Halfway through black history month and my mamma just sent me this picture of us, that was taken in Italy where I was born and grew up, where my heart resides, my sister lives and I spent all my summers and holidays after moving to Switzerland, but I still get treated like it’s not my homeland. My mamma is an Afro Brazilian woman who made her way to Europe and fought hard to get to where she is today. Instead of being helped she got disrespected and the only person who ever defended her was my nonna, who raised me and kept advising me to be patient with my mother. I was a kid, who only heard the gossip about my super strict mother while she wasn’t around, so we never managed to get along until recently, but I respect the heck out of my mother for making her dreams come true with her head up high. She left Brazil without a full education and went back with 30 diplomas on the wall. After 30 years of EU she moved to Brazil reconnecting and finding lost family members. After Brazil abolished slavery at the end of church he 19th century there was nowhere for black and natives to go, so they got pushed to corners and into the same labor for a mystery. Without hope a lot of people turned to drugs and alcohol making it seem that poc are lazy instead of hopeless (I asked my cousin when he was 19 why he won’t study. He said: “for what? I’m black! There’s no opportunity for me!” The world seems to be changing but it’s always one step forward, 2 steps back). My mother may have had a couple of white husbands but they only slowed her down and didn’t help with her milestones. OBAMA AIN’T GOT ISH ON MY MAMMA ! Happy Black History month and Carnaval season, Neguses! 👑 💜 #venusleone #blackhistorymonth #italian #brazilian #afroitalian #afrobrazilian #negus #heritage (at Rimini Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CosJMRQrOWz/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
