Backdrop: In the United States, Black and Italian cultures have been intertwined for more than a hundred years. From as early as nineteenth-century African American opera star — “The Colored Mario” — all the way to hip-hop entrepreneur Puff Daddy dubbing himself “the Black Sinatra,” the affinity between Black and Italian cultures runs deep and wide. Once you start looking, you’ll find these connections everywhere. Sinatra croons bel canto over the limousine swing of the Count Basie band. Snoop Dogg deftly tosses off the line “I’m Lucky Luciano ‘bout to sing soprano.’ Like the Brooklyn pizzeria and candy store in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever, of the basketball sidelines where Italian American basketball coaches Rick Pitino and Jim Valvano mix it up with their African American players, Black-Italian connections are a thing to behold —and to investigate. This affinity is what we call “the edge” — now smooth, sometimes serrated — between Italian American and Black American culture. This films shows how Black and Italian Americans have nourished and vitalized American culture writ large, even as they have fought each other for urban space, recognition of overlapping histories of suffering and exclusion, and political and personal rispetto (respect). ​​And it is only at such cultural edges that America can come to truly understand its racial and ethnic dynamics.

Impact: Researched and designed a pitch deck and assisted film production for the documentary project; developed by Director Michael Whalen and featuring Actor John Turturro.