Assa Traoré, a 35-year-old activist who has fought racism and police violence in France since the death of her brother Adama in 2016, received the American BET Global Good prize on Sunday evening.
Frenchwoman Assa Traoré, a figure in the fight against police violence and racism since the death of her brother Adama, “killed” according to her by French law enforcement officials, received the BET Global Good prize on Sunday June 28.
The 35-year-old activist thanked BET, an American television channel that awards prizes to African-American or minority figures. “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 awards ceremony.
Bulky afro cut and still wearing a “justice for Adama” T-shirt, Assa Traore, who had never campaigned before, is today compared to a French “Angela Davis”, in the wake of the death of the African American George Floyd.
“Truth and justice”
Since the death in July 2016 of her brother after her arrest by gendarmes in Beaumont-sur-Oise (Val-d’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 ongoing, turned into a battle of expertise.
Having become a full-time activist, she never returned to her job as a specialized educator and lives with her three children aged 6, 8 and 12 in an apartment on the outskirts of Paris.
If the “Adama fight” so far remained rather limited to neighborhoods and militant spheres, the global emotion aroused by the death of George Floyd gave it another dimension. With her committee, Assa Traoré gathered thousands of people in the capital at the beginning of June and hundreds of others everywhere in France.
Controversy 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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Author: France 24 – Webnews
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