Tag: massacre de Thiaroye

Forced Labor and ‘La Marseillaise’ in Congo in 1934

On By Dr. Y.In Great MomentsLeave a comment
Senegalese Tirailleurs serving in France in 1940

There was a time when Africans of another generation, proudly sang La Marseillaise… That was the generation of the tirailleurs, the generation of those trained in France before and after ‘independence’, the generation who loved the Métropole. There was a time when, like the kids described below by Marcel Homet in Congo Français: Terre de souffrance (Paris 1934), Africans believed that France, the land of Marianne, could want their freedom or at least a ‘fair’ partnership. The current generation, after seeing the sweat and blood of their parents and grandparents in the uranium mines or banana plantations, after suffering, after witnessing the NATO attacks on Libya, Cote d’Ivoire, or the repeated putsches funded by France on their territories, or seeing their economy and savings fall to the exchange factor of their currency FCFA in Francophone Africa, or seeing these French and foreign companies plundering their resources for over a century with no roads no hospitals and barely any taxes paid… this generation has become disillusioned, and can no longer sing La Marseillaise. They have learned that singing La Marseillaise equates with the massacre of Thiaroye, the genocides in Algeria, Cameroon, Madagascar, and so many other places, or more recently the joint attacks of NATO on Libya. Singing La Marseillaise has equated to so much blood so much so that this generation no longer wants anything to do with France or imperialist forces.

Decapitated Heads during the French repression of Cameroonians in Cameroon

As you read the description below from another time, it is interesting to note how the gruesome conditions of from another era do not seem to have changed much with time. We are fighting today, whether in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso for dignity and for respect owed to any human being. We are fighting for the right to use our resources as we see fit. We are fighting for simple, human dignity. Below are excerpts from Marcel Hormet in Congo Français: Terre de souffrance (Paris 1934) where he describes a time of forced labor in French colonies, in this case Congo which was part of the French Equatorial Africa (Afrique Equatoriale Francaise (AEF)).

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In the village square of Loko, a few children – aged eight to ten – pass by, singing *La Marseillaise* in French. They vanish around the bend in the path.

Slowly, the tricolor flag rises up the mast planted before the chief’s dwelling. Everyone uncovers their heads. That anthem, still echoing in the distance, that song of liberty and hope, which can be so deeply moving, takes on a poignant significance here. Unwittingly, the children who proclaim it, understanding nothing of its meaning, are thereby giving voice to the aspirations of a people looking to France for some alleviation of the colony’s pitiful plight: empty bellies, festering sores, and an undisguised slavery, more rigorous than the trade ever was in the era of “ebony wood.”

In French Equatorial Africa, when exhausted slaves die, the local government replaces them, one for one.

Why, then, bother to hold back?

(Sur la place de Loko, quelques enfants de huit à dix ans, passent en chantant “en français” la Marseillaise. Ils disparaissent au tournant du chemin.

Au mât planté devant la demeure du chef monte lentement le drapeau tricolore. Tout le monde se découvre. Ce chant qui, là-bas, résonne encore, ce chant de liberté et d’espoir qui peut être si émouvant, prend ici une signification poignante. Sans s’en rendre compte, les enfants qui le clament et qui n’y comprennent rien manifestent ainsi les aspirations d’un peuple qui attend de la France un adoucissement au sort pitoyable de la colonie : ventres vides, plaies suppurantes et cet esclavage non déguisé, plus strict que ne l’a jamais été la traite à l’époque « du bois d’ébène ».

En AEF, lorsque les esclaves épuisés sont morts, le gouvernement local les remplace, nombre pour nombre.

Pourquoi alors se gêner ?)

David Diop Wins International Booker Prize for “At Night All Blood Is Black”, Book on Tirailleurs Senegalais

On By Dr. Y.In Great Literature, Great Moments, Great People4 Comments
“At Night All Blood is Black” by David Diop

It is hard to keep up with the news, but this is one that we should celebrate. The Franco-Senegalese author David Diop won the International Booker Prize 2021 for his book, “At Night All Blood is Black“. I know, it is hard to keep up with all the different prizes, Man Booker Prize, International Booker Prize, and countless others. This one is nonetheless important because first of all, David Diop is the first African to win the prestigious prize, but also because his book “At Night All Blood is Black” talks about all those African soldiers who helped to free France, and yet were never recognized, and instead were insulted, laughed at and more. The book, originally published in French in 2018 under the title “Frères d’âme” or Soul Brothers, weaves the history of World War I with the history of colonialism. The novel describes the experiences of Senegalese Tirailleurs fighting for France in the trenches. The main character, Alfa Ndiaye, descends into madness following the death of his childhood friend Mademba Diop who had also been recruited as a tirailleur, and inflicts extreme brutality upon his German enemies. Diop was inspired to write the book by his French great-grandfather’s service during the war. Diop stated “He never said anything to his wife, or to my mother, about his experience. That is why I was always very interested by all the tales and accounts which gave one access to a form of intimacy with that particular war.”

As a side note, “tirailleur” was the name given by the French Army to indigenous infantry recruited in the various French colonies. They were not all Senegalese, even though the name always said “tirailleur senegalais,” but rather came from all over Africa. They served for France in a number of wars, including World War I, World War II, and several others. The name “Tirailleur” is a link of two words “tir ailleurs” to laugh and denigrate the indigenous troops by saying that the soldiers were not capable to shoot on target, more like to mean “shoot off target”; it could be translated as skirmisher.

It is also good to note that there is no family link between the great Senegalo-Cameroonian poet David Mandessi Diop [Afrique de David M. Diop / Africa by David M. Diop] and this David Diop… We applaud the success of both namesakes. So good to have such a an illustrious namesake and walk in his path.

I live you here with the link to the article on The Conversation., and more importantly on the video of the Massacre of Thiaroye [Thiaroye: A French Massacre in Senegal, ‘Thiaroye Massacre’ by Ousmane Sembene] showing the poor treatment and sometimes massacre of these tirailleurs by the French, when they returned home after serving France.

‘Thiaroye Massacre’ by Ousmane Sembene

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments, Great People1 Comment

The great Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene made a movie about the Thiaroye massacre committed by French forces in Senegal during the night of 30 November – 1 December 1944! The movie, Camp de Thiaroye, was made in 1988. It took almost 20 years for a French president, Francois Hollande in 2012, to acknowledge it. A massacre which occurred because the Tirailleurs Senegalais asked to be given the pay they had been promised for services rendered, defending France in France against Hitler’s Nazi forces. Those Senegalese men were killed by French men for asking to be paid after defending France with their lives!