January 2010, Rosarno, Calabria. Widely publicized immigrant riots exposed the unjust and squalid conditions that thousands of African laborers, exploited by an economy controlled by 'Ndrangheta, the calabrian mafia, endure on a daily basis. For a brief moment the immigrants caught the attention of the Italian public, who responded to these protests with fear and violence. In a few hours the immigrants in question were "evacuated" from Rosarno and the problem was "resolved." But the faces and the stories of those involved in the riots at Rosarno tell a different story. Revealing these stories and giving them voice is the only way we can return to these memories: memories of those days of violence, memories of a not-so-distant history of rural poverty in Rosarno that is often overlooked.—Anonymous
The voices, faces and stories of those involved in the January 2010 riots in the small town of Rosarno, Calabria, brought to light the unjust and squalid conditions in which thousands of African laborers live and work. Since the Nineties, in Italy, and specifically in certain areas of Southern Italy where the presence of organized crime is widespread, thousands of immigrants from Africa and Eastern Europe are exploited in agriculture. They have no rights and their living conditions are intolerable.In Rosarno in particular, Ndrangheta control has grown exponentially in the last few years, to the point that the city council had become so thoroughly corrupted by mafia influence that it was put under the control of a prefectural commissioner. Here African immigrants are exploited as orange pickers, and have become the target of racist bullying and threats by local gangs.As Giuseppe Levorato, who was committed to working against the Ndrangheta during his time as mayor of Rosarno, reveals it has been over ten years that the African immigrants have tried to bring attention to this situation peacefully.On January 7th 2010, after yet another racist attack against four laborers, the immigrants of Rosarno let their anger fuel an explosive riot, which included looting and destruction..Those hours of rioting were for many Italians a first introduction to these laborers, and they reacted with fear and responded with force. Berlusconis administration, via the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Defense, made a statement that the riots were the result of too much tolerance for illegal immigration, and ordered the deportation of all immigrants from Rosarno. Meanwhile the Italian citizens of the region planned a manhunt of the blacks, an effort likely organized by the local mafia.In a few hours the immigrants were cleared from Rosarno and the problem was resolved. To forge a consensus among the fearful Italian public, politicians stated on television that legality had been restored and that undocumented immigrants would soon be deported from Italy.This wasnt what happened.In the days following, a silence fell over these events, almost all of Rosarnos immigrants had been released and abandoned in various cities in Italy: from Caserta to Rome, Napoli to Castelvolturno; others decided immediately to return in secret to Rosarnos orange groves.It was in these various places, a few days after the riots, that we with met laborers involved in the riots and asked them to tell us not only what had happened, but also to describe their life in Italy.The result is a story told in first person, alternating with historical memory as represented in Giuseppe Lavoratos reconstructions, and images from documentaries from the 1960s about farmers in Southern Italy. A story that refocuses our attention to the dignity and the courage of hundreds of men who have left their homelands to save or change their lives.
