Faccetta Nera (“Little Black Face”) is a popular Italian marching song of the Italian Fascist Regime that was written by Renato Micheli with music by Mario Ruccione.  It has been said that during the Ethiopian war, “Abyssinian women literally stood for her land waiting to be “liberated” by Italian men” (Clò, 2010, p. 29). Apparently, this song is based off of a story about a young Abyssinian girl who was found by Italian soldiers in Ethiopia.  This young girl, referred to as “Little Black Face”, was then taken back to Rome, kissed by Roman men, and given a new place to live under Italian rule (but free from slavery).  Posted below is the English translation of the original Italian piece.  

 

Although fascism wasn’t something that was widely accepted in America, Italians still managed to be very proud of their heritage, which thus led to the creation of the Fascist League of North America, or the FLNA (which later was disbanded).  Again, since fascism wasn’t something that was widely agreed upon, members of this group faced their fair share of poor treatment from people who were anti-fascism.  Many members of this group and others who supported fascism may have been deemed outsiders, but they were certainly happy to be in a land where they were free to share and express thoughts and opinions with other Italian immigrants who shared the same mindset. 

 

English Translation:

 

If you look at the sea from the hills
Young brunette slave amongst slaves
Like in a dream you will see many ships
And a tricolour waving for you
Little black face, beautiful Abyssinian
Wait and see the hour coming!
When we will be with you
We will give you another law and another king
Our law is slavery of love
Our motto is FREEDOM and DUTY
We will avenge the blackshirts
the heroes that died to free you!
Little black face, beautiful Abyssinian
Wait and see the hour coming!
When we are with you
We will give you another law and another king
Little black face, little Abyssinian
We will take you to Rome, as a free person
You will be kissed by our sun
and a black shirt you will be too
Little black face, you will be Roman
Your only flag will be Italian!
We will march together with you
and parade in front of the Duce and the king!

 

 

* A YouTube link has been provided to hear a performance Faccetta Nera.  We do not claim ownership of this video.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

Clò, C. (2010). African queens and italian history: The cultural politics of memory and resistance in teatro delle adnga vita all'albero and gabriella ghermandi's regina di fiori e di perle. Research in African Literatures, 41(4), 26-42.

 

 

Metadata tags: Faccetta Nera; Music; Poster; 1935; Marching song; Fascist Regime; Abyssinian; Ethiopian war; Renato Micheli; Italian; Performance; New York; Fascism; Mario Ruccione