Jérôme Kaluta (baptismal name: Gerasimos Engoye Kaluta) is a Greek-Congolese singer, music producer, actor and presenter. He collaborated with successful people from the field of arts such as the composers Dimitris Papadimitriou and Giorgos Theofanous, Dimitra Papadopoulou, Fokas Evangelinos, and the directors Yiannis Kakleas and Eleni Gasoukas.

He has released his discography with Warner Music Greece, Universal Music Greece/EMI, and his own record company, "Afrogreco Music". He has also appeared with his six-piece orchestra at many festivals and music stages throughout Greece.

Personal opinion: It is impossible to dislike this man. (I challenge you). He is full of energy and good mood, and he is thoughtful and well-spoken in every instance I've watched him on a public platform. He has Charisma and always fights for a more progressive society. I would love to see him in more Greek productions, really.

He got back into the public eye when he presented this year's Eurovision semi-finals. The same year I also happened to watch a discussion for Black actors from US and Greece, and he was - in my opinion - the best communicator of the Greek group, and very knowledgeable on the history of arts in both countries.

I urge you to seek his material, be it music or shows, and, if you like him, give him some extra support!

Look how much theater he has done! Why isn't he more famous??

More of his work on music, and the Greek

9 Afrogreeks discuss: What does “I can’t breathe” mean in Greece

Everyday life, thoughts and experiences of the Afrogreeks in a conversation that you should not miss.

The AfroGreeks is a collective community project in progress that will be presented as a video installation, accompanied by live events, podcasts, workshops, open discussions, film screenings, co-operations with the communities, and other actions. It aims to give a voice and a means of expression to the “invisible” ones of Athens who stand up for being Greeks of African origin/descent.

Read more about the community in their About page.

Hello there! The issue is not too clear in Greek either because the Black community in Greece is very small and also diverse. Looks like the most used and accepted term is "Afrogreek" but I've heard some call themselves Black ("Μαύρος") online and in a discussion by the Anassa institute.

"Afrogreek" is more prevalent because most Black people here atm are 1st, 2nd, 3rd gen immigrants from various African countries. Of course not all Black people identify as Africans so it's best to ask each individual what they're comfortable with.

In the TedEx below, Idra identifies as "Αφροελληνίδα" early on and few seconds afterwards as "μία Μαύρη γυναίκα". (Idk if "Μαύρη" should be capitalised but for now I'll keep it like they do in English)

Greek language doesn't feel too comfortable colouring people linguistically, especially since a few decades ago "Μαύρος" was used in the offensive call "ο Μαύρος" for Black people. (And still today) "Μαύρος άντρας/Μαύρη γυναίκα" are okay because "Μαύρος" in this is an adjective that describes the person. While in the offensive scenario the person is assumed to be their colour. In a similar fashion it's more polite to say "ο κοντός άντρας" instead of "Ο Κοντός".

In Greece people might not be too familiar with color terms for people but there's a need for the terms "Λευκός" and "Μαύρος" to exist in order for anti-racist discussions to take place.

The two words I mentioned (Μαύρος and Afrogreek) are the appropriate ones and - afaik - other terms are not acceptable. "Έγχρωμος" , the translation of "person of color" is not acceptable and it also doesn't make sense linguistically for us, as Indra also notes in the video.

Now, just in case you want to know about a specific word, I'd say go ahead and ask by writing the word. (In ask or in a DM) You don't have to do it, I'm just saying. This will be for educational purposes only cause there are quite a few bad words around and I cannot imagine what your family uses. And we cannot know the proper context of words, and if they can or cannot be used, if we never ask about them. As long as we don't endorse slurs and don't use them to characterise people, it is okay to identify them and learn why they're wrong so the next time we hear them we can also explain to others why their use should be avoided.

Check my tag #afrogreeks for more! Searching "Afrogreek" on YouTube also gives some very interesting videos.

"Όχι καλέ γιατί να δώσουμε άδεια παραμονής σε άτομα που γεννήθηκαν εδώ, δεν είναι ότι θα τους πάμε φυλακή χωρίς λόγο ή κάτι τέτοιο"

I'm excited to see Idra Kayne on tour! For now she is the last name on the poster but she'll shine more soon, no doubt! She's an Afro-Greek singer with a great voice and great personality, many participations in music festivities, slowly breaking into the popular scene. Here's her latest song:

And something in English and live! 😍

I don't mind it! I hope it's clear that when I speak of the mindset Blood =/= Culture it's done in the spirit of inclusion. If you have and if you don't have "Greek blood" you can partake and ask for citizenship.

I'm happy to get more people into Greece officially. However, I'd like to take a closer look at the Greek government on this gesture because our politicians never implement a law that doesn't serve them first and foremost.

I can't speak for other governments but ours probably does this because our working population has been driven away to other countries and as a country we don't earn enough for our taxes to support our public sector. They get more taxes this way I suppose. Oh, and they also do it for votes. But, well, if Greeks of diaspora can benefit from it that's a positive element 😄

Consider also that the Greek government doesn't grant citizenship to Afro Greeks who are born here, nor their parents after being in the country for decades. It's a rare case when they grant it. (The offices are more lenient with light skinned legal immigrants unsurprisingly 🙃) They see dark skin and all of a sudden they believe that these immigrants will drain our public resources - as if it's not the politicians themselves who degrade the public sector deliberately and as if any immigrant who can afford it doesn't choose private care.