Update from Bologna: dignity and Islamic hip hop

In 2000, Bologna was named a European City of Culture, ensuring year-long festivities and cultural celebrations. But to my mind, Bologna never lost its mantle. The streets teem with students of all cultures who have, since the 12th century, given this city a reputation for being left-leaning and justify its moniker as "The Red."

On my way to see two documentaries, one about African migrants in Bologna and the other about the 2007 Senegalese elections, I’m mesmerised by the never-ending sailed portici above my head which shield the sidewalks from the April rain. Built to allow extra living space in the apartment blocks above, they also give shelter for many of Bologna’s homeless, who sit on palazzo steps with plastic cups jingling coins.

The same image of arches and lonely figures appears in Life in the City, the first film I see tonight. The cinema is packed when I arrive—a sea of dreadlocks, and it’s standing room only as a jazz pianist intones Sinatra upfront. After a brief introduction by the film’s subjects, we enter their world. Their situation is bleak, but there is hope. We watch one sitting on the grass discussing racism and his desire for integration with our enthusiastic pianist, and see snapshots of graffiti on walls: "Freedom asks for Dignity," one says. The narrative is uneven and the footage grainy in parts, but the vignettes neatly portray the peripatetic lives of the three main characters—all unemployed, desperate, and striving for a better life.



Human dignity is the lynchpin of any movement promoting human rights. Yet, even after leaving their war-ravaged and corrupt homelands, many African migrants continue to struggle for freedom with dignity. In the final scene, two men leave an apartment after buying drugs for street sale. Outside, they are stopped randomly and questioned by police. It reminds us that racism persists in Bologna, the city of culture, though it occurs to me that it’s not the young people in the audience who need reminding.

The second film, Democracy in Dakar, is a feature-length documentary about the hip hop movement in Senegal. The film leads up to the presidential election on 25th February, 2007, and tells the story of how rappers spearheaded a political movement now called "musical activism." In 2000, after 40 years of socialist rule, Democratic hopeful Abdoulaye Wade was elected with the help of hip-hop artists. But after seven years, Wade proved to be just another oligarch. Unemployment stands at 50 per cent. In the slums, where most of the hip-hop artists originate, there is no electricity, no clean water and most people live on one meal a day.

Directors Ben Harson and Magee MacIlvaine have made a riveting film: footage of interviews with rappers is cleverly interspersed with clippings from news sources about the exodus of young people to Spain or France—mostly on makeshift rafts. If they don’t starve in the slums, they drown on the journey.

There is also a good dose of hip-hop – but it’s not the American brand of drugs, guns and scantily clad women. Most of the rappers are Islamic. Hip-hop is a way for them to protest about poverty and corruption. Despite receiving death threats for recording anti-government songs, these artists are fearless, engaging in a unique form of political dissent (some from exile). They may dress more like 50 Cent than civil libertarians, but what the men and women of this film care about is basic economic and social rights—the right to food, the right to development, the right to housing. Using words instead of bullets, these activists offer hope for change which should have been realised long ago.