3 - Berlin

Johny finds himself at the fault-line of the 20th century. Berlin is where Cold War divisions between East and West and colonial histories continue to leave a mark on both German and African identities. Celebrated soul singer Joy Denalane shares stories about her upbringing near the former Berlin Wall, partying and crafting her musical identity in local nightclubs while having to dodge neo-Nazis from East Germany. And in the Wedding neighbourhood, internationally-renowned curator Bonaventure Ndikung discusses African art and explains the problematic context behind streets named after African countries and German colonisers.  

Om Podcasten

What does it mean to be both African and European? Author Johny Pitts hosts a six part series exploring major European cities and the art, politics and history of their Black communities. Experience Europe through a lens often missing from tourist guides and official national narratives. Each episode dives deep into a different capital city: Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Stockholm, Lisbon and Paris. The Afropean Podcast is a co-production by Afropean and Reduced Listening. It is written and presented by Johny Pitts. The producer, sound designer and composer is Femi Oriogun-Williams. The assistant producer is Charlie Towler and the executive producer is Chris Elcombe. With thanks to National Geographic for their support of Season 1. You can read more stories from Black Europe in Afropean: Notes From Black Europen which is out now, published by Penguin in the UK and translated into French, Spanish, Italian, German, Polish, Dutch and Portuguese. Afropean Journal, a photographic essay bringing together 20 years of images and ephemera from Johny's work, is out now published by Morel. And you can contribute your own story to the website Afropean.com.