She's here now. We can see her. She won’t be forgotten.
With these
words, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo on May 10 inaugurated a statue of Solitude, a woman
who fought against slavery in Guadeloupe, was sentenced to death by French
forces in 1802, and killed a day after giving birth.
In France, May
10 is observed as the National Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade,
Slavery, and Their Abolition (la journée nationale des mémoires de la traite,
de l'esclavage et de leur abolition), and several events were held around the
country, including one with President Emmanuel Macron at the Jardin du
Luxembourg in the French capital - as in past years.
The statue’s inauguration formed part of these events, taking place in a symbolic location. “Solitude” stands on the Général Catroux Square in the 17th arrondissement, in a garden that the city had already named for her in September 2020.
Close by are monuments honouring famous writer
Alexandre Dumas (author of The Three Musketeers) and his father Thomas-Alexandre
Dumas - who was born into slavery in Saint Domingue (Haiti) and eventually became
a general in the French army.
Up to now, the
most striking feature of the square has been two huge “broken-chain” shackles
on the grass, created by artist Driss Sans-Arcidet and installed in 2009 as "Fers,
hommage au Général Dumas". It is around this iron sculpture that some associations
have been paying homage to the victims of slavery, since the national May-10 day
was launched in 2006.
Apparently, the organizers of the two events had not
consulted with one another, according to several spectators, who
called the “clash” a “pity”.
Meanwhile, the
statue’s inauguration drew a diverse crowd, who rushed to snap pictures of
themselves beside the monument when it was unveiled.
The almost
non-stop picture-taking sometimes felt jarring, but it was perhaps
understandable, given Solitude’s legendary role in slavery resistance in the Caribbean.
Beyond Guadeloupe, her life has been made known particularly through the work
of French writer André Schwarz-Bart, whose Guadeloupean widow and fellow writer,
Simone Schwarz-Bart, spoke at the inauguration, discussing his acclaimed novel La
Mulâtresse Solitude (A Woman Named Solitude). Schwarz-Bart said that
she and her late husband knew that the story had to be written.
Solitude was
born circa 1772, some two decades before France first abolished slavery in
Guadeloupe (in 1794). She came of age during a period of uprisings, as people in
French colonies fought for their freedom, against the backdrop of the French
Revolution.
It was in 1802
that, while pregnant, she joined an uprising against French troops sent by
Napoleon Bonaparte, who wanted to reinstate slavery. The uprising was brutally
suppressed, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which has produced pedagogic material on
Solitude as part of a “Women in African History” project.
Researchers say
that she “was taken prisoner around 23 May 1802”, sentenced to death and
"suppliciée" (possibly tortured, flogged to death or hanged) on 29
November that year, a day after giving birth. That same year, France reinstated
slavery, before abolishing it again in 1848.
Solitude’s story
is a universal one that symbolises the fight for freedom and the current need
for continuous dialogue, said Hidalgo at the unveiling of the statue.
It also
symbolizes the struggle against racism and xenophobia - both of which are enduring
features of life in France, as various anti-discrimination organizations have
noted. - SWAN
Photos (top to
bottom, by A.M.): the statue of Solitude, by artist Didier Audrat; sculpture
UNESCO info: https://en.unesco.org/womeninafrica/mulatto-solitude/pedagogical-unit/1
