I was born black, working class and northern in Margaret Thatcher's Britain. With these words, Johny Pitts opens the prologue of "Afropean — Notes from Black Europe." At the age of 30, the journalist and photographer packs his bag and leaves the UK to go on a 5-month Interrail journey across Europe. Nothing out of the ordinary, it seems, but for him, a Black working class kid from Sheffield, a rather unlikely trip. First because he doesn't have wealthy parents. Second, because he is, as he half-jokingly describes himself, "that rarest of creatures: the black backpacker." So from the onset, we ..read more

Recently, I bought a pack of coloring pens. On the front side, a beautifully lettered print saying “Hautfarben” (skin color in German). Inside, 12 different pens, 12 different shades that skin can have: plain white, the peachy salmon which is usually referred to as “skin color” in Germany, multiple shades of light brown, some with yellow, others with more reddish undertones, and then the lavish, earthy brown tones, dark, darker, ebony black. Thanks to these pens, kids can finally draw themselves and their friends the way they really look like, it says on the backside. I try to determine which ..read more

Since George Floyd was brutally killed by police on the 25th of May, solidarity protests have erupted around the world in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. In Sweden, major protests were organized in the three largest cities Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö, bringing together thousands of people. The organizers and participants faced harsh critique from different sides. A lot of it was related to the corona crisis that is still spreading fast in Sweden. As a prevention measure, gatherings of more than 50 people are not allowed but it was clear from the beginning that much more ..read more

Last summer, I conducted a little act of sabotage at the preschool where I worked at the time. I noticed a picture collage at one of the classroom doors, a loose assembly of a variety of kids from all over the world. Most of the kids looked happy and healthy. Most of the kids were white. There was only one image of a black child. It showed a young boy, standing upright and proud, looking straight into the camera. He wore no shirt and sweat was running down from his neck over his bare black torso. His left hand casually on his hip, he carried a rugged axe the size of his upper body in the othe ..read more

For the fourth foreign fika tale, I spoke to Grazzia from Honduras. She is married to a Swede and they lived together in Stockholm and Tegucigalpa before moving to Gothenburg about three years ago. When I interviewed her, she had just gotten her first serious job at Gothenburg University, so she reflected a lot about the difference that meant for her life. We spoke about the difficulty to enter the Swedish labor market as a foreigner, about cultural differences between Scandinavia and Central America, and the white lies she told to her neighbors. I meet Grazzia on a windy Monday evening. Most ..read more

For weeks, the media have been largely dominated by corona-related headlines. Tied to our phones and computers as we are, there is no escape from the topic, even less so since many of us were quarantined at home. I got into my obsessive online news spiral in January, when the disease still seemed to be far away, on its rampant expedition across the Asian continent. First thing in the morning and last thing at night, I checked the news compulsively, closely monitoring the situation in South Korea where I had planned to spend the spring. For that reason, I was already familiar with the way coro ..read more

Vegan Kimchi ca. 1,3 kg / prep. time: ca. 1h / soaking time: ca. 8h / fermentation: 8-10 days Ingredients: 1 large firm napa cabbage 85g coarse sea salt 5g sticky rice flower 3 Tbsp sugar 20ml Dasima ¼ Daikon radish (ca. 250g) 2 scallions ¼ leak (the middle light green part) ¼ Nashi (or 1 regular) pear 4 cloves of garlic 1 piece of ginger (ca. 5g) 40g Gochutgaru chili powder 2 Tbsp soy sauce 2 Tbsp vegan fish sauce (optional) 1 Tbsp apple vinegar Sea salt Instructions: 1. Remove the outer leaves from the napa cabbage. Cut in half lengthwise and rinse. Spread the coarse sea salt between the ..read more

Since I moved to Gothenburg, I've met many women who find themselves in a situation that is similar to mine. Most of us are in their thirties or forties, highly educated, fairly cosmopolitan, multilingual, very ambitious. Most of us are also so-called "love immigrants" and came to Sweden to be with our partners, which means that we put our relationships before our own goals and careers. While our partners usually have well-paid positions in their respective professional field, we enjoy a lot of freedom and leisure time but also frequently struggle with feelings of inferiority, isolation, alie ..read more

Since I've moved to Gothenburg, I've met many women who find themselves in the same situation as I do. Most of us are in their thirties or forties, highly educated, fairly cosmopolitan, multilingual, very ambitious. Most of us are also so-called "love immigrants" and came to Sweden to be with our partners, which means that we put our relationships before our own goals and careers. While our partners usually have well-paid positions in their respective professional field, we enjoy a lot of freedom and leisure time but also frequently struggle with feelings of inferiority, isolation, alienation ..read more

Every time I visit big cities in Western Europe, I am amazed by the diversity of people on public transport. I remember the awe when during a visit to my brother in London, I looked around and realized that he was the only white person on the bus. I was in my early twenties, and that was the first time I experienced this in any European country. Today, I live in one of the most segregated cities, not only in Sweden but in all of Europe. Segregated doesn't mean that there are no immigrants but that they are simply invisible in certain parts of town. So you can have that London experience in so ..read more