I came across a very interesting blog this morning as I was surfing through the blogosphere. While reading the Agonist, which has been nominated for "Best of the top 501 -1000 blogs," I discovered the 2007 Weblog Awards. There are some interesting categories and some fantastic blogs being represented. One such, which is nominated for "Best European Blog (non UK) is;
Black Women in Europe
"Created by an African-American expatriate for other expatriates and Afro-Europeans. A place to celebrate women in the African Diaspora living in Europe."Here is a podcast to a series by Austria's FM4, "Being a Black Woman in Europe."
The history of African-American pan-African resistance and activism reaches back to the early republic. "Black Women in Europe" could be seen as a continuation of that tradition. I'm primarily interested in this topic as it relates to my research on public sphere theory and communication technologies as tools of social and political participation. Last semester, I gave an exam on "Black Liberation Radio" which I need to develop into a paper. However, I'm also personally interested about how American expats, me being one myself, synthesize and creolize their own cultures. I recall seeing a segment last year on Danish news about newly awarded Danish citizenship. An African-American man (I think from Philadelphia) had been awarded his Danish citizenship after living in Denmark some 10 or more years. He spoke about the difficulty of renouncing his US citizenship in order to obtain Danish citizenship. Despite the difficulty of permanently leaving one's place of birth behind, he felt he was also leaving a life of discrimination and racism behind. I've been meaning to contact him for an interview here on the AC.
