Afropean: Notes from Black Europe - Hardcover

Pitts, Johny

4.32

2,130 ratings by Goodreads

9780141984728: Afropean: Notes from Black Europe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0141984724 ISBN 13: 9780141984728

Publisher: Allen Lane, 2019

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'A revelation' Owen Jones

'Afropean seizes the blur of contradictions that have obscured Europe's relationship with blackness and paints it into something new, confident and lyrical' Afua Hirsch

A Guardian Best Book of 2019 so far

'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.

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Review:

Afropean announces the arrival of an impassioned author able to deftly navigate and illuminate a black world that for many would otherwise have remained unseen (The Guardian)

[Pitts'] talent for sharp summary is apparent early on...a natural talent for describing cities and their atmosphere (The Evening Standard)

a beautiful study of black identity in Europe (The Telegraph)

it is remarkable how quickly he gets to the soul of a place [...] What is consistently impressive throughout Pitts's work is his ability to blend fact with anecdote; the effect is often cinematic. At times, you may feel that instead of reading a non-fiction book you are watching a well-paced historical thriller (New Statesman)

This book is a revelation: a humane, empathetic, urgent and truly eye-opening journey through lives and voices that are so often overlooked and unheard. Johny Pitts brings us Europe on its own terms (Owen Jones)

Fascinating, urgent and stirring. His humility and honesty are wonderfully refreshing and by the end of the book our perception of the old continent has been challenged and reimagined (Bernardine Evaristo)

Afropean seizes the blur of contradictions that have obscured Europe's relationship with blackness and paints it into something new, confident and lyrical. That a work like this is long overdue does nothing to detract from the originality of Pitts' accomplishment (Afua Hirsch)

A quest to find unity among African Europeans introduces a singular new voice and reveals an unseen continent...Afropean announces the arrival of an impassioned author able to deftly navigate and illuminate a black world that for many would otherwise have remained unseen. (Colin Grant The Guardian)

About the Author:

Johny Pitts is a writer, photographer and broadcast journalist. He has received various awards for his work exploring African-European identity, including a Decibel Penguin Prize and an ENAR (European Network Against Racism) award. He is the curator of the online journal Afropean.com, part of the Guardian's Africa Network and has collaborated with Caryl Philips on a photographic essay about London's immigrant communities for the BBC and Arts Council.

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