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Martinique: “Think Like A Man”, Just Not in France

Fabienne Flessel — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:47:34 +0000

Just weeks after the debate surrounding the election of Miss Black France 2012, another question is being discussed by French people of African descent: the cancellation of the release of the American movie “Think Like A Man” in movie theaters.

How does an American movie find a place in the French social debate?

Surprising as it may be, the answer lies in the fact that the film has an all-black cast. French cinema is often pointed at for not fairly displaying all components of the country's multiethnic population. Although the recent success of the movie Les Intouchables, which earned French African actor Omar Sy the Cesar award for Best Actor in 2012, caused great pride and hope among French nationals from Africa and the Caribbean, it was not to be the turning point for a deep and lasting change.

Movie Poster for "Think Like a Man"

Martinican blogger Bondamanjak is very cynical after this tainted victory, as he explains [fr] that Omar Sy's award nomination did not come all naturally, but was rather due to the great number of viewers in theaters.

Et la France comme un seul homme oublie que Omar Sy ne figurait pas sur la liste des nominés aux Césars […] Il a fallu que ‘Intouchables' touche la barre des 19 000 000 d'entrées que ça râle un peu beaucoup pour que ce flagrant délit de mauvais scénario soit reconnu par l'immonde monde du cinéma français. Mais qu'on se rassure, cette récompense n'est qu'une opportuniste goutte d'eau dans un désert qui avance.

And all French people as one man forget that Omar Sy was not initially shortlisted as a nominee for the Cesars […] It was only when the ‘Intouchables' reached 19 000 000 viewers in theaters, that people started calling out to the French movie industry about its indignant attitude, and that they acknowledged the wrong. However be sure that this award is only an opportunistic drop of water in a desert which keeps moving forward.

How can racial profiling in cinema be explained?

Martinican blog People Bo Kay reposts a note published [fr] on the Facebook page of Negro News, entitled “France does not want all-black couples in movies”. This analysis, which has now gone viral, develops ideas about communalism and politics in France, which are supposed to explain the rejection of the movie.

Il faut rappeler qu'il y a dans l’État français, une stratégie socio-politique qui tend à prôner le métissage plutôt que la valorisation des communautés. Dans la comédie ‘Think like a Man', les couples noirs sont mis en avant.

The French state has had a sociopolitical strategy which favors interracial relationships rather than valuing communities. In the comedy ‘Think like a Man', the focus is on black couples.

According to this note, the other explanation to the blocking of African-American films in France (despite their profitability) is that:

À noter, les films de l'acteur et producteur noir Tyler Perry ne sont jamais programmés dans les salles françaises ou alors ils sortent directement en DVD. Pourtant ce producteur a pour habitude de dominer le box-office américain avec des films comme ‘Why did I get Married' et “For Colored Girls”. La société française dans toute son hypocrisie ne veut surtout pas diffuser des films de producteurs noirs qui gagnent des millions de dollars en faisant passer un message positif pour la diaspora africaine grâce à leurs films.

Black actor and producer Tyler Perry's movies are never scheduled in any French movie theaters or are only released in DVDs, even though he has been used to leading the US box-office, as with ‘Why did I get Married' and ‘For Colored Girls'. The French society acts hypocritically, when it refuses to show movies from black producers who earn millions from conveying a positive message to the African diaspora through their films.

In the same vein, other French Afro-Caribbean netizens, like the collective of female bloggers at La Scandaleuse condemns [fr] how some well-known French movie magazines and websites have openly underrated the movie and its cast:

Première.fr ne comprend pas comment un film avec une majorité d’acteurs noirs peut-être premier du box office! Ne connaissant aucun acteur, ils se permettent alors d’écrire «cette comédie au pitch classique et sans tête d’affiche (le chanteur Chris Brown est le nom le plus connu du générique).» Faut il vous faire la filmographie de tous les acteurs ? Non car cela est votre travail !

Première.fr does not understand how a movie with a mainly black cast could actually lead the box-office! Since they know none of the actors, they dare to write ‘this comedy has a conventional plot and no famous actors (singer Chris Brown is the best known in this cast).' Should the readers make filmographies for all actors? No that's your job!

This lack of knowledge about African-American actors, even when they are world-famous, echoes, according to La Scandaleuse, a French trend:

Mais peut-être que dans un pays comme la France où on a du mal à faire tourner des acteurs noirs, la surprise ne peut-être que grande face au succès de «Think Like a Man» ! Qui, d’ailleurs, n’est pas présenté comme un film afro par ses acteurs ni par son réalisateur, c’est un film universel, ce qui explique son succès au box office!

Maybe in a country like France, where black actors hardly play in any movies, it is very surprising to understand the great success of ‘Think Like a Man'! A movie, which is not presented as exclusively African-American, neither by the actors nor the director. It is a universal movie, which explains its success in the charts!

African diaspora-oriented Afrik.com weighs in by adding [fr]:

Si l’article de Première.fr semble certainement mal documenté, c’est avant tout un exemple parmi d’autres du refus des diffuseurs et du milieu du cinéma français de miser sur des films dans lesquels la majorité des acteurs sont noirs ou même de miser sur leur éventuel succès. Sous couvert de logiques économiques frileuses, ce «genre» de films, qu’ils soient américains ou français, n’existent quasiment pas dans les salles françaises.

The article published on Première.fr most definitely suffers a lack of research. But it is above all an example, among others, of the refusal expressed by the French cinema industry to bank on movies where the cast is mainly black or to bank on their potential success. They hide behind a non-daring financial rationale to block these ‘types' of movies, whether French or American, from French movie theaters.

The image used in this post, “Think Like a Man”, is by Film_Poster, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Creative Commons license. Visit Film_Poster's flickr photostream.

Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana: Is “Miss Black France” Acceptable?

Fabienne Flessel — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:47:03 +0000

While French people are still in the midst of the presidential elections with its second round coming up on May 5-6th 2012, another vote buzzed last week: the “Miss Black France” [fr] contest.

The home page of the event scheduled on Saturday April 28, 2012, says [fr]:

Célébrons la Beauté Noire!

Let's Celebrate Black Beauty!

The Official Poster of Miss Black France

The “About” section of the Facebook page [fr] of the contest explains:

Les jeunes femmes noires vont enfin avoir leur élection. Jusqu’à aujourd’hui très peu représentée en France – et en tout cas pas dans les concours de « Miss » que l’on connait –, la beauté noire va pouvoir être mise en avant à sa juste valeur.

L’élection Miss Black France est ouverte à toutes les jeunes femmes françaises ou étrangères vivant en France, de métropole, des DOM-TOM ou d'Afrique, âgée…s d’au moins 16 ans, sans autre critère que l’élégance et le charme.

Black young women are eventually going to have their election. Black beauty, which has been very little promoted in France up to this date -at least, not in the usual ‘beauty pageants'- will be showcased there.

All young women, French nationals or foreign residents, natives of France, the French Overseas Regions or Africa are eligible if they are at least 16 years old and with no other criteria than elegance and glamour.

This introduction to the genesis of this pageant has raised many questions among French people and bloggers, among which Bondamanjak from Martinique [fr], who wonders:

Dérive communautariste ? Acte militant ? Impérialisme yankee ? Bizness ?

Excessive communalism? Activist move? Yankee imperialism? Business?

These questions are justified by the founding motto of the French nation, according to which all citizens are equal and cannot be distinguished on account of ethnicity or religion. In this perspective, having a national contest based on the ethnicity of the pageants seems heretical to many netizens.

A post published on a Martinican blog People Bo Kay explains both points of view [fr] and where the division lies.

Supporters of the pageant advocate the need for more visibility [fr]:

mettre la lumière sur ces femmes noires extrêmement nombreuses que l'on voit peu dans les médias.

cast the light on these extremely numerous Black women, who are little represented in the media.

En France, les seules miss noires que nous avons connues étaient soit métissées ou originaires d'outre-mer. Il n'y a jamais eu de filles issues de parents sénégalais ou algériens. Ces filles là ne se reconnaissent pas encore dans le concours de Miss France. Elles pensent qu'il n'est pas pour elles et donc s'auto-censurent.

In France, the only Black pageant winners that we have ever known were either mixed-raced or natives of the French overseas regions. There has never been any girls from Senegalese or Algerian parents. They cannot identify with the Miss France pageant yet. They think it is not made for them and become self-conscious to the extent of self-censorship.

This last point was made by historian and specialist of cultural diversity matters, François Durpaire [fr], during an interview on French national channel, France 2.

One of the cons to this pageant was that to some, it symbolizes reverse discrimination - the most recurrent question being, “What if a fair blonde French young woman wants to participate?”

A comment published following the post at Bondamanjak says [fr]:

La couleur noire n'est ni une identité, ni une classe cela est ridicule de faire une quelconque différence face à une miss blanche. Le combat qu'on doit mener n'est pas à ce niveau. Contruisons avant une communauté unie , solidaire défendant notre mémoire pour contruire une vraie identité.

The color black is not an identity, nor a social class. It is ridiculous to make any difference with a white contestant. Our struggle does not belong there. Let's build a united and self-reliant community to defend our collective memory and our true identity.

Although this beauty pageant has been very controversial and triggered much division among people over its legitimacy, one thing make people come together: why use the adjective “black” in French, instead of “noire”.
The answer is that black sounds more like a marketing success than “noire”.

The results of the pageant are published along with the picture of the winners on this post at People Bo Kay:

A 21-year-old marketing student from Senegal, Tiah Beye was crowned ‘Miss Black France 2012′ along with her two runners-up, 22-year-old, Ivorian-born Romy Niaba and 23-year-old, Aissata Soumah from Guinea.

Martinique: Where has Creole gone?

Fabienne Flessel — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:12:15 +0000

On Martinican collective blog Montray Kreyol, a recent post [Fr/Fr Cr] wonders why Martinique 1ère [Fr], which is the local relay of the French National Broadcast Network, Fance Television [En], has almost no Creole language spoken on air.

Martinique, USA, France: Jesse Jackson's message to Serge Letchimy

Fabienne Flessel — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:48:36 +0000

B.World Connection posts a letter [En/Fr] with the heading of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition whose leader is Reverend Jesse Jackson: apparently, the Reverend would support the reaction of MP Serge Letchimy, discussed here, in the name of the Black Diaspora and all humanity.

Martinique, Guadeloupe, France: MP Letchimy Against Minister Guéant

Fabienne Flessel — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:27:50 +0000

Bloggers and mainstream journalists around the French-speaking blogosphere have been buzzing once more about French Minister of Home Affairs, Claude Guéant. He is notorious for suggesting extreme right-wing policies about national identity, religion and immigration, as confirmed by this headline [fr] from French mainstream information website Le Monde:

Claude Guéant, habitué des polémiques

Claude Guéant, serial controversy-maker

which covers different ideas developed by Guéant like:

La ‘croisade' en Libye

‘Crusade' in Lybia

Pas de 'signes religieux' pour les “usagers du service public”

No ‘religious symbols' for ‘users of public facilities and administrations'

One of his extremely controversial ideas regarding the visas delivered to foreign graduates in France has been discussed here on Global Voices.

With the tense atmosphere of the upcoming French presidential elections, every word uttered by front-rank politicians from all parties are closely examined and judged - no surprise, then, that this sentence from Guéant in a meeting organized by a right-wing students' union on January 6, 2012, has unleashed a fury among the public opinion:

Toutes les civilisations ne se valent pas…

All civilizations are not equal…

The reactions have been numerous and varied, some agreeing and others vehemently disagreeing - even in his own political family - but to this day the most memorable response has come from Serge Letchimy, a left-wing MP from Martinique, French West Indies, who condemned Guéant's words and ideas in a letter published on his own blog [fr] and read before all the MPs:

Vous nous ramenez, jour après jour, à ces idéologies européennes qui ont donné naissance aux camps de concentration, au bout du long chapelet esclavagiste et colonial.
Monsieur Guéant le régime nazi, si soucieux de purification, si hostile à toutes les différences, était-ce une civilisation ? La barbarie de l’esclavage et de la colonisation, était-ce une mission civilisatrice ?

You bring us back, day after day, to these European ideologies which gave birth to the concentration camps as a conclusion to a theory started with slavery and colonialization.
Mr Guéant, was the Nazi regime, obsessed with purification and hostile to differences, a civilization? Was the barbarity of slavery and colonization part of a civilizing mission?

Here [fr] is the video showing Letchimy reading his letter, the content of which caused a wave of indignation among the right-wing MPs and members of the French Government, who left the benches of the French National Assembly under the pretext that Letchimy was outrageously associating the Minister with the Nazi regime. They later asked for official apologies, to show their support to Claude Guéant.

However, his words visibly inspired a movement of opposition against the Minister of Home Affairs among French West Indian and French bloggers and readers alike. In a post at Montray Kréyol [fr], renowned Martinican author Patrick Chamoiseau explains why Letchimy's ideas deserve to be defended.

M. Letchimy a donc vu juste et a dit ce qu'il fallait dire comme il fallait le dire.
Et il a fait honneur non seulement à la Martinique mais à la France et à son Assemblée Nationale toute entière. Car enfin, sans lui, le « célébrant des civilisations supérieures » serait venu, se serait assis, aurait écouté je ne sais [quelle] politiquerie, et serait reparti sans que rien ni personne ne lui trouble la conscience.

Letchimy got it right and said what needed to be said just how it needed to be said.
By doing so, he honored not only Martinique but also France and its whole National Assembly. Indeed, had he not spoken, the “celebrator of the superior civilizations” would have come, sat down, listened to political questions and left the place, with his conscience unquestioned by anyone or anything.

On No apologies, no disciplinary measures, full support to Mr Letchimy” and “Petition in support of Serge Letchimy” [fr].

Coincidentally or not, this controversy took place a couple days before Claude Guéant visits Martinique and Guadeloupe, in order to launch the presidential campaign of Nicolas Sarkozy in the Overseas regions of France. Grabbing the opportunity to show their ideological and political opposition to the Minister, two Guadeloupean political personalities, a left-wing Minister of Parliament and a Senator, released a statement [fr], published by Caraib Creole News:

Nous avons été informés de votre prochain déplacement en Guadeloupe et nous sommes au regret de vous faire savoir que nous ne pourrons vous y recevoir.

We have been informed of your upcoming visit to Guadeloupe and we regret to let you know that we will not welcome you here.

They conclude their statement with a reminder of a similar decision made by the late Aimé Césaire in 2005.

En décembre 2005, afin de marquer son indignation suite au vote d’une loi reconnaissant « le rôle positif de la présence française outre-mer », Aimé Césaire avait refusé de rencontrer le ministre de l’Intérieur de l’époque, Nicolas Sarkozy, en déplacement en Martinique. Nous avions alors tous, outre-mer, salué la portée de son geste.
Nous choisirons par conséquent, en toute modestie, de lui emboîter le pas.

In December 2005, in order to signify his indignation after the vote of a law acknowledging “the positive role of the French presence overseas” Aimé Césaire refused to meet the then Minister of Home Affaires, Nicolas Sarkozy who was visiting Martinique. In the overseas regions, we all recognized the importance of this decision.
We will therefore, with all due modesty, follow his path.

The conclusion is worth noting since Aimé Césaire was the political mentor of the MP Letchimy and his letter to Mr Guéant was highly inspired by Césaire's “Discourse on Colonialism“.

The thumbnail image used in this post is by UMP Photos, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Creative Commons license. Visit UMP Photos' flickr photostream.

Martinique: All together around Creole

Fabienne Flessel — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:59:44 +0000

The Creole language in the Caribbean and the cooperation between islands were recently discussed during the Creole-speaking Regions Days, as explained in this post on Tous Créoles [Fr Cr/Fr]. One of the most debated issues was a visa waiving program between the French Caribbean islands and the rest of the West Indies.

Black Women in European Politics: from Struggle to Success

Vivienne Griffiths — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:42:20 +0000

Nowadays, it is a common occcurence to witness African-born women having successful careers in Europe. Despite the evident challenges, many of them have also distiguished themselves in politics. Still, it was not so long ago that such success would have seemed impossible. To achieve greatness, these women have often come a long way, both literally and figuratively.

In order to better appreciate the progress made, one needs to think back to the 19th century and consider the image of black women in Europe then. For the purpose of this article, we will only address the story of women from the African diaspora who have been elected to positions of leadership in countries other than the colonial powers that previously ruled their home countries.

A history of racism

Postcard depicting Sarah Baartman, Wikipedia (public domain)

The story of the “Hottentot Venus” is symptomatic of the relationship between the West and African women in the last two centuries. Sébastien Hervieu, an Africa correspondent for Le Monde newspaper in France, tells the story of Sarah Baartman from South Africa, better known as the “Hottentot Venus”. In an article published in October 2010 in his blog afriquedusud.blog.lemonde.fr, he reviews [fr] Abdellatif Kechiche's [fr] film about her tragic story, Black Venus:

Au début du XIXème siècle, cette servante est emmenée en Europe et devient un objet de foire en raison de ses attributs physiques proéminents. Certains “scientifiques” utilisent sa présence pour théoriser l'infériorité de la “race noire”. Lorsqu'elle meurt à seulement 25 ans, ses organes génitaux et son cerveau sont placés dans des bocaux de formol, et son squelette et le moulage de son corps sont exposés au musée de l'Homme à Paris. C'est seulement en 2002 que la France accepte de rendre la dépouille de Saartjie Baartman à l'Afrique du Sud, concluant ainsi un long imbroglio juridique et diplomatique

At the beginning of the 19th century, this servant was brought to Europe and became a fairground attraction because of her prominent physical attributes. Some “scientists” used her presence to support the theory that the “black race” was inferior. When she died at only 25, her genitals and her brain were placed in jars of formaldehyde. Her skeleton and a molding of her body were exhibited at the Museum of Man in Paris. It was only in 2002 that France agreed to return Sarah Baartman's remains to South Africa, thereby drawing to a close a long running legal and diplomatic imbroglio [fr].

Sarah Baartman died in Paris on 29th September 1815. More than 100 years later, the Khoïkhoï people in South Africa called on Nelson Mandela to demand the restitution of Sarah's remains. The demand was met with the refusal of the French authorities and the scientific community citing the inalienable heritage of science and the state, but France eventually repatriated the body to South Africa where, in accordance with the rites of her people, it was purified and placed on a bed of dried herbs which were set alight.

Norway

Two centuries later, the position of black women in Europe has drastically changed. Amongst others, many have now been elected to political office.

Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen on Wikipedia (Norway) (CC-BY 3.0)

Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen in Norway is one of these women, and one of the most interesting because she shows the contradictions that still exist within some countries. She had to step down from a ministerial post in the Norwegian government just four months into her job. An article on Grioo.com sets out her career [fr]:

Originaire de l’Ile de la Martinique, à 44 ans, Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen a obtenu son poste de ministre de l’Enfance et de la Parité au sein du gouvernement de centre-gauche norvégien le 18 octobre 2007[…] Elle est mariée avec Terje Osmundsen, un homme politique membre du parti conservateur norvégien. Après son mariage, elle a pris la nationalité norvégienne et renoncé à celle de la France. Le pays n’autorisant pas la double nationalité.

Born in Martinique, 44 year old Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen gained her post as Minster for Children and Equality in the centre-left Norwegian government on 18th October 2007 […] She is married to Terje Osmundsen, a politician and member of the Norwegian conservative party. After their marriage she took Norwegian nationality and renounced her French nationality as the country does not allow dual nationality.

In an interview with Patrick Karam from the website fxgpariscaraibe.com in 2008 she explains [fr] some of the things that played in her favour in being appointed and why she stepped down following a controversy over an alleged conflict of interest in the hiring of a political appointee:

En Norvège, il y a obligation de représentation des deux sexes dans les conseils d’administration, 40 % de femmes au minimum. Nous menons aussi une politique pour inciter les hommes à prendre plus de responsabilité dans le foyer pour laisser les femmes entreprendre professionnellement. J’ai travaillé aussi sur l’enfance en danger, les violences, les maltraitances… J’ai travaillé quatre mois sans être critiquée, c’était une expérience réussie. Les critiques sont venues avec la nomination d’une médiatrice. Avec du recul, tout le monde voit que c’est une bagatelle. J’ai cédé au pouvoir de la presse.

In Norway there must be parity of representation between the two sexes within the administrative councils, with a minimum of 40% women. We are also pursuing a policy which encourages men to take more responsibilty at home, leaving women able to pursue a career. I also worked on child endangerment, violence, abuse… I worked for four months without criticism and it was a real success. The criticism began with the appointment of an ombudsman for children. In hindsight everyone can see it was something being made out of nothing. I gave in to the power of the media.

Sweden

Nyamko Sabuni, Wikipedia (CC-BY-SA)

Nyamko Sabuni [fr] is a former minister in Sweden, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Born in Burundi in 1969, her father fled the country due to persecution. She was elected to the Riksday as a member of the parliament in 2002, and at 37 years old became a Swedish goverment minister from 2006 to 2010. An article published on congopage.com sets out [fr] her progress.

En 1981, à l’âge de 12 ans, elle est arrivée en Suède avec sa mère et trois de ses cinq frères et sœurs. Là, elle a retrouvé son père, un opposant politique plusieurs fois emprisonné au Congo (actuellement République démocratique du Congo), venu dans le pays nordique grâce à Amnesty International.

In 1981, at the age of 12, she arrived in Sweden with her mother and three of her brothers and sisters. There she was reunited with her father, an opposition politician imprisoned several times in Congo (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), who had come to the Nordic country with the help of Amnesty International.

The Netherlands

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Wikipedia (public domain)

The Hirsiali blog presents a profile of Ayaan Hirsi Ali:

Née en Somalie en 1969, excisée à l’âge de 5 ans, Ayaan Hirsi Ali est scolarisée dans un lycée musulman pour filles. Soumise à ses parents, à son clan et à sa religion jusqu’à l’âge de vingt-trois ans, elle profite d’un passage dans sa famille en Allemagne, pour s’enfuir et échapper à un mariage forcé. Réfugiée aux Pays-Bas, elle adopte les valeurs libérales occidentales au point de devenir une jeune députée à La Haye et de s’affirmer athée. Pour avoir travaillé dans les services sociaux du royaume, elle connaît, de l’intérieur, les horreurs tolérées à l’encontre des femmes au nom du multiculturalisme.

Born in Somalia in 1969 and circumcised at the age of 5, Ayaan Hirsi Ali went to a Muslim girls school. Subjugated by her parents, her clan and her religion up to the age of 23, she took advantage of a trip to visit family in Germany to flee and escape a forced marriage. Taking refuge in Holland, she adopted Western liberal values to the extent that she became a young member of parliament in The Hague and declared herself to be an athiest. After having worked in the country's social services she knows, at first hand, the horrors tolerated against women in the name of multiculturalism.

A fierce apponent of some of the aspects of Islam and African traditions that go against basic human rights, she founded an NGO whose aims are set out, on her website Ayaan Hirsiali in the following terms:

In response to ongoing abuses of women’s rights, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and her supporters established the AHA Foundation in 2007 to help protect and defend the rights of women in the West from oppression justified by religion and culture.

Italy

The first black person to be elected to the Italian parliament is Mercedes Lourdes Frias from the Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean. This is how she is described [en] on the blogging site Black Women in Europe:

Mercedes Lourdes Frias was born in the Dominican Republic. She was the first black person elected to the Italian Parliament in 2006 where she served through April 2008. She was a member of the Commission on Constitutional Affairs and the Parliamentary Committee on the Implementation of the Control of Schengen Agreement, and the Control and Surveillance on Immigration. She works on anti-racist activities and welcoming immigrants. From 1994 1997 she was a member of the Council of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy. In the town of Empoli Ms Frias served a councilor for the environment, rights of citizenship, equal opportunities.

The most surprising of the black women to have been elected via universal sufferage or appointed to positions of elevated responsibility in European countries is Sandra Maria (Sandy) Cane, elected in 2009 on a Northern League ticket; the most racist and xenophobic of Italy's political parties. One of the party's objectives is the secessoin of some of the northern part the Italian peninsula (though the boundary is not clearly undefined) because the party leaders do not like Southern Italians.

The blog stranieriinitalia.it (foreigners in Italy) gives a brief outline of her career [it]:

Il primo sindaco di colore in Italia ha la camicia verde. Sandra Maria (Sandy) Cane si è aggiudicata con appena 38 voti di scarto la fascia tricolore a Viggiù, cinquemila anime in Valceresio, tra Varesotto e Canton Ticino. Alle sue spalle, una lunga storia di migrazioni. Di Viggiù era originaria la famiglia materna del neosindaco, scalpellini emigrati in Francia, dove durante la seconda guerra mondiale arrivò il padre, un soldato statunitense afroamericano. Il neo sindaco è nata a Springfield, nel Massachussets, nel 1961, ma a dieci anni, dopo la separazione dei genitori, ha seguito la madre nel paesino d’origine.

Italy's first coloured mayor wears a green shirt [the colour worn by Northern League supporters]. Sandra Maria (Sandy) Cane won the tricolour scarf of the Mayor of Viggiù, a town of five thousand inhabitants in the Valceresio region, between the town of Varèse and the Canton of Tessin, with a margin on only 38 votes.
A past with a long history of migration. The new mayor's family on her mother's side were stone masons, originally from Viggiù, who migrated to France. During the Second World War, her father, an African-American soldier from the United States arrived in France. The new Mayor was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1961, but ten years after the separation of her parents she followed her mother back to her home village.

This, according to the blog associazioneumoja.wordpress.com, is how she found herself [it] in politics, with a rather unlikely ideological platform:

Della Lega sono sempre stata sostenitrice, anche se mai vera militante. Quando ero ragazza morivo dal ridere a vedere i loro manifesti, curiosi e di forte impatto. Poi quindici anni fa, più o meno, mi sono avvicinata di più. […] Vedo come «molto americana» anche la Lega, per la richiesta di rispettare rigorosamente la legge, anche per i clandestini. Anche se a Viggiù, precisa, non ci sono problemi di integrazione, nè tantomeno di sicurezza. Tra le priorità, guarda al rilancio turistico del paese, con manifestazioni e attenzione alla cultura.

I have always supported the Northern League without ever being very active. When I was a little girl their posters used to make me laugh, they were curious and had a big impact. Then, around fifteen years ago I became a little more involved. […] I see it as being “very American”, even the Northern League, because they insist on a rigorous respect for the law, even for illegal immigrants. Even so, she points out that there are no problems of integration and still yet security in Viggiù. One of her priorities is to reignite tourism in the area, with events and a focus on culture.

Despite the marked progress in the inclusion of African women in European politics, they represent isolated cases as, beyond the difficulties they face due to racism or culture and religion, even within their own families and their own societies, they also have to face up to the challenges that all women across the world face [fr]: domestic violence, the challenge of bearing children, marginalisation and under-representation.

Caribbean: the meaning of identity

Nicholas Laughlin — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:59:53 +0000

Creative Commess hosts a blog symposium “about Caribbean people, about West Indian people, about our contemporary experiences … ranging through race & identity to culture, mental health to constructs of beauty and more,” with contributions from seven Caribbean bloggers.

Caribbean: Caribe Wave 11, the first simulated tsunami alert

Claire Ulrich — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:55:33 +0000

On Wednesday, March 23, the first full-scale simulated tsunami alert exercise will take place in 33 countries in the Caribbean to test the effectiveness of alert, monitoring and warning systems (Hashtag on Twitter: EXERCISE - NOT REAL #CW11) . Open Street Map France [Fr] and Crisis Camp Paris [Fr] will join this exercise to encourage awareness and use of social media tools during emergencies in the French speaking West Indies.

Latin America, Caribbean: Increase in Food Prices

Silvia Viñas — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 19:53:26 +0000

Bloggings by Boz writes: “The FAO reports that February 2011 was a yet a new high on food prices. This has led to several warnings from organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean including ECLAC [Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean] and the IICA [Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture] that commodity markets are volatile and several countries are very vulnerable to price swings and food insecurity issues.”

Martinique: RIP Glissant

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 19:07:32 +0000

Regional bloggers pay tribute to the life and work of “the great Caribbean writer Edouard Glissant”, who passed away earlier today.

Caribbean: Defining Moments of 2010

Janine Mendes-Franco — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 18:59:47 +0000

Many landmark events happened in the Caribbean this year, prompting reactions from the regional blogosphere - from student protests at the University of Puerto Rico to the release of Cuban political prisoners. Perhaps the most heartbreaking of these was the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Many bloggers were still wrapped up in the novelty and fresh hopes for the New year when disaster struck on January 12, setting a sombre tone for the months ahead. Here are our picks for the stories that defined the Caribbean blogosphere in 2010…

The Haiti Earthquake
Sudden, unexpected, unforgiving: Measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale, this earthquake was bound to do serious damage wherever it struck. In Haiti, a poor island nation with inadequate infrastructure and the majority of the population living in sub-standard conditions, the effects were disastrous. As the death toll continued to rise and the country remained immobilized, the region (and the world!) came to the country's aid. Bloggers were desperately hoping that the rescue efforts would prove successful, even in the face of massive aftershocks; citizen media rose to the challenge, sending out valuable first-hand information.

Tent city, Juvenat, by caribbeanfreephoto, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons License.

Global Voices Online sent a team to Haiti in the earthquake's aftermath, primarily to offer support for citizen media, since we believe that there is a real need to amplify Haitian voices when it comes to relief and reconstruction efforts. Our Managing Director, Georgia Popplewell, and former GV Lingua Team Leader, Alice Backer, “[made] contact with Haitians using citizen media tools, and [identified] others with the potential to participate in and enrich the online conversation, given the right resources”, with a view to increasing the amount of local citizen media activity. Visit our Special Coverage Page for various perspectives on the earthquake and subsequent relief efforts.

As if the devastating effects of the earthquake on the local food supply weren't enough, Haitian farmers also had to hurriedly mobilise against Monsanto, a company that produces genetically modified seed and wanted to get a foot in the door, via “a donation of conventional corn and vegetable seeds to farmers in Haiti, to help increase food production and aid long-term earthquake recovery.”

Towards the end of a trying year, the country faced a debilitating cholera crisis, braced for a hurricane and, when it appeared that the cholera epidemic was brought into the country by (largely unwelcome) UN peacekeepers, tried as best it could to function in the midst of violent protests.

Natural disasters and health challenges were not the only challenges the island nation faced. Its annus horriblis came to a climax with the staging of the country's controversial elections; bloggers are still questioning the transparency of the process, even as results continue to be verified.

These ripple effects of the January 12 earthquake have undoubtedly made 2010 a year Haiti would rather forget, but the reality is that other regional territories were also affected by the tremor. The Dominican Republic and Haiti share the same island, Hispaniola [ES: La Española]. Since borders are fluid and permeable, everything that affects one country affects the other in some way or another. Therefore, the Dominican Republic also felt the aftermath of the massive earthquake that hit Haiti, leaving at least 300,000 dead and many thousands more homeless and living in extremely harsh conditions.

The Puerto Rico Student Protests
Puerto Rico battled a severe economic crisis during 2010. The despair and angst caused by conservative public social and economic policies provided the context for the student strike that paralyzed the main campus of the state-run University of Puerto Rico during two months starting in April 2010. Students of campuses from all over the island joined the protest against educational budget cuts, and their plight catalyzed a national social movement.

Students protest at the main campus of the UPR. Photo by Ricardo Alcaraz of Diálogo. Republished under a CC License.

In December 2010, students of the main campus in Río Piedras, San Juan, declared a second strike, this time specifically against an annual $800 fee. The government ordered the Police to occupy the university’s campuses, which has led to violent confrontations with students. During both strikes, students have creatively used online platforms, blogs and social media networks, to express themselves.

The Jamaica State of Emergency
The eyes of the world were focused on Jamaica from late May, as the Prime Minister finally stopped trying to escape the inevitable and allowed the US extradition request for alleged drug don Christopher “Dudus” Coke to be signed, setting in motion a series of events that practically held the country in a vice grip for over a month. As @anniepaul put it:

The pact between the criminals and the state has been broken, we are being shown the consequences of that rupture…

Citizen media did a stellar job as a reliable source of information throughout the unrest. Our Special Coverage Page has all the details.

The Release of Cuban Political Prisoners
Over the course of the last few months, the Cuban government, as part of a deal brokered by the Spanish government and the Catholic Church, has released several prisoners of conscience, albeit to exile in Spain. The move followed the death of hunger striker Orlando Zapato Tamayo, after which the situation on the island became even more tense, with Cuban authorities clamping down on bloggers and activists around the time of Tamayo's funeral. Thirteen prisoners are still due to be released under the agreement; although the deadline has already passed, bloggers are still watching the situation closely.

This was not the only important story to come out of Cuba this year: soon after Fidel Castro admitted to a reporter (and subsequently retracted his statement) that the Cuban economic model no longer works, the government began the process of cutting 500,000 state jobs, in an effort resuscitate the island's struggling economy.

Interestingly, the government also announced that a submarine fiber optic cable linking Venezuela, Cuba, and Jamaica, will be operating by January of 2011. Although this will greatly enhance the quality of Internet connectivity, it will not necessarily lead to more access.

Plane crash in Central Cuba. Courtesy of Escambray.

On November 4, sixty-eight people died in the crash of an Aerocaribbean plane in central Cuba. Social media networks immediately became one of the main channels of communication.

Sad Farewells
Several regional territories had to say goodbye to national icons this year: Barbados lost its relatively new and certainly youngest-ever Prime Minister, Jamaica - and indeed the world - lost reggae icon Gregory “Cool Ruler” Isaacs to cancer and Monserrat (and calypso fans everywhere) said their final farewell to Arrow, the man who brought us the mega-hit “Hot, Hot, Hot”.

In other music news, reggae star Buju Banton was a regular topic of discussion in the regional blogosphere, as he went to court in the United State to defend himself against drug trafficking charges. After the judge presiding over his case declared a mistrial in September, the singer is scheduled to go through the process again, with a new trial beginning early in the New Year.

Hurricane Season
The 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season started early, with Hurricane Earl, which was closely followed by Igor and finally, Tomas, the storm which appeared to have done the greatest damage. When neighbouring nations pledged their relief support in the hurricane's aftermath, Trinidad and Tobago's newly-elected (and first female) Prime Minister came under fire for her statement that that any release of the twin island republic's aid dollars hinged on reciprocal economic benefits. Her words was interpreted as insensitive and prompted an online boycott of Trinidad and Tobago products across the region.

From natural disasters to political wrangling, 2010 was a busy year - and as 2011 approaches, the Global Voices Caribbean Team will continue to monitor the regional blogosphere in an ongoing effort to facilitate meaningful conversation and understanding throughout the Caribbean archipelago.

Firuzeh Shokooh Valle contributed to this post.

Caribbean: Hurricane Tomas

Janine Mendes-Franco — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 14:26:00 +0000

Trinidad and Tobago, the twin island republic that seemed to be directly in Tomas‘ path on Friday, was spared its effects, but as the storm veered north, islands that had previously been out of its path were suddenly thrust into storm warning mode.

Barbados, still grappling over the death of its Prime Minister, was the first to get hit. Barbados Free Press' reported that:

It’s not too bad. Noisy. Wet. Water went off with the power, but it’s back. One of our friends has one of those little wind things on top of his house and it hit 87 mph just before a calm period maybe an hour and a half ago.

A later update stated:

There are a couple of boats smashed up at Oistins. Lots of damage, roofs off. It looks like the south took a harder hit than we did.

Facebook was filled with private updates discussing the intensity of the storm and the fact that some areas were without electricity; after the worst was over, My Barbados Blog posted this update:

The parishes hardest hit by Tomas were St George, St Philip, St Joseph, St Michael, St Andrew and St Lucy with roofs blown off, trees uprooted, palings blown down, streets blocked, and downed utility poles.

The Bajan Reporter posted a story which stated that the country's Department of Emergency Management was caught “pretty much off-guard” by the warnings from the Barbados Meteorological Service.

The storm ploughed through St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Martinique where damage primarily consisted of felled trees, downed power lines, flooding in some areas and roofs being torn off, but Vincentian bloggers have been uncharacteristically quiet, leading to speculation that internet access may also be affected. Dominica News Blog said:

The passage of Hurricane Tomas to the south of Dominica has brought a day of gusty winds and heavy showers. No damage has been reported as yet, but the current poor weather conditions are set to continue overnight.

The storm now appears to be headed towards Jamaica; bloggers have been discussing the country's level of preparedness on Twitter. @anniepaul said:

ppl are aware and nervous but we're still recovering from Nicole RT @Fledgist: @anniepaul How ready is Jca for Tomás?

@therealnickmack added:

@anniepaul We're not ready! There are so many damaged roads & bridges that are either being repaired or not yet assessed!

Tomas is now situated south-southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico; the hope remains that the Category 2 storm, which is expected to gather more strength, will steer clear of Haiti, which is still dealing with the debilitating effects of the massive January 12 earthquake and a recent cholera outbreak. real hope for haiti is reporting that:

Haiti issued an orange storm alert, the second highest level. Authorities warned southern and western regions — including the quake-ravaged capital of Port-au-Prince, where an estimated 1.3 million people are living in tent camps — to be on guard for high winds, thunderstorms and possible flooding.

Martinique: Grande Dame Passes On

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:54:41 +0000

The Caribbean Review of Books acknowledges the passing of “Jenny Alpha, Martiniquan singer and ‘grande dame de la culture créole'.”

Martinique, Guadeloupe: French Football Flop now Racial Controversy?

Fabienne Flessel — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:54:52 +0000

The French national football team has been through some rough times prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but the past three days have stirred up old issues around “Les Bleus“.

In the buildup to the FIFA World Cup, the honeymoon between the the French football team and French journalists came to an end; the divorce was officially announced when native Martinican player Nicolas Anelka allegedly insulted his coach in the locker room (information unveiled by French main sports newspaper, L'Equipe). Guadeloupean blogger B. World Connection reacted soon after in a post entitled “Nicolas Anelka, kicked out of the French football team” and discussed the player's future [Fr]:

Selon toute vraisemblance, Nicolas Anelka ne revétira plus jamais le maillot de l'équipe de France…A moins que Laurent Blanc arrive à le convaincre de revenir. Au niveau de l'opinion général des français ça sera plus dur.

Nicolas Anelka will most likely never wear the French team jersey ever again…Unless Laurent Blanc [the future coach] succeeds in convincing him to come back. However as far as the French public opinion is concerned, things are going to be more difficult.

Although most French West Indian bloggers condemned Anelka's attitude, they have also been discussing the various issues revolving around the incident.

Some comments to B. World Connection's post [Fr] blame the incident on coach Raymond Domenech:

En voyant ce déferlement médiatique à l'encontre d'ANELKA, je me suis dit c'est clair la chasse aux sorcières à commencé. La FFF et DOMENECK ont besoin d'un bouc émissaire pour sauver la face. Et il vont comme à l'habitude sacrifier un “nègre”.

Looking at the media surge against Anelka, I said to myself that the witch hunt had started. The French Football Federation and DOMENECK need a scapegoat to come out clean. And as usual, they will sacrifice a “negro”.

Blogger Bel Balawou weighs in on this analysis of the coach [Fr]:

Cette équipe de France est dirigée pas un entraineur incompétent, un homme ayant pratiquement rien réussi de lui-même…

This French team is coached by an inept manager, a man who has managed only little by himself…

A disturbing scenario followed this already disastrous situation: The French team went on strike just two days before their final round match against Bafana-Bafana. Their decision opened the door to a giant wave of criticism, some of it along seemingly racist lines.

The once-welcomed multicultural feature of “les Bleus” may now have become their worst flaw. Here is the title of Martinican Bondamanjak's post in reaction to some comments about the team:

Les Antillais de l'Equipe de France sont déjà des Français entièrement à part…

The French West Indians of the French football team are already fully isolated…

Bondamanjak's conclusion came after a radio interview with controversial French philosopher, Alain Finkielkraut, who allegedly said [Fr]:

« Tout ça c'est la faute des racailles de banlieue, même ceux de l'équipe de France et qui n'aiment pas la France ».

“This is all to be blamed on the suburbs scum, even those of the French team who don't like France”.

From a sporting perspective, the failure of the French football team has reached social, cultural and even historical levels. For instance, the use of the term “suburbs scum” to descrbe some of the team's players left Bondamanjak bitter [Fr]:

Tant que les Antillais gagnent ils sont partie intégrante de la “nation arc en ciel”… il n'y a plus de couleurs (ni de culture) NOUS SOMMES TOUS BLEUS…
mais au premier nuage, les “gens des cités” (?) sont rétrogradés en seconde classe

As long as the French West Indians win, they are part of the “rainbow nation”…everyone is colorblind (and culture blind) WE ARE ALL “BLEUS”… but when the first cloud covers this blue sky, “people from the suburbs” (?) are sent back to their second-class [citizenship]”

Similarly, Bel Balawou says [Fr]:

Une équipe sportive, d'ailleurs pas que dans le football où se trouve en majorité des gens issus de la banlieue, des Noirs et des Arabes […] : Cela ne le fait pas !

A sport team, incidentally not only in football, where most of the players, Blacks and Arabs, come from the suburbs: […]: It's not right!

According to some bloggers, the reactions against specific players are because of either their background or their religion. Bondamanjak posts this portrait of Nicolas Anelka [Fr]:

Il ne mange pas de saucisson, ne boit pas de pinard. Il est noir, banlieusard et musulman. Il est donc le parfait bouc émissaire le doux mouton noir qui doit être sacrifié pour apaiser la pénible déception offerte par l'équipe de France de football au Mondial en Afrique du Sud.

He doesn't eat sausages, doesn't drink wine. He is black, from the suburbs and Muslim. Thus, he is the perfect scapegoat, the nice black sheep which has to be sacrificied in order to calm down the harsh disappointment caused by the French football team at the South Africa World Cup”.

B. World Connection also publishes a post which suggests that Anelka is a hero [Fr]:

Depuis le temps de l'esclavage, le Nègre n'a jamais cessé de maronner , d'échapper à ses fers, solides ou immatériels, en gagnant les bois, le zyiann…
Nicolas Anelka est de cette race-là…

Since the times of slavery, the Negro has never stopped marooning, escaping from their bondage either materially or spiritually and fleeing to the woods, “zyiann”….
Nicolas Anelka is one of them…

Obviously, the era of the “Black, Blanc, Beur” French society (which means Blacks, Whites and Arabs) inherited from the 1998 FIFA World Cup victory is over.

In conclusion, Gwadaboy, commenting onB. World Connection's post approaches the issue in a more balanced way [Fr]:

Et dire que Zidane a privé la France d'une 2eme coupe du monde avec son coup de boule. Lui il a eu droit aux honneurs de la nation, n'est ce pas monsieur Chirac? Ceci dit Anelka n'est pas excusable,quoi qu'il arrive on doit respecter son entraineur et ses COEQUIPIERS. Après le match on peut rêgler nos comptes mais pas à la mi-temps car “je” pénalise mes potes et mon équipe.

And to think that Zidane deprived France of a 2nd World Cup victory because of his headbutt. He got honors from his country, didn't he Mr Chirac? That being said, Anelka's words cannot be tolerated, in any case he owed his coach and CO-PLAYERS respect. His issues could have been settled after the game but not at half-time because He prejudiced his buddies and his team.

The thumbnail image used in this post, “Watching Mexico vs France”, is by Steve Rhodes, used under a Creative Commons license. Visit Steve Rhodes' flickr photostream.