Schwarzkopf brd | Anthony Dawson

SCHWARZKOPF BRD "If the school does not teach us how to survive, we learn it ourselves." What if the educational system, as well as the society refuse to confront themselves with such topics as racism and discrimination? "If school does not prepare us for life, if it does not teach us how to cope with racism, then it's time to research and inform ourselves." This is the idea that leads a group of 10 young Schwarzkopfer (blackheads), a word that refers to people with a migration background in Germany, to a theatrical piece about racism. Their goal is to present it at the Festiwalla, an international event organized by the Jugendtheater Büroan alternative structure promoting artistic initiatives in the difficult neighborhood of Moabit, Berlin. Racism is an unspoken and unresolved issue in Germany. The PISA Report and the 2013 studies by the Justice Initiative Open Society show that the German educational system is one of the most discriminating in Western societies. Students with a migration background are barely allowed to attend University and they suffer discrimination throughout their entire educational career. A strong revival of right wing racist theories have begun to emerge in the past few years. In 2010, in his best seller Germany is abolishing itself, the social democratic politician Thilo Sarrazin claims that the failure of German migration policy is a consequence of the genetic inferiority of Arabic and Turkish people. During the 2011 Berlin's Mayor campaign, the posters of the NPD candidate Udo Voigt exhibited the slogan Give them gas!. Furthermore, in 2012 a sentence by the court of Koblenz allowed the practice of racial profiling; recently it has been discovered that German officers were involved in hiding a neo-nazi cell (NSU) who killed 10 citizens with Turkish background in the last decade. Taking inspiration from their own experience as racially targeted people, the teenagers decide to stage the story of a school class whose favorite teacher Ms. Ibrahim gets fired as a consequence of holding a speech on institutional racism in Germany. The class decides to explore this topic on their own, remembering Ms. Ibrahims words, which invited them to learn from the past. On their imaginary journey throughout U.S. history, they meet Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Angela Davis and the Black Panther Party. The students draw parallels between U.S. history and German situation, finding inspiration for their resistance. "How would Malcolm X act if he was a Berliner, today?" is the question that they ask themselves. But the reality is even more tragic. Ibrahima, one of the actors, receives the notification that he cannot stay in Berlin. Due to German law, the 17 years old asylum seeker from Guinea has to leave his mates because he is assigned to another refugee camp in Dortmund, where probably he will be expelled. A new energy enforces the group and the messages of such heroes as Martin, Malcolm and Angela become even stronger. The life of their beloved friend Ibrahima depends on the success of the play, whose premiere is the last possibility to demonstrate that he is an essential part of Berlins community.