024
Nie spodziewałem się po tej książce tego, co ostatecznie zaoferowała.
Mimo iż temat czarności jest wszechobecny w mediach, rozmowach, anegdotkach i żarcikach, to jako osoby urodzone w tak homogenicznym społeczeństwie jak Polska nieczęsto mamy okazję zastanowić się nad tym, jak czarna kultura i życie osób czarnoskórych wyglądają na co dzień.
Reportaż Pittsa, mimo iż miejscami lekko chaotyczny i przepełniony mało znaczącymi anegdotami, przede wszystkim skłania do przemyśleń i rozważań. Nie zliczę ile razy musiałem zamknąć książkę w czasie lektury, aby zastanowić się w ciszy nad poruszaną kwestią.
Bardzo angażująca!!
9/10
Mimo iż temat czarności jest wszechobecny w mediach, rozmowach, anegdotkach i żarcikach, to jako osoby urodzone w tak homogenicznym społeczeństwie jak Polska nieczęsto mamy okazję zastanowić się nad tym, jak czarna kultura i życie osób czarnoskórych wyglądają na co dzień.
Reportaż Pittsa, mimo iż miejscami lekko chaotyczny i przepełniony mało znaczącymi anegdotami, przede wszystkim skłania do przemyśleń i rozważań. Nie zliczę ile razy musiałem zamknąć książkę w czasie lektury, aby zastanowić się w ciszy nad poruszaną kwestią.
Bardzo angażująca!!
9/10
May 10, 2021
↠ 2.5 stars
February 6, 2021
I initially hesitated giving "Afropean" 4 stars, because I felt Johny Pitts sometimes overdid it with stylistic devices. But the book's mission and contents are so insightful, so relevant, that I soon stopped caring about the occasional theatrical and needlessly long sentence. The stories of Pitts' travels through an otherwise largely invisible and seemingly disjointed Black Europe are at times touching or funny, at others infuriating or painful, but always thought-provoking.
Pitts combines sharp observations and interpretations of his own experiences with historical perspective and well-chosen references to diverse authors, thinkers and artists from the past and the present. Through his approach, he manages to convey the complex histories and identities surrounding "Afropea", while always leaving the reader to consider for herself whether such a community even really exists, whether it could, and whether it should.
Pitts intended to connect "the disparate people and locales of black Europe in a single narrative, allowing each area and community to 'speak' to one another on digestible terms" (p.332). This is by no means an easy task, but I believe he has succeeded, at least as pertains to the major cities of western Europe (eastern Europe is largely absent, which can hardly be held against Pitts given the tremendous undertaking of the book as is, but I do hope we'll see explorations of black eastern Europe in the future!). His work opens the door to countless follow-up questions about co-existence in Europe that would otherwise be difficult to formulate in the first place. It is clearly not intended to provide definitive answers, but rather insights into the mind of one black European and a starting point for further exploration and personal reflection.
I imagine I will regularly be returning to sections of this book (I have never earmarked as many pages as in "Afropean") as part of my own journey toward an understanding of what it means to be black in Europe.
Pitts combines sharp observations and interpretations of his own experiences with historical perspective and well-chosen references to diverse authors, thinkers and artists from the past and the present. Through his approach, he manages to convey the complex histories and identities surrounding "Afropea", while always leaving the reader to consider for herself whether such a community even really exists, whether it could, and whether it should.
Pitts intended to connect "the disparate people and locales of black Europe in a single narrative, allowing each area and community to 'speak' to one another on digestible terms" (p.332). This is by no means an easy task, but I believe he has succeeded, at least as pertains to the major cities of western Europe (eastern Europe is largely absent, which can hardly be held against Pitts given the tremendous undertaking of the book as is, but I do hope we'll see explorations of black eastern Europe in the future!). His work opens the door to countless follow-up questions about co-existence in Europe that would otherwise be difficult to formulate in the first place. It is clearly not intended to provide definitive answers, but rather insights into the mind of one black European and a starting point for further exploration and personal reflection.
I imagine I will regularly be returning to sections of this book (I have never earmarked as many pages as in "Afropean") as part of my own journey toward an understanding of what it means to be black in Europe.
May 8, 2022
I think this book never quite overcame the limitations it listed in the introduction - the dearth of working-class, immigrant Afropean representation, the dominance of African-American racial narratives and luminaries, and ultimately its genre as travelogue. The Afropean concept felt a bit flimsy in the end. Furthermore, the figure of the author was altogether too prominent, his editorializing of events often forced and his reflections a tad tedious. I really would have liked to hear more about his subjects - the best parts of the book were the longer-form interviews (which the author of course had to interpolate with the correct takes on the subject). Something along the lines of Svetlana Alexievich's interview work for Afropea would have been a more fruitful approach in my estimation. I could never quite shake the sense that I was only seeing Pitts' projections of a place rather than the place itself. I wanted to hear more from the residents of Marseille, for example, to get beyond the author's charmed impressions.
I still learned a lot, the writing was decent, and there was a sense of coherence despite the different locales. Hopefully the project will mature (I haven't looked at the website yet) and spark more work on the topic.
I still learned a lot, the writing was decent, and there was a sense of coherence despite the different locales. Hopefully the project will mature (I haven't looked at the website yet) and spark more work on the topic.
July 11, 2020
I really like Johny Pitts and loved the photographs in this book. The whole premise for this book is really interesting - travelling Europe and visiting areas where higher numbers of Black people live and trying to understand their experience in different countries and cities.
I though this book was really interesting, and I loved some parts of it - especially the bit where he has dinner with Caryl Phillips and Linton Kwesi Johnson - that was such a delight! I learned a lot and enjoyed Pitt's voice. In general Pitts mixed history with memoir successfully, but sometimes the history sections felt a little dry to me and the more memoir/travelogue were my favourite.
Definitely worth the read and am glad I read it and will look out for more of Pitts work.
I though this book was really interesting, and I loved some parts of it - especially the bit where he has dinner with Caryl Phillips and Linton Kwesi Johnson - that was such a delight! I learned a lot and enjoyed Pitt's voice. In general Pitts mixed history with memoir successfully, but sometimes the history sections felt a little dry to me and the more memoir/travelogue were my favourite.
Definitely worth the read and am glad I read it and will look out for more of Pitts work.
October 31, 2022
I thought I was going to enjoy this book but it exceeded my expectations, so I'm giving it a rare 5 stars. This is such a great book. It is superbly readable and it really broadened my knowledge. Pitts explores Black Europe and the concept of the 'Afropean' from Paris to Moscow to Lisbon. I read this on holiday in Porto, and as I read it I yearned to follow in his footsteps and explore Stockholm, Marseilles and Lisbon. It did make me feel more reluctant to go to Russia, which I have wanted to do for years.
As I read this book I have to admit that part of the reason I enjoyed it so much is because I felt like I identified with the concept of the Afropean that he explores here, as a mixed race guy with African heritage who was born in Germany and who lived there and in Cyprus until moving to the UK at 11 years old. It makes me want to dive into this subculture and explore further.
As I read this book I have to admit that part of the reason I enjoyed it so much is because I felt like I identified with the concept of the Afropean that he explores here, as a mixed race guy with African heritage who was born in Germany and who lived there and in Cyprus until moving to the UK at 11 years old. It makes me want to dive into this subculture and explore further.
October 14, 2020
i will say, positiv overall, men man bliver træt og frustreret af at tingene hele tiden skal trækkes tilbage til amerikanere. elsker james baldwin og josephine baker as much as the next guy, men jeg troede jeg skulle læse om french african diaspora, ikke harlem renaissance? og det skete ikke kun i paris. også moskva, bulgarien, berlin, sverige etc
September 24, 2022
An essential read. An insightful window into the black heritage, present and future of Europe.
July 22, 2023
slightly clumsy but so important
August 28, 2021
WOW...
Review coming soon!
Review coming soon!
November 13, 2019
There are abnormally high mental-health issues among black communities in Europe, but my travels had been largely sustained by a very steadfast sanity which so many black men and women had managed to maintain despite often living under such bizarre conditions.
A real journey through Europe and a journey through the history of Europe and Africa, their proximity and fault lines exposed in the lives of so many black men and women who have in fact lived as Europeans for many decades and made this continent great. It is impressive that Pitts at such a young age has accumulated so much knowledge on the two continents, his frequent references to art, philosophy, history and geography woven into his travels as a backpacker. But it is in the description of his encounters that he excels, among the people, in the hostels, at clubs, in markets, at bistros, where he meets local Africans now Europeans, depicting their lives within a range of fortunes, some great, second generation, others less so, still living in the European third world of the Lisbon favelas. Racism is exposed everywhere, even in the so called liberal land of the Netherlands and Sweden. Perhaps his best passages for me are his stay in Lisbon and his trip to Holland. Those revealed for me a Europe that is totally still in denial about itself and blind to its hatred and insecurity. There's a long way to go still. Great first read from this author. I hope to see more from him.
A real journey through Europe and a journey through the history of Europe and Africa, their proximity and fault lines exposed in the lives of so many black men and women who have in fact lived as Europeans for many decades and made this continent great. It is impressive that Pitts at such a young age has accumulated so much knowledge on the two continents, his frequent references to art, philosophy, history and geography woven into his travels as a backpacker. But it is in the description of his encounters that he excels, among the people, in the hostels, at clubs, in markets, at bistros, where he meets local Africans now Europeans, depicting their lives within a range of fortunes, some great, second generation, others less so, still living in the European third world of the Lisbon favelas. Racism is exposed everywhere, even in the so called liberal land of the Netherlands and Sweden. Perhaps his best passages for me are his stay in Lisbon and his trip to Holland. Those revealed for me a Europe that is totally still in denial about itself and blind to its hatred and insecurity. There's a long way to go still. Great first read from this author. I hope to see more from him.
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