ABSTRACT
This chapter theorizes the Black Mediterranean through two examples. The first is the underwater sculpture “The Raft of Lampedusa” by British artist Jason deCaires located in Lanzarote. Combining critiques of ocean pollution and migrant deaths, I contend the groundbreaking (or sea-breaking) artwork manifests an unprecedented engagement with ecological and racial justice. The second example is the Barcelona statue of the wealthy impresario Antonio López y López located in the plaza of the same name; this monument was removed on March 4, 2018, as the Barcelona city council stated it could no longer pay homage to someone who benefited from the slavery of others. At the time of writing, the Catalan government is debating replacing this statue with one of either Nelson Mandela or a Guinean migrant who perished in a CIE internment center. This example also manifests a growing preoccupation with the ways that Mediterranean cultures have enriched/continue to enrich themselves at the expense of exploited and racialized labor; moreover, it also shows the ways that collectives have responded to remedy and seek justice for these atrocities. Theorizing both phenomena as examples of a Black Mediterranean that builds upon and enhances the work of Gilroy, this chapter also examines the extent to which they manifest paradigms less bound by specific geographies and national traditions than those of the Black Atlantic.
