Blackness
Stories and music from the African American universe: past and future 6 - 20 December 2022
A journey into African American culture and music in which the history of Africa merges with that of the United States and Europe, moving seamlessly through the trajectories of the diaspora and the Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Stories of pride and resistance, in which soul, funk and rap cross the great empire of Mali, the records of Kendrick Lamar or Beyoncé, through to the cinema of Spike Lee. Carlo Babando, journalist, professor of Italian literature and writer, will pair the dialogue with his guests with music reproduced directly from the grooves of the vinyl to weave the thread between music, cinema, literature and history.
In collaboration with SEMM Music Store
Music: when sound becomes a message
- Tuesday 6 December 2022 at 21:00 - 23:00
We start from rap to broaden the field to what today falls within the dimension of black culture, analysing the connections between musical languages - soul, R&B, jazz, disco, funk - and the cultural background, as well as how African American music has also created a new vocabulary for the "second generations". But does it really make sense to call them that? With **Amir Issaa**, artist, teacher and expert in the relationship between hip hop culture and the Italian social context.
We will hear, straight from the 45s, **Marvin Gaye**, **James Brown**, **Public Enemy**, **Run DMC** and contemporary albums such as **Kendrick Lamar**, which have left their mark on our era forever.
Cinema: from filmstrip to asphalt
- Tuesday 13 December 2022 at 21:00 - 23:00
**Marco Manetti** of **Manetti Bros**, director and author, will talk about the relationship between black cinema, music and society. Often, it was the right script at the right time that managed to mark the time of social revenge and the fight against racism. From blaxploitation to the films of Spike Lee and Jordan Peele, we will see how feature films and TV series connected to the African American community are definitively changing the perception of the general public regarding inclusion and multiculturalism.
The soundtrack - strictly on vinyl - ranges from **Isaac Hayes** to **Roy Ayers**, through to **Curtis Mayfield** and the legendary **Foxy Brown** of **Willie Hutch**.
History: from Africa to America across the Atlantic
- Tuesday 20 December 2022 at 21:00 - 23:00
Atlantic history is a triangular history that has its peaks between the sub-Saharan area, southern Europe and America. In between is the Atlantic: that ocean that has seen the terrible trade in women and men deported from Africa, but also the decolonisation processes that took place in the twentieth century. With **Alessandro Vanoli** - historian, writer and populariser - we try to narrate the slave trade in a new way, starting from the Middle Ages until we reach the Marvel superheroes.
On a musical journey between resophonic guitar performances, bottlenecks, harmonica and turntable listening, we will relive the masterpieces of **Robert Johnson**, **Billie Holiday**, **Muddy Waters**, **Louis Armstrong** and many others.
