BLACK
ITALIA
Meet our Instructors
We are completing the list of our
faculty's scholars and special guests
Antar Mohamed Marincola
(Bologna)
Antar Marincola's about Colonialism
UNITS: THE LEGACY OF ITALIAN COLONIALISM
Antar Mohamed Marincola is born in Mogadishu. He lives in Italy where he studied, worked as a translator, actor, writer and teacher. His last publication, published by Einaudi was "Timira. Mestizo Novel", initially written through collaboration between Wu Ming and Timira Hassan Yere (Isabella Marincola), who was Antar’s mother and an actress who played in "Riso Amaro" by Giuseppe de Santis. During the process of writing, Timira died, and so Antar took over the role of co-author. The book is a sort of biography of Timira Hassan Yere that has many historical references to the political context of her time: Italian colonialism, fascism and (post) colonialism. In the book Giorgio Marincola, Timira’s brother is also mentioned; he was a Black Italian partisan, who was murdered by Nazi troops in May 1945, only few days after the “Italian Liberation Day” (25 April 1945). Antar will lead us in the cluster about Colonialism, Afro-Italians born in the Colonies, and the immigration from Africa of the 50s, 60s 70s.
Justin Randolph Thompson
(Florence)
UNITS: BLACKNESS IN ART HISTORY, CONTEMPORARY AFRO-ITALIAN VISUAL ARTISTS
Justin Randolph Thompson is a new media artist, cultural facilitator, and educator born in Peekskill, NY in ’79. Living between Italy and the US since 1999, Thompson is Co-Founder and Director of Black History Month Florence, a multi-faceted exploration of African and African Diasporic cultures in the context of Italy founded in 2016.
He is the curator for the project: Black Presence a new series by the Uffizi Galleries highlighting the representation of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe.
His life and work seek to deepen the discussions around socio-cultural stratification and hierarchical organization by employing fleeting temporary communities as monuments and fostering projects that connect academic discourse social activism and DIY networking strategies in annual and biennial gathering, sharing and gestures of collectivity. He teaches at SACI Studio Arts College International Florence.
Jordan Anderson
(Milan)
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UNITS: THE BLACK ITALIAN QUEER, FASHION INDUSTRY
Jordan Anderson Born and raised in Kingston Jamaica, Jordan Anderson is a fashion and culture journalist & creative director who is currently based in Milan. His work often magnifies & explores political themes in and outside the fashion industry including race, gender, identity & brand, and cultural ethics. He contributes to a variety of publications including Document Journal, Teen Vogue, Vogue Italia. Jordan founded the project, sponsored by Converse, “My Queer Blackness, My Black Queerness”. Also known by the acronym MQBMBQ, the platform aims to be a virtual safe space for Black queer people in Italy.
Marilena Delli Umuhzoa (Venice)
UNITS: THE BLACK WOMAN EXPERIENCE IN ITALY, PUBLISHING AND PODCAST
Marilena Delli Umuhoza is an Italian-Rwandan author, filmmaker, educator, born outside Rome to an Italian father and Rwandan mother. She earned her Master's Degree in International Communication.
In 2007 she moved to Los Angeles to study documentary film-making at UCLA (University of California), during which time she also taught Italian language at the Italian Institute of Culture. She had published in 2016 "Razzismo all'Italiana" and in 2020 "Negretta: Baci Razzisti (Little Black Girl: Racist Kisses)", a young adult novel featuring a Black Italian protagonist. In January 2021 Marilena becomes the curator for Radio Radicale, a national radio show in Italy devoted to Italian African descendants. She also starts hosting a Podcast featuring Italians of foreign origin speaking about racism, music, and topical issues and she launched the Anti-Racism Academy
Ark Ndulue(Naples)
UNIT: THE TIMELINE OF THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT IN ITALY
Ark Ndulue Born and raised in Castel Volturno (Naples) Ark Joseph Ndule is an Italian-Nigerian co-founder of Collettivo Articolo3.it, an activist and community organizer, model. He graduated Law Studies at University of Naples and he is completing a Master's in Cybersecurity at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He will lead us into the history of the pre-BLM and anti-racist movements in Italy and the current digital actvism of Youth Black Italians
Fred Kudjo Kuwornu(New York)
UNIT: BLACK ITALIAN CINEMA, DIGITAL CREATORS, MUSIC INDUSTRY, AFRICAN-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, MIXED-RACE EXPERIENCE
Fred Kudjo Kuwornu is an Italian-Ghanaian filmmaker, activist, educator, born and raised in Italy and based in New York. He holds a Master of Arts in Political Science at the University of Bologna, Italy with a focus on sociology and mass communication studies. He is best known as the director of critically acclaimed documentaries such as Blaxploitalian, Inside Buffalo, and 18 IUS SOLI. His documentaries deal with political and social themes, such as racism, interracial relations, diversity, Afro-Italians, and Black Diaspora identity in Italy and the African diaspora in the world. In July 2021, He launched the platform BlackItalia.info and, in collaboration with AATI, Teaching Black Italy” a one-week refresher online course for professors of Italian and Black Studies which explore the contemporary presence of the African diaspora in Italy. Kuwornu is a D&I consultant for Netflix Italy and other broadcasters in Italy. He had co-taught: “Black Italian Cinema and Digital Performance” at Colorado College and the University of Minneapolis, and “Documentary Filmmaking” at Middlebury College Italian Summer School. His production has been awarded by New York Foundation for the Arts, Open Society, Premio Mutti. He is currently developing "We Were There" a documentary about the Black Presence in Renaissace's Europe.