Bakari Sako, a 35-year-old farm laborer originally from Mali, with family in Mali, was about to become the father of two children when he was attacked and killed by four minors and an adult at 5:00 a.m. on May 9th in Piazza Fontana in Taranto's old town, while cycling to the Massafra countryside. After being stabbed to death, Bakari Sako sought refuge and assistance in a bar in the square, but was unsuccessful. On May 15th, a 60-day suspension order was issued for the business where Bakari had sought help, and on May 16th, the bar owner was investigated for aiding and abetting.
On May 14th, despite the pouring rain, the square where Bakari Sako was killed was packed with people of all kinds. There was a huge presence of foreign workers (from African, Malian, Gambian, and other communities), who had come en masse by any means, responding to the call of the Babele Association. We, workers among workers, had to be there. We did so with our presence, our press releases, our banners, and our voices. We sensed how distant the people were from the administrators, most of whom were absent (the mayor was at a wedding); the few administrators present were uncomfortable with their failure to declare a day of mourning and to have only now, instrumentally, activated the intercultural mediation center, naming it after Bakari Sako; we sensed how distant the square itself was from the confederate unions and the "court jesters," the mediators of the conflict.
On the other hand, we exchanged glances; we felt not alone, but accompanied by the square, which, applauding the speeches of comrades from various opposing factions, emphasized that justice may take its course, but the fight against gangmasters, exploitation, and patriarchy is urgent and indispensable. The exploited workers repeatedly invoked Sako's name in their own language.
In our speech, we reiterated that blind violence (as defined by investigators) does not exist, that violence always has a perspective, a direction, a designated target, and that even if those in power are not directly responsible for the knife, they are responsible for the word: migrants are used as bogeymen to garner votes in election campaigns, never considered for the hard work they do and the needs they express.
Furthermore, we denounced the timely response from the Minister of the Interior, promptly embraced by the local administration, which proposes to allocate enormous amounts of money to address the crime emergency by massively increasing police force staffing.
We reiterated that the Old City of Taranto does not need more police forces, but rather facilities, clinics, counseling centers, and community centers, rather than the gentrification and touristification of the historic center.
The Old City is an area that has always been abandoned to decay by the state, present only to repress and which has favored heavy industry, wreaking havoc for the profit of a few. This rediscovered wealth, fueled by tourism, is something the neighborhood's young people can smell, having grown up in that cultural melting pot that distinguishes lives and role models deserving of respect from lives that can be kicked around, thus becoming easy prey for organized crime.
The neighborhood, though poor and humiliated, has never produced episodes of racism in the past, but rather a surprising humanity: racism is a constructed, fueled, and fostered system.
Hugging Sako's uncle and brother, who were present, we concluded our speech by reiterating that there are no borders and that our homeland is the entire world.
Cosimo Cassetta
https://umanitanova.org/taranto-razzismo-assassino/
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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