ocated in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily is a bridge between Africa and Europe, and one of the first destinations where migrants and refugees arrive in Europe. Palermo, the capital, is the fifth largest city in Italy. Once characterized as the Mafia’s hometown, it is now a “capital of rights, welcoming, tolerance, and culture,” said Mayor Leoluca Orlando.
It was another sunset time, either at the busy Via Maqueda with other young people stirring the Aperol spritz or at my balcony getting ready to enjoy the tangles of Pasta con pesto di pistacchi e gamberi. I did not have the ambition to write about Palermo on a summer holiday at first. But the "seeing" self and the "writing" self still meet after clicking the photos while being mesmerized by the corners of the cobblestone streets. Some are unplanned ones at a dining table. Some are organized meetings driven by the ambition to understand the thick layers of the city where warm and young air is flowing.
Ballarò, the Scent of Sicily
Migrants from Africa and Bangladesh are highly visible at Ballarò, one of the three most famous local markets.
Migrating from the Ivory Coast seven years ago, this man owns a tailor shop in Ballarò. Customers are surrounded by clothes of vivid colors and distinctive patterns of “Ankara”, known as African prints, as soon as they step into the shop of only around 20 square meters. “I am quite happy about my life here in Palermo,” he said from his desk filled with sewing machines, tools, and clothes.
Bangladeshis started to immigrate to Italy in the 1980s. There are 10,000-15,000 living in Palermo, owning small businesses. The two men in the photo are from Bangladesh. They own one of the most common grocery shops in Ballarò. "I came to help them and learned how to run the shop this year," the brother in the right of the picture said.
The Emerging Hub for Research and Activism
The intertwined sociospatial order of migration, mafia, and politics makes it appealing for NGOs and associations related to migration to move in the area, creating a hub of sorts. During my stay in Palermo, I joined two vernissages—both featuring the Nigerian community in Palermo.
Oriri is a photography exhibition at Fondazione Sant' Elia by photojournalist Francesco Bellina. “It took me four years to finish the project," he said,'' I am still in touch with the models in the portraits and they are very excited when the photos are exhibited." Francesco Bellina started the project in 2016 and investigated the trafficking of Nigerian sex slaves through various African countries, on a journey back to Benin City.
As suggested by the title "Oriri", which means spirit and nightmares in the Bini language, the exhibition features the victims of trafficking from the perspective of how criminal networks merge with religious cults.
At another Vernissage called ILOI, a group of dancers whose names are: Blessing, Faith, Faith, Kate, Joy, Precious, Precious Sunday, Rebeca, and Rosemary in their original language, performed the traditional Nigerian dance. "There is always a stigma around Nigerian women in Palermo that they are prostitutes. I want people to know that they are like us," said the organizer of the exhibition.
The LGBTQ movement is active in Palermo as well. Since June 2016, same-sex civil unions and unregistered cohabitation have been legally recognized. However, LGBTQ people may still face some legal challenges. In June, during Pride month the community group Palermo Pride organized a pride walk. Participants held the rainbow flag in Quattro Canti, one of the most famous historical sites in Palermo.
Addiopizzo, the Grassroots Movement Fighting Mafia
In Palermo, the mafia is an unavoidable topic. The city was known for the ruthlessness of the mafia in the 90s. After the assassination of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in the 90s, Cosa Nostra, as the mafia was also known, was heavily protested by the Palermo public. Eventually, the group changed tactics and became less severe.
Addiopizzo, an NGO founded in 2004, initiated an anti-mafia grassroots movement and has been working with locals determined to shake up the status quo by declining to pay the “Pizzo”—Sicilian slang for protection money. They walk around the city and send out flyers to shop owners to encourage them to put up stickers of "Addio Pizzo", which means farewell protection money. Edoardo Zaffuto, the founding member of Addiopizzo, an anti-mafia NGO founded in 2004, said the group’s fear of backlash is the reason why the NGO's activities are not bothered by the mafia. In 2009, Addiopizzo Travel, the social enterprise that emerged from Addiopizzo was founded and now offers cultural experiences with in-depth study on anti-mafia and in the spirit of responsible travel.
Eduardo also points out that community support is important in shifting the mindset towards "Pizzo". The fear of being targeted by mafia members usually scares shop owners from joining the movement. But when the community unites as a whole, the owners feel more confident in putting up the stickers. When it was founded, a group of young people proposed one slogan: Un intero popolo che paga il pizzo e un popolo senza dignità (an entire population who pays pizzo is a population without dignity).
Together with the bottom-up movement trying to shift the mindset, mafia-free tourism is an external driving force to help build the clean economy, signaled by the distinctive window stickers proclaiming “I pay those who are not paying."
On 29th June, around ten members of the anti-mafia grassroots organization celebrated their 17th anniversary in a special way: they went out at midnight to put stickers up on shop windows, mirroring how they began the movement 17 years ago.
The numerous construction sites in the city center, the emerging art scenes, and the movement all represent how the most-conquered land on earth is regenerating. Tourists who come here for the first time will be struck by the Palermo Cathedral of the eclectic ecclesiastical architecture with an incredible combination of the elements of Arab, Norman, Byzantine, Swabian, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, as well as the trash that litters the city center. For a city growing out of pain and difficulty in recent years, activism, and grassroots movement are part of the strong wave of regeneration. The bottom-up approach is pushing upwards.
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Palermo, a City Regenerated by Migrants and Activists
Photo by Henrique Ferrei via Unsplash.
September 4, 2021
Palermo is a bridge between Africa and Europe and one of the first destinations where migrants and refugees arrive in Europe. Once characterized as the Mafia’s hometown, it is now a capital of rights, welcoming, tolerance, and culture.
L
ocated in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily is a bridge between Africa and Europe, and one of the first destinations where migrants and refugees arrive in Europe. Palermo, the capital, is the fifth largest city in Italy. Once characterized as the Mafia’s hometown, it is now a “capital of rights, welcoming, tolerance, and culture,” said Mayor Leoluca Orlando.
It was another sunset time, either at the busy Via Maqueda with other young people stirring the Aperol spritz or at my balcony getting ready to enjoy the tangles of Pasta con pesto di pistacchi e gamberi. I did not have the ambition to write about Palermo on a summer holiday at first. But the "seeing" self and the "writing" self still meet after clicking the photos while being mesmerized by the corners of the cobblestone streets. Some are unplanned ones at a dining table. Some are organized meetings driven by the ambition to understand the thick layers of the city where warm and young air is flowing.
Ballarò, the Scent of Sicily
Migrants from Africa and Bangladesh are highly visible at Ballarò, one of the three most famous local markets.
Migrating from the Ivory Coast seven years ago, this man owns a tailor shop in Ballarò. Customers are surrounded by clothes of vivid colors and distinctive patterns of “Ankara”, known as African prints, as soon as they step into the shop of only around 20 square meters. “I am quite happy about my life here in Palermo,” he said from his desk filled with sewing machines, tools, and clothes.
Bangladeshis started to immigrate to Italy in the 1980s. There are 10,000-15,000 living in Palermo, owning small businesses. The two men in the photo are from Bangladesh. They own one of the most common grocery shops in Ballarò. "I came to help them and learned how to run the shop this year," the brother in the right of the picture said.
The Emerging Hub for Research and Activism
The intertwined sociospatial order of migration, mafia, and politics makes it appealing for NGOs and associations related to migration to move in the area, creating a hub of sorts. During my stay in Palermo, I joined two vernissages—both featuring the Nigerian community in Palermo.
Oriri is a photography exhibition at Fondazione Sant' Elia by photojournalist Francesco Bellina. “It took me four years to finish the project," he said,'' I am still in touch with the models in the portraits and they are very excited when the photos are exhibited." Francesco Bellina started the project in 2016 and investigated the trafficking of Nigerian sex slaves through various African countries, on a journey back to Benin City.
As suggested by the title "Oriri", which means spirit and nightmares in the Bini language, the exhibition features the victims of trafficking from the perspective of how criminal networks merge with religious cults.
At another Vernissage called ILOI, a group of dancers whose names are: Blessing, Faith, Faith, Kate, Joy, Precious, Precious Sunday, Rebeca, and Rosemary in their original language, performed the traditional Nigerian dance. "There is always a stigma around Nigerian women in Palermo that they are prostitutes. I want people to know that they are like us," said the organizer of the exhibition.
The LGBTQ movement is active in Palermo as well. Since June 2016, same-sex civil unions and unregistered cohabitation have been legally recognized. However, LGBTQ people may still face some legal challenges. In June, during Pride month the community group Palermo Pride organized a pride walk. Participants held the rainbow flag in Quattro Canti, one of the most famous historical sites in Palermo.
Addiopizzo, the Grassroots Movement Fighting Mafia
In Palermo, the mafia is an unavoidable topic. The city was known for the ruthlessness of the mafia in the 90s. After the assassination of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in the 90s, Cosa Nostra, as the mafia was also known, was heavily protested by the Palermo public. Eventually, the group changed tactics and became less severe.
Addiopizzo, an NGO founded in 2004, initiated an anti-mafia grassroots movement and has been working with locals determined to shake up the status quo by declining to pay the “Pizzo”—Sicilian slang for protection money. They walk around the city and send out flyers to shop owners to encourage them to put up stickers of "Addio Pizzo", which means farewell protection money. Edoardo Zaffuto, the founding member of Addiopizzo, an anti-mafia NGO founded in 2004, said the group’s fear of backlash is the reason why the NGO's activities are not bothered by the mafia. In 2009, Addiopizzo Travel, the social enterprise that emerged from Addiopizzo was founded and now offers cultural experiences with in-depth study on anti-mafia and in the spirit of responsible travel.
Eduardo also points out that community support is important in shifting the mindset towards "Pizzo". The fear of being targeted by mafia members usually scares shop owners from joining the movement. But when the community unites as a whole, the owners feel more confident in putting up the stickers. When it was founded, a group of young people proposed one slogan: Un intero popolo che paga il pizzo e un popolo senza dignità (an entire population who pays pizzo is a population without dignity).
Together with the bottom-up movement trying to shift the mindset, mafia-free tourism is an external driving force to help build the clean economy, signaled by the distinctive window stickers proclaiming “I pay those who are not paying."
On 29th June, around ten members of the anti-mafia grassroots organization celebrated their 17th anniversary in a special way: they went out at midnight to put stickers up on shop windows, mirroring how they began the movement 17 years ago.
The numerous construction sites in the city center, the emerging art scenes, and the movement all represent how the most-conquered land on earth is regenerating. Tourists who come here for the first time will be struck by the Palermo Cathedral of the eclectic ecclesiastical architecture with an incredible combination of the elements of Arab, Norman, Byzantine, Swabian, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, as well as the trash that litters the city center. For a city growing out of pain and difficulty in recent years, activism, and grassroots movement are part of the strong wave of regeneration. The bottom-up approach is pushing upwards.
