The Black Body

The Black Body is the story of Anna Maria Gehnyei, also known as singer Karima 2G. Anna was born in Rome to Liberian parents, hailing from the Kpelle people -- among the first to leave their native lands for Europe. Despite being born Italian, the people of northern Rome treated her poorly: children made cruel jokes, the teachers ignored the needs of Anna and her twin, employers expressed shock at her prolific (in fact, native) Italian, policemen racially and sexually harassed her. Carrying her through these experiences are the stories about Liberia that her mother told her as a child, of a magical land rich in resources and the hidden rituals of her father's village. Anna Maria, a Black Roman child, dreams of Africa.

The Black Body tells the story of a Black girl's coming of age, marked by continual, painful negotiation of two cultures: the Italian one which does not accept her and the African one to which she does not fully belong. Gehnyei's is the story of a generation made up of those who are seen only as immigrant children, and not as full citizens. Composed of memories, sounds, love, and shame, this political and personal memoir, creatively documenting the increased sophistication of the young Anna Maria's thinking as she grows from girl, to teen, to woman, has been translated into English for the first time by Eilis Kierans and Sandra Waters.