Photo Source: https://tinyurl.com/ybgjzqsa
"Je ne peux plus respirer" ( I can’t breathe ). These were Adama Traoré’s last words when he was crushed under the weight of three police officers during an arrest in 2016 in a town outside of Paris.
On June 2, 2020, tens of thousands of protesters gathered to demand justice for Adama Traoré/justice for George Floyd outside Paris’s courthouse. “Black Lives Matter” could be read alongside signs written in French.
Photo source: https://tinyurl.com/yct6tlzd
Protests against racial injustice and for the end to police violence, specifically chokeholds – now set to be banned in France, continue in France under the organization of Adama’s sister, Assa Traoré (who was awarded the BET Global Good Award this year).
Here is a case of how people (not governments, leaders, or officials) demand and create change, and how a social movement begun in the United States has meaning for people around the world. I can’t think of a more powerful example of international exchange and dialogue. It is where I find hope these days.
~~ Dr. Laura Reeck (Professor of French; Lyle and Mary Biehler Chair in Modern Languages)
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