Africani europei. Una storia mai raccontata

by Olivette Otélé

La straordinaria storia degli africani europei che rivela antichi e svariati legami tra due continenti.

Nel III secolo d.C. san Maurizio, un egiziano, divenne capo di una leggendaria legione romana. Fin da allora ci sono stati innumerevoli incontri tra quelli che sono definiti «africani» con coloro che vengono definiti «europei». Eppure ancora oggi si ritiene perlopiù che gli africani e gli africani europei siano in Europa una presenza recente. Olivette Otele ricostruisce un ampio retaggio afroeuropeo attraverso le vite di individui comuni e straordinari. Svela così un passato dimenticato, da quello dell'imperatore Settimio Severo a quello di africani ridotti in schiavitù che vivevano in Europa durante il Rinascimento; fino a giungere ai migranti dei nostri giorni che si dirigono verso le città europee. Nell'esplorare una storia che è stata ampiamente trascurata, Otele getta luce su questioni di grande attualità: il razzismo, l'identità, il potere e la resilienza.

Sono stati scritti molti libri preziosi sulle vite dei neri nei contesti geografici più disparati. Ma solo un numero ridotto di essi si occupa nello specifico dell'esperienza delle persone di origine africana in Europa prima dei due conflitti mondiali. Africani europei va a fondo nelle pieghe della storia europea in Africa e, viceversa, della storia africana in Europa, per capire come questi due continenti si siano contaminati a vicenda fin dall'antichità. Un esempio di questo scambio mai proficuo per la parte africana: san Maurizio veniva dall'Egitto e divenne capo di una legione romana nel III secolo d.C. ed è infatti spesso raffigurato come un santo dalla pelle nera. Proprio questo è il punto: la storia degli africani in Europa è sempre stata raccontata per eccezionalismi, ovvero singole figure che arrivavano da un altro continente e diventavano protagonisti di storie d'amore, spiritualità e violenza. Olivette Otele invece, per la prima volta, tenta di raccontarne la storia completa, eccezionale perché di tutti. Il suo obiettivo è offrire una molteplicità di storie che siano un punto di partenza per studiare il passato e smantellare l'oppressione razziale nel presente, decifrare connessioni temporali e spaziali, sfatare miti persistenti e riportare alla luce le vite degli afroeuropei. Africani europei è un omaggio a storie – africane, europee e mondiali – di collaborazione, migrazione, resilienza e creatività che aspettavano da secoli di essere raccontate.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Africa, Race, European History, Historical, Audiobook

216 pages, Hardcover

First published October 22, 2020

Reviews

[luce (cry bebè's back from hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

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“The history of African Europeans is vibrant and complex, just as it is brutal.”

Olivette Otélé, who happens to be a professor at my university, is the first black woman in the UK to be appointed to a professorial chair in history. African Europeans is her meticulously researched and illuminating examination of the relationship, past and present, between Europe and Africa. Otélé reveals key figures and connections that have long been overlooked by historians and public discourse. By revealing the lives and experiences of African Europeans throughout the centuries Otélé dispels the popular myth of Europe having an exclusively white historical narrative (which leads many to criticise period/historical dramas that are set in Europe and star non-white characters, claiming that it isn't 'historically accurate').

In the first chapter, 'Early Encounters: From pioneers to African Romans', Otélé states the following: "From confrontations to collaborations, the relationship between Africans and Europeans has been tumultuous since the third century". She discusses figures such as the Queen of Sheba and St Maurice (an Egyptian and leader of the Roman Theban Legion) as well as African-born Romans such as Emperor Septimius Severus (who was born in Leptis Magna ie Libya) and Marcus Cornelius Fronto. who "paved the way for a strong tradition of African European intellectuals". In the second chapter, 'Black Mediterraneans: Slavery and the Renaissance', Otélé touches upon famous names such as Alessandro de Medici to 'ordinary' ones such as Ursola, a black slave in a Valencian household, who hoped to "buy her freedom".
From the Renaissance Otélé moves onto the following centuries, exploring, and challenging, Europe's shifting perceptions of race and blackness. Otélé also demonstrates the ways in which racism has evolved throughout history.

“From religious artefacts to representations of the magi; from an intellectual in fifteenth-century Granada to the young grime artists of twenty-first-century Britain, African European identities have continuously evolved.”

In the latter half of this book Otélé focuses on more recent history, describing how many European countries refuse to acknowledge systemic racism (as if 'apologising' for their colonial pasts absolves them completely) feigning 'color blindness'. I also really appreciated Otélé's intersectional approach as she always takes into account the different ways in which one's gender and sexuality contributes to the way they are treated by and seen by their society.
The lives, experiences, histories Otélé 'unearths' are riveting. While Otélé does not pose questions to the reader, the histories she 'unearths' are definitely question-inducing. Racism, citizenship, identity, notions of freedom and of belonging all shape the individuals Otélé is writing about.
This is the kind of history book that should become part of the curriculum. Although I did not attend a British school many of my British acquaintances have complained about the lacunae in their studies (especially when it comes to discussing the relationship between Africa and the UK). And I also hope that it will be translated in Italian and many other languages.
I think this an inspiring work that will definitely appeal to those with a 'history' background or to history aficionados.
Otélé is a thoughtful yet objective writer and her work demonstrates incredibly acuity and knowledge.

Many many many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an a copy of this.

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

Updating this as I'm using it as a source in my current research.
This is incredibly well sourced. The author shares her sources so completely that I've been able to track them easily and found the sources do indeed say exactly what us reported and more.
This also tracks early ideas of race & racism to before the crusades. Noting that much is debated in Greek & Roman times about the differences in sexuality in women born in hot climates vs women in colder climates being more frigid. This is scarily relevant to how Black marginalized genders are viewed today in comparison with how white marginalized genders are viewed.

This also finds that what are known today as white Christians would be the first group to tie the 'race' to social characteristics.
White European Crusaders viewed themselves as 'racially' Christian.
Also existed an idea that Christianity removed skin color or washed the person clean inside & out. So Muslims are described using racist stereotyping but not Morisco converts. So the act of converting to Christianity 'whitens' the physical body and soul. There are multiple Medieval plays using this tired theme.
At the sametime a fascination or obsession with the Black body begins to be reflected in artwork of the period.

This book basically tracks Black folks in Europe from Roman times to present. It's fascinating, well sourced and fully able to support its conclusions.
Incredibly well done.
Probably going to reread this.

Truth is I finished this the day after I started it🤷🏾‍♀️
I consumed it like a feast and did not take appropriate notes😭
So I need to add my quotes at a later date.
I felt this encompasses a very full and complete view of history.
Often we are given a peripheral view of history and told that's all that exists.
This bursts that open but doesn't focus on that so much as continues with the story.
So many fabulous quotes.
This is well written and sourced.

[K.J. Charles]

An overview of African-origin people in Europe from Roman times to the present. It's comprehensive in scope, with a lot on eg France and Italy, not just the UK, but very much an overview which rather assumes you'll have an acquaintance with a lot of names eg John Blanke already. The stories that are told are really interesting; basically I'd have liked it to be a lot longer.

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is about an important topic, and as the author is a history professor, I imagine she knows a great deal about it. After reading the book, I am left imagining, however, because good luck gleaning information from it.

The book suffers from a lack of organization on any level: paragraphs, chapters, the book as a whole. I was left with little sense of what the author was trying to say other than that Africa and Europe have a history together, nor was the focus of individual chapters particularly clear, as they leap around in time, place and subject with no transitions.

While the book is sold as a rebuttal to the notion that people of African descent living in Europe are a relatively new phenomenon, kicking off with World Wars I and II, it actually does little to rebut that or even focus on it much. Out of seven chapters, the first two are sort of about that, though also with non-sequiturs like the Roman-governed Egyptians’ war with Nubia, cited as an example of European/African contact. Then it jumps straight from the Roman Empire to the Renaissance. Chapters 3 and 4 focus on European overseas empires and the slave trade, Chapter 5 on the period around the world wars, and Chapters 6 and 7 are all about 21st century activism.

But the biggest problem is with the writing itself; I wouldn’t even call it academic—there’s a bit of jargon, but not much—so much as clunky, confusing and at times incoherent. Here are some examples:

Dutch ambiguity was further evidenced by the debate about slavery and education to which Capitein contributed in some degree. Capetein arrived in Middelburg in 1728. He then travelled with Van Gogh to The Hague, where Van Gogh had a house. Two years after his arrival, Van Gogh sent him to German-born minister [sic] of the Reformed Church, Johann Philipp Manger. Manger’s impression on the boy was important. In the 1730s the Republic was at its height in terms of trade and culture. The Dutch, Capitein amongst them, were proud of its achievements. Through Capitein’s writings, one learns that The Hague and the whole of the country were a source of regional and national esteem. Manger’s position as a vocal protector of immigrants and a tolerant Christian provided access to a more balanced and outward-looking perspective that greatly influenced the young Capetein. Under Manger’s tutelage, Capitein learnt French and was encouraged to consider university. In 1735, at nearly eighteen years old, he was baptized. He joined the University of Leiden two years later. (72)

It’s as if the author put all the sentences into a blender and slapped them down in the order they came out—and at no point is the debate about slavery and education addressed, despite being the apparent thesis sentence of the paragraph. Or see this one, about France:

The number of legal cases involving black people led the authorities to suggest that a special unit should be set up. In 1777 the Police des Noirs, or ‘police for black people’, was created. Soon after, it became compulsory for black people to carry a cartouche (an identification card). Between 1777 and 1789, in Paris only, 765 people were registered. The aim of the Police des Noirs was to limit the number of black people in the country. It was not named a ‘police for enslaved people’, so the assumption by then was that all black bodies were enslaved. Masters who had enslaved domestic servants in their service had to register them or risk paying a heavy fine. Enslaved people were to stay in detention centres for the duration of their master’s stay. The costs would be the master’s responsibility. (84-85)

This paragraph appears to discuss two totally different regimes—one under which black people in France had to be registered and carry identification cards at all times and were heavily policed, and another under which they were interned (in regular jails, a subsequent paragraph explains). At no point is this abrupt transition addressed: did one system replace the other? Did one apply to some people while the other applied to others? Who knows! Not the reader of this book!

I was similarly confused by this one, about the French West African colony at Saint Louis:

The mariage a la mode du pays was legally recognized. When the European husband died or left the country and it was confirmed that he would never come back, the woman could remarry. These women had the support of their communities if they then wanted to start anew and have children within a second or third union. The children born from the marriages had their father’s name and could enjoy the benefits of his wealth. However, these unions were not recognized by European laws, meaning that the father’s European assets could not go to his African children. In 1830, the law changed, stating that European African children in Senegal could no longer inherit their father’s property. However, a French Royal Ordinance of the same year stated that children born before 1830 were still allowed to inherit their father’s property in Saint Louis. (108)

So, basically, the law didn’t allow mixed-race children to inherit their European father’s property (despite “enjoying his wealth” in some unspecified way), and then the law changed so they super-duper couldn’t inherit it?

Or take this one, about a Cameroonian prince:

Alexander led a life of leisure in many ways. He married Andrea when he was nineteen years old. She was seventeen. Their first child, a son, was born in 1920 and their daughter was born a year later. Alexander travelled to Cameroon in 1919 and returned the same year. He went back there again in 1922, but by then the couple had grown apart. Andrea had been allowed to move to Germany and Alexander never saw her. He allegedly refused to provide for her unless she relinquished custody of their children, so she had to work to provide for them. It was only after the Second World War that Alexander was reunited with his daughter. His relationship with his son, Jose Emmanuel Manga Bell, remained contentious. Alexander shot his son while he was on a visit to Cameroon in 1947. The circumstances of the death remain unclear. Alexander and Emmanuel were African Europeans who were caught between both identities at a time when colonial rule was shifting from German to British and French powers. (140)

What a bizarre paragraph: the opening sentence has nothing to do with the rest of it (nothing here suggests a life of leisure), buried midway through there’s a surprise filicide, given no more narrative weight than the mundane biographical details, and then it wraps up on such an anodyne statement one assumes it to be true, but which is in no way supported by the information given.

Likewise, some assertions really needed more explanation, such as:

Despite Bailey’s strict definition of the term, we have seen over the last few years that certain forms of discrimination against black and dual-heritage women have common features. The vile media attacks against the Duchess of Sussex held similarities to those encountered by supermodel Iman. Both were deemed too far away from either blackness or whiteness. Iman famously confronted the editor-in-chief of the black US magazine Essence when she stated that Iman was ‘a white woman dipped in chocolate’ in 1976. Both women have been criticized for having either not enough or too much of certain attributes. Nonetheless, class is an element that needs to be part of the discussion. Iman and Markle have had access to a kind of wealth that many underprivileged dark-skinned black women can only dream of. They have both held professional posts based on their physical attributes as well as expertise and achievement in their fields. (178)

Like much of this book, this paragraph seems aimed at people already familiar with the situations described. As someone who does not follow royal gossip and has never heard of Iman, this “certain attributes” talk was opaque to me, as was the claim that both women “held professional posts based on their physical attributes” (?).

Or:

As Félix Germain and Silyane Larcher have noted, black French citizens are often referred to as people issus de l’immigration (‘from an immigrant background’) ‘as if white French citizens were not also issus de l’immigration’, with the implication that ‘whites are natives, but people of African descent are not’. (190)

We’re talking about France here, not the U.S.—I’m going to need some explanation for why this proposition is wrong.

Or:

For example, a report on stop and search police practices in Spain corroborates word of mouth stories about the relationship of the Spanish police with minority ethnic communities. The harrowing reports demonstrate that stop and search for no valid reason is widely accepted by the majority group. In fact, it is one of many ways the police force shows that it values white bodies above all else. The report found that, according to the police, racial profiling reassures the majority group even when there is no evidence of danger. Yet the practice also propagates the idea that there must be a need to profile specific communities. In 2015, the last year that police data about stop and search in Spain is available, 6,550,422 police identifications were conducted. To put things in perspective, the report argues, this needs to be compared with 1.2 million stop and searches conducted in England and Wales in 2011-12. Police impunity in public spaces has rendered these places unsafe for most minority ethnic groups in Spain. (196)

Maybe this brain glitch is unique to me but formatting those numbers that way had my brain so convinced that the England/Wales count was double the Spain count that I could not for the life of me figure out why this made Spain look bad even upon several readings (thanks to the commenter who pointed it out!). If the goal is to provide perspective, maybe compare the per capita stop-and-searches in each country, and express them in the same style? (Also, while we’re on the topic of this paragraph: did the Spanish police actually admit they were searching minorities solely to reassure white people and if so, why is that buried in weaselly language in the middle of the paragraph?)

Part of me felt like I should give this book a second star, because it’s an important topic and I was pleased that it ranged over Western Europe as a whole rather than centering England, as British writers usually do. And if much of the book reads like the literature review portion of someone’s thesis, at least there is good information buried in there somewhere? But then I reached the bit stating that Treyvon Martin was killed by a “neighborhood manager” (221), when in fact George Zimmerman was just a neighborhood watch volunteer, with no authority over the neighborhood or the residents. And when the facts you know are wrong, it’s hard to trust the rest of them.

[Kara Babcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the description of this book suggests, many of us have an inaccurate understanding of the history of Black people’s presence in Europe. So I wanted to correct my understanding. It’s important for us to learn the history of the slave trade, of course. But if we reduce Black histories merely to slavery, we are engaging in yet another type of colonial violence. Olivette Otélé aims to highlight the presence of African Europeans throughout history. She complicates and problematizes both our understanding of the slave trade as well as our conceptions about what it meant to be a “free” Black person in Europe during various centuries. African Europeans is informative and interesting, although it is also highly academic and difficult to read. Thanks to Perseus Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

I’m not going to attempt to summarize this book. All I will say is that I learned a lot from it. Some of the highlights include the first Medici Duke of Florence, Alessandro, and how his skin colour affected his rule. Another highlight would be the ways that various European countries attempted to restrict or require extensive documentation from people of colour. Throughout this book, Otélé demonstrates how European countries, such as France, the Netherlands, and Sweden, have yet to really reckon with their role in the slave trade. Much is made of celebrating when these countries abolished slavery. Little discussion happens around the experiences of Black people in these countries around or even after that time.

I wish I could say I enjoyed the book, but that would be a stretch. There are academic books, and then there are academic books, and then there are academic books. Like, African Europeans is full of research and references to other scholars. If that’s what you’re looking for—if you are studying this subject, then you will find this book useful. Nor do I want to suggest that every book should be comprehensible to a lay reader. But as someone who has a couple of university degrees and has been around the academic block a couple of times, I still found large parts of this book a slog to read. It largely comes down to how Otélé has organized the information. The transitions are often abrupt, and at times I found it difficult to understand the overall topic of each chapter.

So when I say that I learned a lot from this book, I also want to say that I think I could have learned more if the writing style had worked better for me. I’m not sure how much I will retain that I learned. Therefore, unfortunately, as much as I would love to recommend this book widely to my friends, I’m not sure I can do that. African Europeans is informative but no compelling, well-researched but not well-organized, important but perhaps in need of more work to make its information accessible to those of us who most need to read it.

Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Olivette Otélé provides a very comprehensive history of Africans in Europe from the earliest times through to the twenty-first century. Interestingly, we find communities of people of African descent across that continent from the British Isles right through to Russia and the various places in between. While their presence has had an impact on the history, politics, and religion of the region for generations they still remain a hidden class in many countries as they continue to face many challenges mainly in the form of racism in modern times.
This is an excellent history showing that Africans haven't just been arrivals to Europe in recent decades and is recommended reading.

[Inderjit Sanghera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otélé explores the history of Africans in Europe, from Roman to Medieval times, from Alessandro de’ Medici to Stormzy, from the virtually unheard of stories of mixed race children of German and Danish colonialists,. Otélé’s book is impressively researched and draws out the gradual increase of racism in Europe just as it was emerging from the renaissance, which imbued Europeans with a feeling of cultural superiority which was exacerbated by self-interest in the slave trade and which reached climax in eugenics and colonialism.

Otélé’s greatest strength lies in her ability to interweave personal narratives against the historical context they take place within. So Otélé explores the emergence of grime and drill music against a backdrop of increased racial tensions and poverty, or of the African women of the Danish Gold Coast whose main avenue to independence as to marry a European man, but who were still treated as second class people by European society or of the mixed race German man who grew up Germany during the rise of fascism. At times ‘African Europeans’ can be a bit too academic in style, however this is offset by Otélé’s erudition and her ability to explores the motivations and stories of the people she depicts.

[2TReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those historical accounts that needs to be read.

African Europeans have been creating and sharing knowledge for centuries. They have been transmitting their various cultures in environments that were hostile to them and in ways that were not recognised as valuable by scholars from the Global North.'

Otele has written an illuminating and engaging history that is aimed at returning the Africans that existed within the European societal construct to the collective consciousness of today.

Those whose images had been rewritten and redrawn by European historians to suit their racialised definitions and perceptions. She has reclaimed their true identities and contributions that have been obscured to feed into the need to erase and downplay their colonialistic and imperialist past.

She uses an investigative and comparative approach using records and surviving observations to accomplish this and it is done brilliantly.

Otele focuses on their relationship with their histories and identities, how the structure of the European society was set up to extract their talents, minds, and bodies to further each colonial country's agenda, while refusing to view them as an integral part of the social fabric.

She takes us into laws and practices that were implemented to exclude and separate those of African descent and with dual heritage from the native white populace, the perceptions held by the general public and the effects that rippled and crippled the potential of those who were branded stateless, not belonging, exotic.

We also learn how these countries use their dual-heritaged/African-descended individuals to excel in arenas such as Sports/Athletics and the Arts.

But throughout Otele's brilliant, easy to read and understand account, we are shown the resilience that resides within, how it is used to fight for the right to be seen and heard. Across Europe, social movements, festivals, artists, and activists have instigated and initiated movements to cement their place in the countries they and their ancestors, on and off continent, literally built.

[Gretel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a review copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

----------------------------------

Sometimes you find books you instantly know you’ll like. I found this one months ago and I would’ve read it anyways, but it just so coincided with the rising of racist ignorance regarding Black people living in Europe. People were decrying the existence of Black characters in popular media, from games to movies, arguing that Black people didn’t live in Europe “at that time”, a range that encompasses from antiquity and the middle-ages to at least 1945. I already knew that this was historically incorrect and that the presence of Black people was, as I assumed correctly and Otélé proves, an act of active amnesia: erasing, negating and thus forgetting the existence of Black people in Europe as a political move.

So, when I saw this ARC, I was not only happy to learn more and get rid of my blind spots, I was looking forward to being equipped with the historical and scholarly ammunition I needed for future conversations. I knew this book was going to be good and dear readers, this book delivered and exceeded my expectations tenfold!

First of all, for an ARC this book was flawless. Flawless!
I found exactly one minute mistake – one sentence in the epilogue didn’t start with a capitalisation – and was otherwise stunned at the quality, not because I didn’t expect it to be excellent, but because I thought of other ARCs I’ve read. (One particular very awful nonfiction comes to mind…) Each and every single book by Black women I got through Netgalley share the same amount of skill and rigorous research. I strive to be that good in my own academic writing and I know I have a long way to go but their work gives me a goal and an example I try to achieve.
Not only are grammar and spelling flawless, Otélé is a great storyteller. She writes clearly, concisely and with passion. The words flow from the pages, which I know takes a lot of hard work. The scholarly aspect is equally impeccable with great summaries of complex theories and works, great analysis, giving every single source and summarising materials to give you enough information and details but without being confusing or boring. It is hard to be able to synthesise sources well. It was an absolute pleasure to read this.

What is African Europeans about?

The history of African Europeans is vibrant and complex, just as it is brutal. It is a collection of experiences that vary greatly from one place to another and across time. All of these histories have shaped the social practices and identities of European communities and continue to do so today. The trajectories of African Europeans are embedded in local architecture, as well as in national and international visual, literary and other cultural productions. From religious artefacts to representations of the magi; from an intellectual in fifteenth-century Granada to the young grime artists of twenty-first-century Britain, African European identities have continuously evolved. While most eighteenth-century African Europeans had to tiptoe around their spaces, reluctant to assert their presence, twenty-first-century French Afrofeminists and other African Europeans are claiming their rights to self-define, reshaping discourses around race, feminism, and their own lives.

From the antiquities to modern times, Otélé looks at various cases of African-European exchange and the lives of famous and regular people of African Europeans. We have Roman soldiers, who enjoyed high education and became politicians; religious figures and saints; enslaved and freedpeople, including how Africans navigated slavery as participants within the global market; famous Black women, such as Josephine Baker, Sarah Baartman (Hottentot Venus) and Jeanne Duval; famous European figures with African ancestry like Alexandre Dumas and Alexander Pushkin; people from sports; and much more.

As Otélé shows, it would be a mistake to view everything from the racialised and racist lens that permeates our time. Did racism play an important role in many of these interactions? Yes. But through millennia and centuries, the idea and identity of “African” had shifted numerous times. She presents a complex and nuanced kaleidoscope of exchange, influence and even appreciation for African culture, history and people throughout Europe. It wasn’t until much later that “African” became synonymous with “slave/enslaved” and even within this system of enslavement, exploitation and dehumanisation did Africans find myriad ways to engage with Europe/ans.
There are clear examples of exploitation within slavery, as many women were sexually abused by their white owners. The trajectory for the children was complicated, as some would become enslaved themselves, while others could advance – albeit oftentimes limited – within European society and receive education, possibly even positions or marriages within the European elite. There are also cases where white men would marry indigenous African women for their connections within their culture, as it made trading – in goods, as well as enslaved people – easier. This way, African women could profit and even participate in the global market. The power relations should not be obfuscated and Otélé is very clear in saying that these relations were complex and based on exploitation and uneven power dynamics. She doesn’t sugar-coat the history or pretend that Africans had equal chances and opportunities within a system that was designed to oppress them. She merely shows that there were hybrid forms of life where Africans would try and find success, (relative) safety and money within a system as best as they could.

African Europeans presents a slice of the many lives of African Europeans, discussing what it meant to be “African” depending on the epoch, the shifting identities and changes in perception and ultimately the numerous and indispensable contributions to European history, culture, economics, society, arts, sports and more. There is no Europe without Africa, and not only because the first humans to walk the planet moved from Africa to Europe – the first humans to live in what is now England were scientifically proven to be dark-skinned – but because the African-European exchange – from goods and ideas to people – has never stopped. It was and is a continuous flow.

Fact is that we Europeans profited from Africans and Africa a lot and it hasn’t stopped. And even if that weren’t the case, people deserve respect, equality, equity and opportunity without being “productive” or becoming a “model immigrant”. Human rights and dignity should never be tied to conditions, like economic contributions/exploitation.

I will end this review by recommending you this book in all its five-star glory. You will not regret reading it. And the final words go to Otélé herself:

The stories of migratory movement from Africa to the Americas and to Europe educate us about the forced contributions of people of African descent. Even ‘voluntary’ migrations are also forced in many ways, as economic migrants leave their families and culture in search of better lives. What to make of all these histories colliding, and contributing to anxiety amongst some contemporary groups while they are deeply valued by others? These stories should be taught, widely analysed, and valued. They bring us back to our human nature, while also serving as reminders that ‘humanity’ itself is a shifting concept. […]
They do so because the histories of marginalised communities have found ways, be it through music, dance, food, arts or sports, to permeate the societies in which they live and have lived. Lived experiences have also been transmitted by these groups through successive generations. However, simply remembering is not the ultimate goal. Triumph against institutionalised brutality, everyday forms of racism and microaggression, poverty, exclusion and marginalisation requires a radical way of using transmitted experience of resistance. It demands a collective degree of consciousness that runs across social, economic, gender and cultural barriers. It entails a renewed and adaptable practice of kinship. It means engaging with black radicalism.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An untold story, certainly, and one that is worth the telling. I learnt a lot from this book, which explores the presence of people of African descent in Europe from way back, something that is perhaps not widely known. From as far back as Roman times, in fact, there have been Africans in Europe. Even Russia’s national poet Pushkin had African ancestry. Often there is little evidence to go on, particularly for women, but the author’s research has been thorough and deep, highlighting individuals from different time periods and exploring attitudes and perceptions through the ages. She also explores the different words that have been used – negro, black, slave – and how they came not only to denote race and colour but eventually inferiority. The book is academic and scholarly and thus not always an easy read, although the author has made it as accessible for the general reader as it can be. I found the constant references to other writers and quotes from them, which peppered the text, intrusive, and would have preferred to read the author’s own views, leaving her sources to notes or footnotes, as I felt this impeded the narrative flow, and I can’t say that I really enjoyed the book. However, it is an important one and adds much to our understanding of race in history and thus any quibbles do not detract from that importance.

[Wilco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have you ever a book that left you so frustrated you decided to reopen your Good Reads account that you haven't used since high school? Well that is what "African Europeans" did to me.
I picked this book up primarily because I want to learn more about the topic. I didn't even bother to read a page before purchasing the book. That was a mistake as I would shortly learn.
This book is a heavy histography of the topic on hand that looks over maybe one or two people of interests during a "specific" time period for the first five chapters. Otele examines the story of each person extraordinarily closely, so much so she can't see the forest for the trees. It is not helped that often the connecting logic between case studies is so jumbled and leaves the reader confused. There is also the implicit idea throughout much of the writing that one is familiar with the literature that already exists or has ready access to such works. The writing is dense and academic and hard for any lay person who has not previously read any academic works.
The work is not helped that within a "specific" time period, the writer will often jump around to time periods that are supposedly further ahead in the book. This is supposedly to help connect themes, however it only ends with creating more confusion for the reader.
The other issue is, that I have already hinted at, is that some of these case studies seem like a poor choice and only offer interesting factoids of the individual case study despite the impressive citations around them. The case studies seem to have little impact or bearing on what was happening to other African Europeans and gets stuck with being a presentation of the exceptional.
There is an issue that she discuss the interesting but not necessarily relevant topic of the inter marriages between European Colonizers and the native people along the African West Coast. I say not necessarily relevant, due to it not exactly about Africans in Europe as the book wishes to discuss, which leads to the slippery slope of whether she should include the stories of African Slaves in the Americas and their interactions with Europeans (which is a topic wildly discussed). This ends up taking most of one of the five "time" period chapters and at the same time expands over several time periods and seems disconnected from the rest of the "narrative".
The book seemingly takes and even worse turn in the final two chapters where is leaves history becomes the last two decades. Here things become less descriptive, the one redeeming quality of the book, and really becomes less interesting. The last chapter is really dreadful where it at times reads like a list of Guardian headlines from the past decade and has very little examination. It was so bad I decided to skim the last ten or so pages. It really is frustrating that these two chapters take up about a quarter of the book. Otele would have been better of just dropping these sections and focusing on buttressing up the previous five chapters.
I would like to make a quick aside and critique some of the other reviews have declared this book comprehensive...this book is hardly comprehensive since it hardly discuss Britain (leaving it to small discussions at the end about Grimes and current media representations of British History), as well as other nations which have some connection to Africa. It also hardly discusses the migration of Africans to Europe after decolonialism or African participation during the World Wars.
There are things I learned from this book and I appreciate this book for giving me this new knowledge. But this does not outweigh how terribly written and unfocused this book is.

I do hope another book comes along that is far better written and more comprehensive. With the current political environment that is likely, and I would I highly recommend any potential reader to wait for that book and give this a big pass.

[Nate · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book covers the history of African people in Europe/Western society from Biblical times through the present day. I, however, could not get past chapter three. The history was clearly well-researched and the author knew what she was talking about, but it was not communicated well. The book would often dart between people and topics without fully explaining any of them, describing people as if they're recognizable on first glance. The one that stood out was the story of St. Maurice, who I never heard about having never been a Christian nor a European. The author talked about him in assorted paragraphs between other discussions about the life of Africans in Roman Europe and going as far as the Middle Ages before circling back. This jumping around made it hard to remember who was whom and what they were doing and when. There were many assertions of someone's influence, but no description of what their effect was. The author seemed to become overly academic in her writing by responding to many historians as if we should already know who they were and their basic argument about whichever topic. Overall, it felt like multiple historical journal articles mixed together, and I could not get through it.

A free e-copy of this book was received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

[Malcolm · Rating 5 out of 5]

In emphasising mobility, Olivette Otele’s marvellous exploration of being African European draws place firmly into the multipolar relationships that make Europe a vital part of the African diaspora. What’s more, by emphasising but not limiting herself to sub-Saharan Africa while also not reducing the continent to its wholeness but highlighting its various national and other divisions, she builds a complex and nuanced image of Europe-Africa relationship over the 2500 or so years she considers.

The narrative is largely but not restrictively chronological, from the Greek and Roman encounters with the Kushites, whose realm covered ‘upper Egypt’ and what is now parts of Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia, while drawing on earlier figures including the Queen of Sheba, and coming right up to the now – or 2020 when she finished the book, so from the Queen of Sheba to Black Lives Matter. It’s a big ask, that Otele manages superbly, by weaving together individual stories – and not necessarily the well-known (at least in English) –with the contextual and the structural. She also disrupts the conventional, so while enslavement and the trans-Atlantic trade is a vital and for the last ¾ pervasive presence, it is only the central focus on the discussion of the book for one of six substantive chapters. Colonialism and empire, however, is much more present, and foundational to the text as a whole.

She also deftly makes sure to consider Europe as a whole while also keeping alive its various constituents, including noting the ways that intra-continental relations and factors shaped the development of the African European experience. One good example of this is how she considers Prussia-Brandenburg’s absence from engagement with overseas empire in the 16th and 17th centuries, and how that experience was rewritten in the 19th to assert/claim Germany’s 'legitimate' interests in the late century carve-up of Africa. The text is woven through with this kind of evidence of Otele’s historiographical insight and eloquence. Elsewhere, the experience of Africans in Spain in the 17th and 18th centuries, of African Europeans who return to Africa either as agents of empire (traders, teachers, missionaries) or as expected by their communities, and those in Germany especially in the 20th century mean I want to know more and that I curse my linguistic limitations.

The discussion, especially in the later stages, is also alert to the subtle distinction of language, drawing out important insights about attitudes to nation and empire in the different ways people of African descent in France and Britain are referred to – noting especially the difference between being black British or French of [Senegalese – insert relevant country] descent. She notes also, with nuance and insight, the ways the language of the republic in France and the banality of whiteness in Sweden point to forms of colour-blindness that hide a plethora of sins, problems, and oppressions. Alongside this she also notes convincingly the ways that resurgent politics of race in France for instance unsettles the colour-blindness in social movements such as feminism, while also in that case being alert to the ways colourism, class and especially scholarly status influence the reception ad perception of those critics.

It is a deft and exceptionally sophisticated historical analysis that belies its intellectual heft through its engaging style and form. This then is an academically weighty, illuminating, alarming, scholarly piece of work that can and should be reaching audiences well beyond the ivory walls. Essential reading if we want to make sense of the current condition – both the depths of its challenges and the potential for success in our struggles to make it better.

[Gareth Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, it balances both the panoramic of the wider story with the intimate details of individuals' lives. A deeply researched and fascinating book.

[Marc Grabalosa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Una obra que repassa la vida de diverses persones nascudes a l’Àfrica que van acabar vivint a Europa, i analitza com han estat percebudes des de la mirada europea, sovint marcades pel seu color de pell. Tot i que el tema és molt interessant, l’obra entra tant en detall dels personatges que m'ha resultat feixuga. Té un enfocament molt acadèmic, d'investigació i amb molta profunditat, però a mi personalment m’ha costat connectar-hi i se m’ha fet una molt pesat.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is easily read by a popular audience. It isn’t a straightforward history, but more a set of historically informed meditations and educational essays on the relationships over time between Africans and Europeans and what we mean by those terms and how hard multiple identities are. It pushes us to think about how and where racialised identities are formed and to re-evaluate assumptions about race. The historical stories she told were mostly not familiar with me and I learned a lot about the fate of the children of mixed race marriages.

[Lona · Rating 5 out of 5]

That's the stuff that should be taught in school too, so people wouldn't always talk like Black people in Europe would be something relatively "new". It was super interesting to read and I am glad, that I could catch up on mending my knowledge gap about their history here a bit. There was also of course information about ongoing important topics that still need to be adressed today. Absolutely worth reading!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

↠ 2.5 stars

[David W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. Otele’s book is a very valuable addition to the burgeoning work being done on the generations of “African Europeans” that have been excluded from the historical record for centuries. Although the overly academic writing and structure may turn off some readers, I think the insights Otele provides and examples she brings to light are worth slogging through some of the denser sections.

The middle sections of the book are the strongest, as Otele effectively synthesizes work from other historians and primary sources to depict fascinating stories of Black and dual heritage Europeans from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries that challenge our notions not only of the experiences of minorities during this time, but of how White Europeans’ perceptions of race shifted over time. Otele consciously uses examples not just from the major powers involved in colonization and the slave trade like France, the UK, and the Netherlands, but also from less obvious countries like Sweden, Prussia, Denmark, Italy, and Greece.

As other reviews here have noted, Otele does employ an academic writing style that general readers may find difficult to follow. Otele made the choice to intersperse modern examples within the text and can sometimes flow back and forth without a strict chronology. The lack of defined sections within the chapters can make these transitions seem very abrupt and at times left me a bit lost. These challenges are especially present in the first couple of chapters, but by chapter three I was more comfortable with her style and was able to follow her much more easily.

Overall, I think Otele’s book is a valuable read that provides incredibly valuable insights and correctives to our ideas about Europe and what it means to be European. I really hope that Otele continues her work in this area and perhaps explores a future work that expands on the themes of this one for a more general audience, who will find her insights incredibly valuable.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

African Europeans is a historiographical overview of how African Europeans lived within European societies from the Romans up to present day and how African Europeans influenced and were influenced by the racism and structure of the society around them. She uses several examples of exceptional individuals as well as ordinary groups that found ways to make their own paths to power and influence despite the pressure of society in general.

I landed somewhere between 3 and 4 stars on this book and appreciate getting early access to the e-arc via NetGalley. I'm rounding up simply because it's a very valuable area for people to know about and very well-written and researched. As someone with an undergraduate degree in European history, I have some familiarity with the subject and the writing format of both histories and historiographies. This one ends up firmly in the latter camp. It's excellent scholarship and ties together many different studies on individuals and groups of African Europeans to create a cohesive theme. However, that means that there's a lot of quoting other works without a lot of description about the other works so that as a general reader and not someone aware of all of the scholarship, it feels like there's quite a bit you're missing.

I'd recommend this to those looking for a more academic, dense overview of themes and history relating to African Europeans. And it is an amazing resource for those interested in the untold history of African Europeans and the research available about them.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What was the experience of Africans who became European? Such is not normally presented as part of the historical narrative of Europe.

The author begins with Roman times and some information known regarding Africans in Europe, yet the majority of the work covers the period since the Renaissance. The story is very much tied with colonialism: the Portuguese experience, those of mixed European and African heritage in Guinea unable to fit in either in Europe or in Africa; the fate of Cameroonians acculturated to Germany after Germany lost its Empire; conditions for Africans in Sweden, Denmark, and the surprising celebration of Pushkin's African heritage in Russia. Much is made of the modern experience of Europeans of African descent, both of those who came to Europe in the colonial days and those who have more recently immigrated. The author gives a strong voice to those African Europeans who wish to be seen and valued in Europe as Europeans without experiencing discrimination or exoticization.

A good work which highlights aspects of European history most often neglected, and one with which Europe should grapple.

**--galley received as part of early review program

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The answer to every person who's ever tried to argue that Black people appearing in European period dramas is anachronistic. It's not. People of African descent have been living in European (sometimes by choice, sometimes not) since ancient times. From musicians to soldiers and everything in between, African Europeans have played an important role in the history of Europe. But they have often been either forgotten or willfully erased by those (usually white and male) writing the history books. Otele sets the record straight.

I learned about a number of historical figures I'd either never heard of (Joseph Bologne, French composer almost erased from history by Napoleon) or didn't realize were of African descent (Alexander Pushkin). Maybe too dry for reluctant non-fiction readers but I'm very glad to have read it and learned quite a bit. And the audiobook, narrated by Otele herself, is especially interesting. I always love hearing an author narrator their own book, particularly in non-fiction, if they have the voice and talent to do so well. And Otele certainly does.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredibly important work of history. It needs to be read and analyzed in graduate classrooms, it should be in every graduate student's exam reading list, and it needs to be read by anyone who teaches European or World history at any level. Otele traces the history of Africans in Europe from ancient Greece to today and in doing so tells us a story of racial discrimination and perseverance. Because of the expansive nature of her work, not everything is covered. By choosing the stories included, Otele does cover a large geographic area. The strongest and most accessible chapters are the last two, which are of interest to a general audience, The rest of the book is better suited for specialists because knowledge of European and African history is required to fully understand the stories and analysis.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those fascinating books that contains a multitude of stories. She gives an overview of African presences in Europe, but many of the subjects deserve books of their own. Here’s to further research.

[Thomas Pope · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely brilliant book -

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting information --- however it reads like an unedited dissertation

[elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Racisms without racism, then, is the peculiar expression of neoliberalizing globalization … The wolf in sheep’s clothing, speaking of sheep while deeply ambivalent about defanging the wolf.

[Josh Hedgepeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for an e-arc. 3-3.5/5 stars

This was a fascinating look at the history of Africans relationship to, and existence in, Europe. I ended up reading along with the audiobook narrated by the author.

The narration was alright. I always admire academics who choose to narrate their own works, but it can be a learning process. The quality of the audiobook isn't the best. It's mostly minor stuff, small shifts in volume or tone or how the author is narrating something, likely due to breaks in between. It also feels dry which isn't necessarily a bad thing, merely not my personal preference, but that approach did exacerbate my problem following the content of the book.

I'm hesitant to give this three stars because much of my critique is personal preference mixed with my mindset while reading this. I've been interested in reading this for a while, and when I finally did it was hard for me to follow the overall narrative in part because I was struggling to read in general. Nevertheless, some of the blame is with the book, or how it's structured. It feels like we go from topic to topic, each very detailed, but those very details come across like a wave of facts that I struggled to retain.

Personally, I would have liked to have seen a more overarching narrative to help the reader/me connect each step in the overall story. Where, even if we don't retain every name or event, we get a good feel of each time period.

Overall, my feelings are very subjective, and I certainly don't want to give the impression that this book isn't worth reading because it very much is. Even as an American, I felt much of the earliest history explored here is important precursor to American history, not to mention the value of understanding it in Europe considering it's weight on the world's stage.

This isn't an easy book, but if it seems interesting to you, I do urge you to give it a shot. My struggles don't make it a bad book, nor is it necessarily representative of most readers.

Again, 3-3.5/5 stars.

[Erika Harlitz-Kern · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat unfocused synthesis that nevertheless makes several interesting points about mainly Black Africans living in Europe and the colonies of European empires.

The strongest part of the book is the contemporary analysis of the situation of Black Europeans in the 20th and 21st centuries and the historical reasons for the discrimination and racism they face. The weakest part of the book is the discussion on Africans in Europe during Antiquity and the Middle Ages, where St Maurice and the Queen of Sheba are used as the main case studies, neither of whom are historical persons. A brief mention of Africans in the Roman Empire serves more to squeeze these individuals into a frame where they fit poorly, rather than highlight how integral the province of Africa (and the province of Egypt, for that matter) was to the Roman Empire. By using the terms "Africa" and "Europe" without defining or problematizing them within a historical context, the book ends up continuing the use of these terms as monoliths, especially during Antiquity and the Middle Ages.

In between these two opposites are chapters that cover the early-modern and modern historical periods. These discussions add important information to an ignored part of European history; however, at times the discussion remains with the Black Africans of the colonies of European Empires for so long that the book's analytical focus becomes unclear. This confusion could have been avoided had the terminology (Africa, Europe, African, European, African European) as well as the intent and scope of the book been defined and problematized more clearly.

[K. Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I'm writing a novel. Very very very slowly, but I'm still writing it (or at least thinking about it). Part of the problem is that it's historical fantasy (I don't want to hear the genre is passe or whatever just let me have this) which means I have to do historical research. Specifically, I've been having issues because one of my characters is a Haitian woman brought to France before the Revolution and then trapped for the foreseeable future in Europe due to vampire nonsense. Colonialism is not a one-way street, and I knew intellectually that this is a reasonable backstory for a character to have, but I want to know more about what this character's life would've been like as a Black woman in Revolutionary France (and later the Commune). So, when this book got on my radar I immediately grabbed it from the library. It has some of the information I was looking for, as well as a list of sources I can look into for further information. That was just one small section of this book, too. Feels like a great overview and jumping off point for further research on its topics.