Assa Traoré, an emblematic figure in the fight against police violence and racism since the death of her brother Adama, “killed” according to her by French security forces, received the BET Global Good prize in the United States on Sunday.
Assa Traoré, 35, thanked BET, an American television channel that awards prizes to African-American or minority figures, saying it was “recognition”.
“It is a recognition for all the victims, for all the families who never stop fighting for truth and justice,” she said in a video message broadcast during a virtual award ceremony.
Bulky afro cut and always wearing a T-shirt “justice for Adama”, Assa Traore who had never campaigned before, is seen today compared to a “Angela Davis” French, in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
Since the death in July 2016 of her brother after her arrest by gendarmes in Beaumont-sur-Oise, in the Paris region, she has been chaining demonstrations, speaking out, interviews. Supported by a solid “committee” of twenty relatives and activists in the neighborhoods, she tirelessly demands “truth and justice” for Adama.
Her “truth” is that her brother was “killed”. The investigation, still underway, turned into a battle of expertise, without questioning the police.
Having become a full-time activist, she never returned to her job as a specialized educator and lives with her three children aged six, eight and 12 in an apartment at the gates of Paris.
While the “Adama fight” has so far remained rather limited to neighborhoods and militant spheres, the planetary emotion sparked by the death of George Floyd has given it another dimension.
George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American, was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25. The autopsy showed that it was the pressure exerted by the police on his chest and neck that caused his death.
With her committee, Assa Traoré gathered thousands of people in the capital at the beginning of June and hundreds of others everywhere in France.
Assa’s “fight” has also crossed borders. Several American newspapers have painted his portrait in recent days and the star Rihanna has split a post on social networks via the account of his brand to salute his commitment.
In France, its positioning continues to cause controversy, several intellectuals denouncing a “racialization” of public debate, in defiance of “republican universalism”.
Since 2016, his speech has been politicized. “With my brother’s name, I will change everything I can change,” she recently told AFP.
We thus saw her take the head of a demonstration against the policy of Emmanuel Macron in 2018, parade alongside the “Yellow Vests” or more recently caregivers.
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