mangoes & bullets is for anyone who wants to engage with racism and other relations of domination, seeking inspiration for resistance and alternatives. Here you will find, among other things, films, songs and poems, but also information about campaigns and political activism. These materials challenge injustice from different perspectives and in different ways.
The idea of collecting suggestions for critical, emancipatory discussions about racism centrally in one place and making them freely accessible arose in the context of our educational work. Whoever uses these materials in educational work or other areas should take into account the respective context of use and consider how and why the respective material can be used in a meaningful way. Because not everyone will always find themselves in everything or perhaps also see one or the other critically. To put it in exemplary terms: Perhaps there is a song that sums up many people’s experiences with racism very well, but in doing so praises neoliberal principles such as “anyone can make it if they just try” and thus hides complex entanglements of racism and capitalism/neoliberalism. So we would like to encourage everyone to take a comprehensive look at the materials and, if necessary, also discuss what could be blanks or what you criticize and do not share.
mangoes & bullets is the title of a book of poems by John Agard. This title brings together for us much of what we want to address through the collection of materials: bullets as a symbol of oppression, but also of resistance against colonialism, racism and exploitation; mangoes as so-called southern fruits, as a product of exploitative working conditions and capitalist economic structures in global world trade; fruits as the sweetness of empowerment; fruits whose sweetness becomes a bitter aftertaste when we have to put on a sweet smile in confrontation with racism, although we would prefer to explode with the force of a bullet; Family ties to the places where mangoes grow, while we ourselves live in the land of bullets; bullets, made in Germany, that strike far away, and people who make their way to this country from Europe or beyond, to be received with anything but sweet-tasting mangoes.
It’s good to know that what you find at mangoes & bullets is far from everything. We have researched many more materials and will gradually put them online. Besides, there is much more out there for us to learn from and be inspired by for political arguments and educational work. Behind mangoes & bullets are seven people from glokal e.V. with different social positions regarding racism, classism, gender etc. as well as different biographies, political socializations and academic and activist contexts. On the one hand, this brings with it many different perspectives. On the other hand, however, still only those of these seven people. For this reason, we would appreciate if you could send us materials that you find important and appropriate (for example, on anti-Romaism and Rromn*ja empowerment, anti-Semitism and Jewish self-empowerment, Asian images and Asian diaspora in Germany, and on disability/empowerment). Unfortunately, our time is limited, so we hope for your understanding if it may take a while until we put the material – if we also consider it suitable – online.