Germany's 'Brown Babies': The Difficult Identities of Post-War Black Children of GIs

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For Rudi Richardson, online communities have given him a outlet for his autobiographical poetry, which deals with themes of loss, alienation, healing and hope. The Internet also led him to Heide Fehrenbach, a historian who has studied black Germans and how race is viewed in Germany. She put him in touch with the Black German Cultural Society, which Richardson said is an important reminder that there's a place where he belongs, regardless of what country he's in.

"It gives me a sense of identity," Richardson said. "It brings me to my roots. I could just feel it in my soul, that I'm not alone. That these guys have similar experiences, and they're beautiful people. And we are a part of history."

Once Richardson had finally secured his German citizenship papers, he left almost immediately for London, using his new status as a European Union citizen to secure residency there in 2005. He had decided that his prospects in Germany were dim. Despite his efforts, he couldn't master German well enough to get a job, and he said that white Germans he encountered couldn't look past his brown skin to give him a chance.

He has been clean for three and a half years. In 2007, he founded a nonprofit called Streetlytes, which provides assistance to homeless people in London.

"I'm helping the marginalized," Richardson said. "I'm helping the people who have issues with being rejected by family, being abused. That is where the healing is, for me and for them. And that is what I will continue to do for the rest of my life."

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• Part 1: The Difficult Identities of Post-War Black Children of GIs
• Part 2: Not the Only One
• Part 3: 'A Sense of Identity'