Archive

Ballroom was born in New York’s Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ community in the 1970s, at a time when survival often meant creating your own spaces of care, resilience, and resistance. Houses became chosen families, offering not only creativity and performance, but also protection, guidance, and solidarity.

Masculinity is a complex issue, shaped by an interplay of historical, cultural and social factors that have created limiting and distorted stereotypes. In popular culture, social expectations have helped to create images that still influence how Black men are perceived, both within their community and in wider society.

Detroit wasn’t just a city: it was an idea of America. It was the place where technology married utopia, where every single engine produced seemed to move not just four wheels, but an entire social system. When deindustrialization hit and the social system faltered, Detroit did not stop being a symbol. It just changed the kind of symbol it represented: from capital of industry to epicentre of urban collapse, from manifesto of emancipation to portrait of disillusionment.

For more than a century, many African Americans have traveled to Paris, seeking refuge from the racism in the United States that sought to erase their identity. However, many encountered new forms of discrimination while also finding the opportunity to engage directly with the African diaspora in Europe. This has led to an extraordinary cultural relationship between the French capital and the Black America. From these encounters, artistic, intellectual, and political creations emerged, redefining the very concept of blackness. From the vibrant Paris of the 1930s—where anti-colonial political movements and jazz flourished—to the Paris of the 1980s, marked by the rise of Hip-Hop in Europe, this connection has sparked profound reflections on oppression, both in Europe and the United States.

Islam in America has been a significant aspect of the nation's cultural landscape, though misconceptions and criticism have shaped public perception. Islamophobia, fueled by stereotypes and political rhetoric, created a climate of fear and distrust toward Muslim communities. Within the African American community, Islam has played a pivotal role, especially in the mid-20th century, as a form of political resistance and empowerment. Today, Islam continues to shape African American identity and activism, with many seeing it as both a spiritual path and a revolutionary tool for social justice.

The temptation to read the United States as an all-too-familiar context, progressing along the same evolutionary path as ours, is very strong; yet, often things are not only more complex than they appear at first glance, but are even the opposite. It is with this approach that thisissue deals with an underground, and at times difficult to understand, phenomenon: Trump’s growing popularity among racialized communities.

Blaxploitation is a historic cinematic movement, closely connected to the Civil Rights era, that introduced new visual and musical codes for the Black community, but faced many criticism from within the community. This movement has influenced generations of filmmakers, musicians and storytellers.

Almost like the assassination of Kennedy or the 9/11, the OJ Simpson trial was a proper Event, the kind that marks a historical and narrative discontinuity. Through this case, some of the deepest contradictions stirring the United States were revealed. Exactly 30 years since the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, oltreoceano presents “Unfitting Gloves: Around the O.J. Simpson Case”, a long-form journalism research which investigates the OJ case as a social and cultural phenomenon.

In tracing the journey of Black women in the music industry, it becomes evident that their narrative is one of revolution, innovation, and emancipation. Through the trials and triumphs of their careers, Black women artists have not only paved a path for themselves but have also illuminated a way forward for women of color across the United States. In celebrating the legacy of Black women in music, we honor not only their artistic achievements but also their profound impact on the struggle for equality and justice.

Five Mualimm-ak is a Rikers Island survivor. Rikers is the largest and most infamous New York jail. we interviewed him on the bank of the East River in The Bronx, just a few miles away from where he spent most of his adult life. Yet, Rikers is only a piece of a wider puzzle. The U.S. has been holding the record for the highest incarceration rate in the world for several years. The African-American and Latino communities are those paying the highest price. Such a situation, far from being accidental, is the deliberate result of years and years of policies.

On August 11, 1973, hip hop was born in New York City, marking the inception of a cultural phenomenon that most spread the music and traditions of the African American community worldwide. To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of this event, we have assembled a special issue featuring nineteen contributors including journalists, rappers, and devotees of the genre.

In 2020, the protests over the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer ignited a mobilisation across the United States and beyond. Three years later, we thought we'd revisit the many issues brought to light by that movement. To do so, we interviewed Alessandro Portelli, a former professor of Anglo-American history at La Sapienza University in Rome. Alessandro Portelli is an internationally renowned researcher and scholar and one of the leading exponents of oral history. Author of numerous books on American history and culture, including: Il ginocchio sul collo. L'America, il razzismo, la violenza tra presente, storia e immaginari published by Donzelli Editore in 2020.

Soul food is not merely a collection of dishes, it is a vast and varied culinary tradition that originated on plantations in the Southern United States. Moreover, it constitutes a pivotal element in the formation of the Black community's identity in America. However, this was not always the case. Soul food (...of the African-American culinary culture) represents the history of a community through its recipes.

The collective imagery often links gangs to the Black community, much like the Mafia is associated with Italians. However, this perception does not align with the reality of gang history. The history of gangs is characterised by a complex interplay between criminality and self-organisation from below, reflecting the community's response to the challenges imposed by American society. The emergence of rap music played a pivotal role in integrating gangs into mass culture, establishing them as a central topic in public discourse and the political agendas of American presidents.