#JusticeForAlika and Italian systemic racism

Hello everyone!

Today I would like to talk to you about the case of Alika Ogorchukwu, a 39-years-old Nigerian man who was killed in the street of Civitanova Marche (a town close to the place I come from in Italy), while begging for alms on July the 29th, 2022.

The fact took place in the city centre, in the middle of the day: Filippo Ferlazzo, a 32-years-old Italian guy killed Alika for simply begging for money. He declared that Alika was just “too intrusive in his begging”. Thus, he lost his temper and punched the Nigerian man to death.

Talking to the police, later, he will imply that he was totally legitimate in killing a man for begging for money. Italian police closed the case guaranteeing it was not a hate crime, but just a simple fight ended up very bad.

 The most shocking thing for me was when I discovered that there were people walking by and stopping by while the man was punching Alika to death; people were watching the scene, but nobody intervened! Someone yelled “Stop now! Or you’re going to kill him” and I know this because there are videos circulating on the web, for some decided to take videos of what was happening and post it on their Instagram stories. However, nobody did anything and Alika was killed in front of a crowd.


After the news spread people all around the world started engaging in online and offline forms  of support for justice for Alika and his wife and children. The hashtag #JusticeForAlika started to circulate across social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram in solidarity with the mobilization erupted not only in Italy, but also all over the world. Protests began in July and the hashtag #JusticeForAlika was the emblem of the demonstrations also linked to the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

Protests took place as a form of resistance against Italian systemic racism and the negligence of Italian society in recognising the issue and face the responsibility of it. The fact that people found it normal and completely acceptable to just stand there and watch a man killing another man is legitimated by the fact that Italy is a racist country in which white supremacy exists and is established to the point of not even considering it as a problem anymore. For Italians white supremacy is an American problem, something far away from their concerns.



Moreover, this fact shows the controversial role of digital media: on the one hand, the online form of protests on social media not only symbolised the extension of the offline context, but also a crucial element which allowed the sharing of information and support and made it possible to spread the word encouraging people also in joining the protests.

But on the other hand, the fact that people from the crowd, watching the scene, could have saved Alika but rather their first thought was that of recording the happening for sharing it online is a significant wake-up call on how digital media made people sightless of common-sense.

The hashtag #JusticeForAlika symbolised the mediation of the protests which facilitated the accessibility and spreading of the movement through publications, tweets, and posts.  Also, the engagement on social media was a turning point for the evolvement of the events: the case was widespread on a global level furthering the attention on Italian systematic racism and gaining the support of international communities for both Alika’s family and in the name of justice.

Comments

  1. Ryan vJanuary 10, 2023 at 2:43 PM

    What a greatly written blog Sara!
    It is quite sad to read about what happened to Alika, but it's even sadder to read about the lack of response by the public when it happened. You make great points in talking about the duality of social media, in the positives it brings to these situations, as well as the negatives. Thankfully people took videos and photos to show the world, but how much of that need to film and share it to the world affected the chances that Alika had to survive?

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