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What’s Happening in France and Why Should We Care

And the government of current President Emmanuel Macron’s government has moved step by step to become a right-wing nightmare for French people whose ancestors come from Northern and Southern Africa.

Published

4 years ago

February 3, 2021

Kiki

France

A lot of Americans love France, especially its food and its politics. But “liberty, fraternity and equality” are slogans, and, as in the U.S., reality differs from the slogans

A racist, Trump-like figure, Marie Le Pen is now leading in the polls for next year’s French presidential elections.

Like the U.S., France has a police force with a reputation for brutality. Young Black and Arab men are hassled regularly. Police were caught recently on camera beating a Black man for fifteen minutes. Rather than reforming the police, Macron proposes to make it illegal to take pictures of them. And, as in the U.S, cameras are the only way to verify police behavior.

Macron implies that Islam is a threat to France and holds up cases of terrorism as evidence to support draconian new “security” laws. They now investigate 4- and 5-year-olds for “radicalization.”

As in the U.S., when an individual person of color commits a violent act, that whole community is looked on with suspicion, while a white person committing the same act is assumed to have an individual mental health problem.

Thirty-six organizations have made a complaint to the United Nations about Islamaphobia in France.

And, as in the U.S., there is economic discrimination.

The labor of people from the former French colonies was instrumental in defeating the Nazis in World War II and rebuilding the country from the devastation of that war. But whites ignored these contributions when distributing the new economic benefits of the post war world.

A Montaigne Institute study on fairness in employment indicates that a Catholic man named Michel would need to send our five resumes to obtain a job interview while a Muslim man named Mohammed would need to send out 20.

France is renowned for having a militant labor movement. Because of this militancy, the French people have hung on to more health benefits and job security than many other developed countries.

But this militancy has not often extended to fighting racism and Islamaphobia. In fact, a lot of the white Left in France has been silent on the issue for years.

French activist and thought-leader, Yasser Louati, argues that our two countries are headed down a similar political path. Americans may think we dodged the bullet with the defeat of Donald Trump, but the forces pushing toward fascism have not disappeared from either country.

In response, Louati suggests that anti-racists in both countries work together and internationalize the issues.

At first, I thought it might be difficult to involve Americans in such an effort given our general lack of knowledge about the truth of world affairs.

But the paradoxical impact of the pandemic has brought the people of the world together in a deeper way through our common real-world experience.

We’re locked up in our houses, required to mask, unable to travel, worried about finances and the death of family members. And a lot of us have joined Meet-Ups; language groups; virtual college classes and virtual international conferences, where we have been eye to eye with people from South Africa, France, Brazil, Mexico, Algeria, China, and dozens of other countries.

The technology to extend these experiences is expanding rapidly. It’s possible that one result could be an international revulsion against having our governments beat and discriminate against the brothers and sisters of the people we’ve been meeting in their living rooms.

A few possible steps toward solidarity:

French people have demonstrated in support of U.S. anti-racist movements. We can reciprocate in our protests and our speeches. The French government doesn’t like to have a spotlight on the ways that they do not live up to their slogans.

On an individual level, we can hunt for news about the struggles against racism and Islamophobia in France and elsewhere. A couple of links in English are: @yasserlouati on Twitter: CJL organization — https://www.cjl.ong/en/publications-en/, and CAIR.com
We need to get a deeper understanding of the struggle against Isamophobia and teach it to our children: https://educators4sc.org/topic-resources/teaching-about-islamophobia/
And more of us can start meeting our international neighbors from our living rooms: Here is one resource: meetup.com.

Kitty Kelly Epstein is a professor, the author of three books, and the host of Education Today on KPFA 94.1 FM

Kiki

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City Government

San Pablo Appoints New Economic Development and Housing Manager

Kieron Slaughter has been appointed as the economic development & housing manager for the City of San Pablo. Since 2017, Slaughter has served as chief strategic officer for economic innovation in the City of Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development. Previously, he served in a 2.5-year appointment in the Pacific West Region as one of 10 Urban Fellows in the United States National Park Service.

Published

14 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Kieron Slaughter. Photo courtesy of the City of San Pablo

The Richmond Standard

Kieron Slaughter has been appointed as the economic development & housing manager for the City of San Pablo.

Since 2017, Slaughter has served as chief strategic officer for economic innovation in the City of Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development. Previously, he served in a 2.5-year appointment in the Pacific West Region as one of 10 Urban Fellows in the United States National Park Service.

Before that he was an associate planner in the City of Richmond’s Planning and Building Services Department from 2007-2015.

San Pablo City Manager Matt Rodriguez lauded Slaughter’s extensive experience in economic development, housing and planning, saying he will add a “valuable perspective to the City Manager’s Office.”

Slaughter, a Berkeley resident, will start in his new role on Nov. 12, with a base annual salary of $164,928, according to the City of San Pablo.

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Aaron Osorio Rises Up Ranks to Become Richmond’s Fire Chief

For Aaron Osorio, it started with a ride along on a firetruck at age 10. “I thought it was the coolest job,” he said, adding, “I knew being in fire service would make a big difference in the community.” Now a 27-year fire service veteran, Osorio appears to approach his work with the same youthful exuberance. And that’s good for the city as Osorio was recently named chief of the historic Richmond Fire Department.

Published

15 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Richmond Fire Department Chief Aaron Osorio. Courtesy photo

By Mike Kinney

The Richmond Standard

For Aaron Osorio, it started with a ride along on a firetruck at age 10.

“I thought it was the coolest job,” he said, adding, “I knew being in fire service would make a big difference in the community.”

Now a 27-year fire service veteran, Osorio appears to approach his work with the same youthful exuberance. And that’s good for the city as Osorio was recently named chief of the historic Richmond Fire Department.

Osorio is a San Francisco native who rose up the ranks in the Richmond Fire Department over the last 21 years before being elevated to chief.

He joined the department in 2002 and has served in multiple roles including firefighters, engineer, captain, battalion chief, training director and deputy fire chief. He said he truly loves working in this community.

While it isn’t common for a fire department to hire a chief that came up through its ranks, Osorio was credited by the city for serving Richmond well during uncommon times.

The city lauded him for developing internal policies and vaccination clinics during the initial COVID response, for supporting activation of the emergency operations center in response to a potential mudslide disaster in Seacliff last year, helping to draft mutual aid agreements and working to increase fire response capabilities for industrial incidents.

He’s also led departmental hiring and recruitment since 2018.

Osorio said it is an honor to be hired as chief and has big plans for the department moving forward. He said he wants to continue hiring and promoting for vacant positions, and also completing a strategic plan guiding the direction of the organization.

He also aims to replace and renovate a number of fire department facilities placed on the Capital Improvement Plan and create new ways to recruit that will enhance the diversity of the department.

Osorio said his experience within, and love for, the city of Richmond puts him in a good position to lead the department. He says he knows what is needed and also the challenges that are unique to the city.

“I look forward to utilizing that institutional knowledge to move the fire department forward in a positive direction and enhance the services we provide to the community,” the chief said.

Osorio holds a bachelor of science degree in Fire Administration and is also a California State Fire Marshal-certified chief officer, company officer, and state instructor.

He also holds numerous certifications in fire, rescue, hazardous material, and incident command.

The chief has been married to his wife, Maria, for 26 years and they have two sons, Roman and Mateo.

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Reflects on Historic Moment Less Than One Week from Election Day

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) today released a piece on Medium reflecting on Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic presidential campaign 50 years after Lee worked on the presidential campaign of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm.

Published

15 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) today released a piece on Medium reflecting on Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic presidential campaign 50 years after Lee worked on the presidential campaign of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm:

“As Election Day approaches, I’m reflecting on a few dates and numbers that mean something to me.

Zero: the number of Black members in Congress 56 years ago. Next Congress, we hope to swear in over 60 members in the Congressional Black Caucus.

Three: The number of Black women to ever serve in the United States Senate since the first Congress in 1789.

Two: The number of Black women that will be elected to the Senate this year alone if we do our job.

1972: The first time a Black woman, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, ran for president in one of the major political parties of the United States.

Zero: the number of Black women to ever serve as president of the United States.

IF we do the work, we can change that with President Kamala Harris.

As I reflect on what would be Congresswoman Chisholm’s 100th birthday next month, I could not help but remember that my first official involvement in U.S. politics was working for her presidential campaign in 1972.

Over 50 years later, I have been involved in every single campaign since. Shirley was my mentor — she was a bold visionary, a progressive woman who understood that working together in coalitions was the only way to make life better for everyone, to build an equitable society and democracy that lived up to the creed of “liberty and justice for all.”

The historic moment we are in today is not lost on me. I have had the privilege to have known Vice President Kamala Harris for over three decades. She, after all, is a daughter of the East Bay. She, like Shirley, truly is a fighter for the people.

And I know she can move our country forward in a new way. As a member of her National Advisory Board, I have campaigned across our country to help take her message, her legacy of service, and her “to-do list,” as she says, to voters who were almost starting to feel hopeless, but are now feeling hopeful once again, captured by the politics joy and the bright possibilities brought upon by a possible Harris-Walz administration.

Recently, I visited churches in North Carolina with members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The chair of our CBC political action committee, Chairman Gregory Meeks from New York’s fifth district, eloquently and powerfully presented a vision of what Dr. Maya Angelou wrote in her famous poem, “And Still I Rise:” “I am the dream and the hope of the slave.”

Meeks remarked that on Jan. 20, 2025, we will observe the birthday of our drum major for justice, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He also described that on Jan. 20, IF we do the work — if we knock on doors, if we make those phone calls, if we spread our message — standing on the podium at the U.S. Capitol will be the first Black speaker of the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries.

In the wings will be over 60 members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Holding Frederick Douglass’ Bible will be the first African American woman appointed to the highest court of the land, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

She will be swearing-in the first Black woman to serve as president, Kamala Harris, in front of the shining white dome of the United States Capitol, built by enslaved Black people.

In front of her and beyond, the tens of millions of Black men and women who voted for her. The world will witness the hope and the dreams of our ancestors ushering in a new way forward.

As I sat in front of the stage this week at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., as Vice President Harris delivered remarks with the Oval Office behind her, I could not help but feel that our country was ready for this historic moment.

We are not only voting for a Black woman as Commander in Chief of the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world. We are definitively stating that we will not allow the clocks of freedom and justice to be turned back.

We are voting for our ancestors’ hopes and dreams. We are voting for the generations that will come after us, long after we are gone. We are voting for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Let’s get this done.