“One of the most powerful things the Black Mediterranean shows us is that any mobilization for racial justice, and any mobilization to defend Black lives, has to take justice for immigrants seriously, and it has to take colonialism seriously.” Camilla Hawthorne, UC Santa Cruz assistant professor of sociology and critical race and ethnic studies, explores the racial politics of national citizenship. Her research sheds light on emergent Black Italian political formations, with a focus on the activism of the Italian-born children of African immigrants who are fighting to reform Italy's restrictive citizenship laws. She also examines the ways Black Italians engage in broader, transnational Black diasporic solidarities that look beyond the nation-state. She argues that citizenship is crucial for understanding how racism and race are being reconfigured in the 21st century. Her highly influential work earned her the No. 20 spot in Italy’s Corriere della Sera’s Top Women of 2020. Professor H...