Maaza Mengiste

Este archivo solo abarca los artículos del autor incorporados a este sitio a partir del 1 de diciembre de 2006. Para fechas anteriores realice una búsqueda entrecomillando su nombre.

Last week in Rome three mannequins doused in fake blood were discovered in front of a municipal building ahead of a visit from Italy's first black minister, Cécile Kyenge. Flyers scattered around the area declared: "Immigration is the genocide of peoples. Kyenge resign!" This is only the latest in a succession of shocking attacks and threats since Kyenge took office in April. She's been compared to an orangutan by a former government minister; likened to a prostitute by a deputy mayor; and had bananas thrown at her while making a speech.

Her appointment has not only shed light on the country's problems with racial tolerance, it has begun to strip away at the Italian stereotype: Italians are friendly and kind, love to laugh, and enjoy the good life.…  Seguir leyendo »

At a recent conference on African literature in Frankfurt, I sat on a panel with two other female writers. A question was asked almost immediately: do you consider yourself an African writer? We each needed to pause before answering; we had to wait for translators to repeat the inquiry in our respective languages.

None of us spoke the same language, and none of the languages being translated from German were indigenous to the countries where we were born. Yet the question didn't take that into consideration. It was so broad as to be disconcertingly limiting, yet it wasn't the first time I'd heard it and it wouldn't be the last.…  Seguir leyendo »