The perception that germans out wide fair haired and blue eyed has never been true and will never be to its and. People always ask me where im from its not possible to be german and black. From the moment i get up and leave the house in the morning im confronted with racist views images in stereo types of people. As a child alice wanted to have white skin because i felt bed being black and not being able to blend in and i was kind of sticking out of the group and being you know different than the rest i didnt want to be different. I am traveling around germany to talk with other black people about our experiences with racism my 1st stop this ham thats where i was born and. I had absolutely wonderful parents and that helped me a lot in difficult situations. I mean i always had a lot of friends about what i do remember and kim agora that we played these funny games like whos afraid of the black man and tender little negroes thats called in german so and i remember that sometimes the ran after me and said yeah nothing can hurt in Something Like janice an african man as an african and the problem is that african men something bad. At 1st met sammy did looks when i was a teenager and have todays one after germany most successful refers to have a bias. On. The record. A lot of us were living as overusing. Ive come to see semi and its doing as you. Say the way it was this had a number of top 10 hits and us a little the a 1000000 records. Just like today he also produces other musicians. Just. As he forgets a kid i wanted to be white and he you know what. Yeah as a kid white and as a teenager i really wanted to be black. Thats nice only still needs to not have this ambiguity so it seemed so clear cut like on the white side and white people just knew who they were black people did to me i felt like i was in the middle i grew up in a white family in a white neighborhood it was definitely a challenge. And the challenge of really does its mission for me the feeling of being caught in between is something imposed on you from the outside i mean people always say dont you see taunting conscious black and why do you feel more. Effect is yes how i dont find it unusual why should i have to choose sides im fucked up when we have guns for you one thing that cause me a fair amount of confusion right from the start was that i have straight hair. Just to spite me than it was of a machine in the one shoot as in which he could sneak out going on top of the stand in grade school if some kid called me the n. Word and i reacted defensively or aggressively theyd say yes and hey i was if youre not really a nigger because your hair is straight. So for me that was like ok im dark enough to get called the n. Word but my hair isnt frizzy or curly enough for me to have the right to get upset about it to me that was the 1st contradiction that was imposed on me from the outside world and thats he wrote a song for some about humorous didnt you its the song of the stream so i told him i wrote the song in 2008 at the time i was reading a harry potter book to my son in the evening at bedtime and and one night he said he wished he were white and exactly. As then he could be like his friends in the moment and all you have to do is paint that thing on his forehead and wear around glasses and hed look like harry potter was still need to be loved thats logans e. L. C. Harry potter of england i wish him good that made me realize that theres an acute shortage of dark skinned superheroes but so i wrote the song and made a really nice video to go along with it. His issue was with us we. Have. No. I was never going to. Come down but. Im looking down the road when they leave that. For that. Period of. Time i was longing and i dont quite know playing the last song but. By the last guy. Someones listening to domino me and im definitely played a long long time itself plus a little. Less money right now so i mean i think i get a fresh start its a high i can remember when i was 13 i was into novena and thats when i started going to pot to do stuff and the other kids would say van are you why youre listening to that and should be listening to black music i did and i liked it more and then it was the best music scene whatever that means hip hop and r. And b. I havent done a school book on them and is a see in the and then all of a sudden yes a big person a part of the majority of im up on my own vomit enemy and then with these positive associations its whos its even us its who and you have something as a show with us all from a single i think thats one of the main reasons i became who i am and thats where this record thing thats asked of a rap was the 1st thing that gave me a Home Court Advantage so to speak and im for tired houses i just had to let my pants hang a little bit lower paying less in the sky. My cap to the side and move like this. And everyone was into it it looked authentic and it fit well with my exotic status this was i did graffiti deejaying collected records started producing rasping and and beatboxing all the hip hop disciplines except breakdancing that was too much work so youre telling me youre not just body type take it out. Only with words. As a journalist i dont have a Home Court Advantage. When i decided to become a journalist and when i became an anchor i was actually i think the 1st female black and gemini i didnt have any role models. Do not a baby all things tend to become for me its really important that children you know when this watch on the t. V. That might see me and think oh right i can be on t. V. And read the news and i dont have to have a job which was filled the racist stereotypes for me that would be great if i could help bring down perry as in that sense. That people have been living in germany for 400 years but today they numbered about 1000000 you from me in cologne of come to see. Do you support that. He was born in 1025000000000. Why did your father come from cameroon to germany back then come on by you know those cameroon was a german colony. Weve done for you. Just just people used to dream of going to america. At the time many Young Africans wanted to come to germany. Says there was no such thing as what we now call racism. At least not as we know it today. You see it only started to take shape when the Young Africans started asserting themselves for instance by marrying german women oh. And the reaction was there taking away our women. In quincy in the name once he had the fall invade. I mean are you appeared in ethnographic exhibits also known as humans zeus what was it like standing for the imagine human beings. Being exhibited like objects literally exhibited earth present for what they supposedly represented of namely africa with vast skirts and drums dancing saunders. Didnt and the idea was that people under splay were foreign exotic. And more showing spectators what their homeland was like the city. Basically it was just a big show. Me i might as good im going to the numbers show evidence how crazy istead us a german was supposed to imitate just received cuts off africa i was just such a huge continent. And hes a consummate. Window had trod so i was sort of not black. So of course i should be able to do that thats how it is in my blood and lets talk about the nazi era its so hard to imagine because black people would obviously attract attention in every genre that was so racist thats right as a mom both to kind and. We didnt need to wear yellow star. Everyone could see we were aliens. You know a lot of other black people in germany ok yeah sure everyone knew everyone and there were so many corneal films made back then but thats the many of us would meet up as part of the cast. Yet thats me. This is mine and thats my closest and still dont like the fact that the shot a close up of me. And everyone who was in black was in that film. And. I was 16 at the time. And it struck me that my god were all here together. Because they could take us away without anyone noticing or not does this oath they did that and then thought it weighed very heavily on me this. Is good thank god i never came to practice but in the via we were too few in number to matter to the nazis that you could. Die for you know all contact with white women with the fat women horrible home field. I would have been sterilized still inside. And i might also have been charged with racial defilement being the ass and shunned. Oh how do you say that you took great care not to get too close to white women all girls like tom wasnt like how you being all trying to become invisible how can you imagine that i wanted to. See men the sleestak thats the right word invisible i could become the only of course with a face like this i could never completely disappear. But i tried to. I think have sense who i really did thats who didnt skip this i and the main thing was to keep your head down can your mouth shut. I made sure i did that as well. To the point that i started to start or. Yeah i started turning black i have been understood listening to the difficult of the horrible things you experienced. How did you find the strength to go on but thats one of the w. C. Well i have to say with gods help. I became a religious person league as i mentioned above. Thats what you. Do dont you michel always says theres nothing in the german constitution that states what a german is supposed to look like but some people havent gotten the message for them we asked the saudi. When i was a child complete strangers would touch my hand say it feels like a birds nest. Right. Way to my god its good to see you still see my watch breakfast t. V. Every morning i turn on the set and think like an afro german woman on german public t. V. Be as were so proud of you. Oh youre such a wonderful job just 1002 muslims torn back to tear me a look at your hair we have to talk about that yes we do. And then i will work in some coconut oil. Like. Cancel on t. V. That i have so i think it is enough now my love your curls ok then i would always wake up the movies are good these are funny curls. Now im really happy to be talking to s. That dont call the phone up cause a knuckleball cully Hamner Agassi thats how sometimes i think that black peoples hair is really politicized its like a political statement whether you have to have. It naturally the stereotype is that the hair is messy and wild that doesnt go over well in the professional but also how the afro hair just isnt acceptable. Our Society Still doesnt comply with our ideals of beauty. Look at beyond saying shes a black woman shes a performer of the shes the embodiment of empowerment but she still wears a straight blonde weve made its kind of anti you know ive met women who work in law offices in places like that we get into trouble if they wear their hair naturally that kind. Of not to mention hot off the plate can you tell us about the natural Hand Movement does is sort of fell into it. Its about allowing people with afro textured hair to wear it naturally without causing a fuss or having to feel selfconscious. Thats what life is about that with accepting yourself a good set of names absence of times. Change. To feel comfortable in your own skin thats the goal but its not so easy. I think the problem is that if you see all these stereotypes about africa about tribes about being primitive of that barrier a native underdeveloped. It hits you. Part of the problem of the images from the days of colonialism and the lin dance to streets named after german nice and colonialists. And berlin in 1804 that european nations had to climb when they carved up half a can to colonies. And yet a street festival aimed at forcing the city to change the name from was. I am here was just a crazy akins political scientist an activist why its important for you to remain districts the term is one of the oldest german words. Person box look at the roots of the term it has an action in the greek root morris and morris i guess that means dr block but it also means stupid even primitive and so you see already in their origin of the work that there is this ideal block if there are its a bend if we look into the history of the street maybe if we see that the street was named quiet its name in the context of the brandenburg involvement in the transatlantic enslavement and to prize how would you say thats germany to deal with this colonial history. I think is a huge problem. A lot of aspects of german korean history are not widely known we cant even begin to understand National Socialism without looking at the colonial and to see this because we find that they are ideological political but also personal continuity. Linking german colonialism and National Socialism. Please and i set off to uncover some of the traces. Soft colonialism in the german capital. Ok i think i moved to berlin 10 years ago but this defers time im seeing this fresco can be explained by a scene so we had the house and this here shows us the trail of tobacco so you see and slaved african men harvesting tobacco then enslaved African Women packaging the tobacco then it is sorted and weighed you know as a white overseer and then its package further its made ready for shipment and you see one of the white oversea is already lounging and having a smoke but then you see the ship departing and then not only you see its berlin because you see the silhouette of the german the french dont so this clearly explains the source of the wealth that was used to build this place right but of course it also implicates the people that frequented here and the suffering but its also depicted here. People often defined by this skin color so when known south african artist robin wrote place with the stereotypes he experienced apartheid in south africa now hes been living in berlin for 4 changes. I. Could tell you this you i can see you working on a new p. C. s. I have a work in process and its a world guy some aldermen this is about myself african i did 30. And of course the african is a strong some bull its interesting that you chose here of course i can identify with that but what does i mean look at what role of detail a for have play for you he became a way to to classify a place been sold to a place through he to. Who did you pick to kind of the stand and the for the racial category. So saying that if they go through my head they say its f. I have i am exactly black on the public at a west coast that is colored always mixed race. So if the cold winds we invaded find you here because you guys as white how were you classified as on a farm because if i discard it as if it is a person of mixed race and so i might be and so my grandparents and. In many ways my cultural background is quite complex because i you know we dont associate ourselves with black and neither white. Sorry. I know you viewed as black d. C. s leg while i gem content what i think is in the german gone thinks im viewed as out of oh really so thats actually pretty interesting. I use off as a way to subvert but also to to play with. On the valvoline what these kind of cultural labels off. This particular piece reading speed of middle painting everything needs to be defined is going to be categorized and im trying to knob explore the notion of something that is completely in this something that is going to be tea and you find. I was born in 1981 and in the early ninetys we had a serious of of racist attacks in germany and also placed in hot and high us to get it and so willing it must be backed by stand the skunk. During the attacks. It was really heartbreaking to see and it frightened me so much as a child. And i think thats something that is also very scary if you look at the recent vice and racist attacks on refugees in germany and so few of the people who take them were caught and put on trial and i think thats a very dangerous message to everyone who experience racism because it means ok you can be attacked but you know you can attack people but you can get away with it in that it gives us the message ok people can do to you whatever they want they wont be put on trial. And that scares me a lot. About us an apprentice rufo working in the east and german state off 6 and im hot he hasnt been living here for very long in 2013 he fled book enough icing for germany his job gives the 28 year old some stability was but otherwise his life is often difficult recently he will speak not by a right wing thought i mean he send the town of war where he lives as a hero 8 months ago you were beaten up right here tell us about that. I went into the stall and saw a man and if with a woman in charge here. And he said why didnt you look at that he sure does using the n word for us to look at this black piece of trash written in ago i didnt say anything about ownership i went to the counter to pay this call and he went like this. And i said this is what do you want from me and he says ill show you i went over there and he hit me 3 or 4 times like this. You know muscle history of how bad the way you hurt when a boa less due to the i felt a lot of pain in my stomach losses and i come down the block for about 2 months. And were not holding. On to how does it feel when no one steps in to help you when youre being beaten up and you often treat it with hostility and in solitude and im at how do you cope. To not because youre soft im always afraid when i go out now going to start to see who can i go to work on the freight of what might happen along the way roads people make just just like im going to cut your throat so it is seeing and they shout go back to where you came from shocking people do that to me every day shipment. This is the courthouse in the town of stand up its where the man who beat up he says on trial. How do you feel knowing you about to see the person would take kids as he has. Done not afraid. I cant wait to see him again for and look into his eyes of these young folks and the mystery of. The attack on who has a long criminal record was found guilty of assault and sentenced to 10 months in jail but he appealed was just a reason for his hearing. If. The. Cameras arent allowed inside the concert that. After 4 hours the consciousness. Isa how was it for you today. I never expected it to go so well an abuser person very pleased to hear mr. C. Ter. The conviction is upheld but the attacker intends to appeal again. Once you wake up in the morning and you switch on the radio or you switch on the t v youre confronted with all these stereotypes about africa and. Its really difficult to talk about racism in germany because once i experience it when i talk about racism people say oh youre too emotional youre over reacting the company true im sure the person didnt mean it that way so they dont really take it serious and that is really hard because i feel like i am not taking seriously my experience its. False were here to cigarettes. I thought it was racism without regret because he shed all his. And listening and the author of this play is the artist and writer. The story shes originally from particle but has lived for many years a 1000000000. For me it took a lot of effort to Research Lecture me history had to go out because there was nothing that was presented to me in school for example what told us the s