This forty-year-old of Ivorian origin, defender of migrant workers, presents himself in the legislative elections on Sunday, September 25 under the colors of the Italian green alliance.
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Sitting at the front of a small blue Suzuki aboard which he travels the campaign of Modena, in northern Italy, Aboubakar Soumahoro bursts. On his smartphone, a video published on Tiktok by his communication team, where we see him respond to Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far -right party The League, who promises to block borders in migrants in the event of victory in the legislative elections September 25.
Born forty-two years ago in Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Soumahoro, he is a candidate in the colors of the Italian green-left alliance in this constituency of Emilie-Romagne. His voice detonates in a campaign characterized by its brevity, the poverty of the debates and the quarrels of ego of heavy goods vehicles of Italian politics. “The spirit of listening is an act of resistance,” he explains, after meeting the members of a social cooperative, aliggling, in the suburbs of Modena.
This, typical of the Italian associative network, specializing in personal service, manages in particular shared apartments for people with psychiatric disorders. After meeting his leaders, the candidate leaves with the promise to plead for better integration of young people. 2>
dignity by work
m. Soumahoro has placed the dignity brought by work at the center of his fight. In Modena, in a region which remains economically prosperous, the precariousness of 15-35 year olds is growing, with an unemployment rate estimated at more than 50 %. Arrived in Italy at the age of 19 after being shoe shot in his native country, he first lived in AveveSa, in the suburbs of Naples, and shared an apartment with 15 people.
“I had written my name on a piece of paper and this sentence:” I’m looking for a work “”, he says. He ends up finding odd jobs on construction sites, such as a delivery man and then a pompist. It was by fighting for the rights of migrant workers in the fields of the mezzogiorno that he made a name for himself in the peninsula. In 2021, under its leadership, the first national round table against the exploitation of agricultural workers was organized in Foggia, in Puglia.
“My story joins that of those who, because they have a different skin color, are stigmatized and become the scapegoats of the issues that afflict this country,” he said. “We must have the humility to say that we do not know,” repeats Mr. Soumahoro.
“When I was asked to present myself to the election, I did not sleep for several nights, he continues. It is not that I was afraid, but I wanted to understand on what basis I was going to make my decision. By personal convenience? I understood that I had to put my person in the service of a higher and noble more cause, for those who do not feel represented and who live the drama of the exploitation. “
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