Tag: Thiaroye

A French Commission to investigate the Thiaroye Massacre ?

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments7 Comments
Poster commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Thiaroye Massacre (Source: Seneplus.com)

Five days from the celebration commemorating 80 years since the Thiaroye: A French Massacre in Senegal, French parliamentarians called on Tuesday 26 November for the establishment of a commission of inquiry to shed light on the bloody chapter in the French colonial history in Senegal that is the Thiaroye Massacre. If the commission receives the green light, then the work will start in March 2025, when they could then summon and hear historians, descendants of the victims of the massacre, and more. As a refresher, on the night of 30 November to 1 December 1944, African soldiers who had who had fought alongside French people to liberate France of the Nazi menace, were shot by Frenchmen, for asking for their pay in Thiaroye, thus the Thiaroye massacre !

Flag of Senegal
Flag of Senegal

Like our Cameroonian brothers and sisters would say, “A quelle heure ?” (at what time?) or rather why now? How convenient! Or this is for show for the new government of Senegal, to act as if the French have taken note to please the new Senegalese government? They always wait for everyone to be dead to ask for and open bogus commissions that will end nowhere… did you see our dear Senegalese Tirailleurs who begged for many years, and only until most of them had died did they get some recognition from the French, At Last: Senegalese Tirailleurs now allowed to receive their pension while living in Senegal. We do remember the British Government apologizes for Mau Mau atrocities or that commission created for the French genocide in Cameroon.

To learn more, check out RFI. Do you think this commission will amount to anything? Will it even be accepted in the French parliament?

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: A French Massacre in Senegal

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments5 Comments

I just learned of the story of the Thiaroye massacre by French forces on African troops which occurred during the night of 30 November to 1 December 1944. African soldiers who had fought alongside French people to liberate France of the Nazi menace, were shot by Frenchmen, for asking for their pay! Can you believe it! They were promised a pay, they fought for France in France to liberate France, and when they got back to Senegal they were not paid; so they asked for their pay, and they were shot! Even the French president François Hollande in October 2012 had to acknowledge this atrocity… of course, he just acknowledged it, and never apologized! As you can see, France has committed some of the greatest atrocities in this world, but no one says a word, well because it is against Africans, so ‘it does not count’? Even today, they continue, with the FCFA, impoverishing and living off of Africans’ sweat! The great Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene made a movie about it!