Being black in Germany

March 02, 2016
topic:	Racism
tags:	#black german, #black professionals, #HADNET TESFAI, #jermain rafflington, #KEVIN JOHN EDUSEI, #racism, #THEODOR WONJA MICHAEL, #Black History Month
located:	Germany
by:	Ama Lorenz

As Jermain Raffington, a black professional basketball player, grew up in Germany, he lacked role models with whom he could identify. He started the project "Schwarz-Rot-Gold" and embarked on a journey to find them.

"Schwarz-Rot-Gold" depicts the lives of black Germans with different social, political and ethnic backgrounds. Besides being successful professionals, they all have something in common: They assert themselves and their identity in a country that has not yet found a social consensus in dealing with the ethnic diversity of its population.

Jermain Raffington starts his projects with ten episodes. These are the first ones:

KEVIN JOHN EDUSEI is the conductor of the Munich Symphony Orchestra. He is not only one of today's most promising young conductors but also one of the few Black Germans in this field.

THEODOR WONJA MICHAEL was born in 1925 in Berlin. He is one of the few black German survivors of the Nazi era. After the war, he worked as actor, journalist and official of the Federal Intelligence Service.

HADNET TESFAI studied political science and Arabic and holds a Master's degree in North American studies. She began her career as a television presenter, among others, for the music channel MTV Germany (2008 to 2010).

PATRICK MUSHATSI-KAREBA is a Media Executive with profound background in music, digital distribution, media partnerships, product launch and development. Since 2008 he works for the Apple GmbH as iTunes Head Of Music GSA, Italy & PAN Europe.

Read more in our dossier RACISM.

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