RETHINKING “ITALIANESS”

A recent story published by the New York Times highlights the hard work is still needed to broaden up traditional views of what it takes to be accepted as a citizen of Italy.

When I saw it on the first page of the New York Times, a smile came on my face. It was the story of a very promising young architect from Italy who was honing his skills to reshape the image of Mogadishu, the worn torn capital of Somalia that, finally, is recovering from a brutal past.

At first look I was even more satisfied because this is a tale of a new generation of Italians, daughters and sons of immigrant families who moved years back to the country in order to build a new life.

There are a number of them who have already found fame and celebrities.

Paola Egonu and Miriam Sylla, two of the strongest volleyball players in the world, Awadu Abbass and Paul Biligha, talented basketball players, the football player Stefano Okaka, the former participant to the Miss Italia contest, Nayomi Andibuduge and many many others, including Monica Patino Gomez, an Italian lawyer who had run for the regional elections in Tuscany last year and was victim of online abuses then just because she was born in another country.

Someone called them the “Ballottelli Generation” referring to the famous football player of Ghanaian origin that was adopted by an Italian family from Brescia.

Actually, this is not the “Ballottelli Generation” but instead a promising “Italian Future Generation” made up by many young citizens, that together with their peers without foreign backgrounds, represent the future of the country.

And we should be very proud of them.

Among this group of rising stars there is Omar Degan, the architect the New York Times centered that piece on because Omar is doing remarkable work there, helping creating, through architecture, a new narrative for Mogadishu.

His parents escaped the war back home and settled in Turin, the place where Omar was brought up, the place where he studied and the place where he struggled so much to belong to.

You can imagine that my initial joy, after reading the article, was fading into disappointment and sadness that an Italian citizen like me had to struggle to prove his “italianess” because the color of his skin might have indicated, from a very narrow and I would say “antique” and racist point of view, that he might have been otherwise.

As the article goes on, it tells us the story of a very talented architect that, after building an international career out of London, found his greatness in the place his parents fled from.

There is nothing wrong with finding recognition outside your home country and after all this is what many Italians have been doing since the last two decades.

Perhaps I am one of them, living, since 2007, in Kathmandu.

While I am not too sure I have found my greatness yet, surely, what I got here is purpose and a mission to accomplish. As consequence, I feel “realizing” myself here.

What really bothered me was the fact that Omar could not be seen as “Italian” while he was growing up in his own country.

The New York Times recounts several situations in which Omar’s nationality was questioned or just became a source of disbelief and amazement just because of his exterior appearances.

Maybe the country has changed for better since then.

This was at least my hope but few months ago two great friends of mine had to move to Canada because they could not fit in at home, in Italy.

It is a creative couple, both artists and both very talented. He is from Modena and she is from Colombia and by coincidence, she is also an architect who studied in the USA and holds a master from a top university in London.

As an architect, she could not find a proper job (if you discount that job offers where basically you have to work for free because you married an Italian) and, at the end, she started teaching but also there she experienced several discriminatory behaviors against.

Fast forward, my friend now is doing an assistantship job in a well-known university in Canada and the husband, one of my best friends, is trying to enhance his creativity by exploring the glorious nature there, especially local caves!!!

As I said earlier, this is nothing uncommon, it is a path followed by many frustrated Italians but what really pisses me off is that if you are from different backgrounds, it is still too difficult to be accepted and “allowed” to thrive.

This is the story of Omar and I am glad that the New York Times wrote about his innovative work that blends traditions with modernity, contributing to re-write a new story for a country that was revenged by wars and by a brutal history of Italian colonialism.

I am wondering if our embassy in Mogadishu is aware of the work done by Omar.

It must be and at least, I hope that our ambassador there is doing what he can to highlight Omar’s contributions, that’s what, after all, ambassadors are supposed to do.

Few months back, the same friend from Colombia sent me a LinkedIn post with the story of an Italian citizen of Sri Lankan origin who was subjected to overt discrimination during in an interview.

Highly qualified, she was supposed to be a top candidate for that job but, if I am not wrong, she now lives in London as well!!!

Also at that time, I felt upset and sad about these situations and I had started thinking what I could do from far to help change this gloomy landscape back home.

I still did not find an answer to this quest but I do remember one thing.

While upset by these episodes, my friend now in Canada had found on internet the story of two sisters living in Bergamo.

Their family was from an African country but they grew up their entire lives in Italy.

They shared their stories but also a final decision of theirs that I hope also Omar and many others in likewise circumstances will embrace as well.

The two sisters, despite the discrimination and other challenges and despite having an amazingly perfect local accent, were not giving up on their country, Italy.

They are an example to follow and we should be proud of the choice they made.

A person’s identity is a complex thing.

I am feeling very Italian, very much “monzese” but I also feel a citizen of the world, someone that married a girl from Nepal and as consequence, has embraced many aspects of the local culture and at the same time, while still loving the country where he was brought up, has developed a strong affection and bond for the country where he lives now.

I really wish Omar to thrive even further in Somalia, helping this troubled nation to prosper again, while rediscovering his own proud African heritage but also without losing hope about his own country.

Italy, so many years after its creation, is still a work in progress.

It can only become better by embracing the incredible contributions that citizens like Omar can offer, not only to their nation but also to the entire world.

I have no doubts that this existential challenge will be ultimately won by the country.