*

/DR

Happy New Year, everyone! Here we are, at last in 2012; with one “A” missing in the economic grading of our country. But, is not the fact that 2011 is now behind us the most important thing? 2011 was not an easy year with all its wars, economic downturns, sex scandals and bewildering debates over what some see as the Islamisation of the French society. Hopefully, the coming elections in the US but also in France will create opportunities for the masses in general to make their own voice heard, once for all. I personally sometimes ask myself: “Shall I vote for kind of continuation of the same political system orchestrated by the same recurrent puppets or rather vote for a complete collapse of an old and unfair system that makes any conscious citizen feel ashamed of the past, present, historical, cultural and political heritage of his country?” I do not really know what my choice will be; yet, one thing is sure, a choice will have to be made by May 2012.

As it was once put to me by a student in international politics and diplomacy, who, just like me, happened to live in the city of Coventry in the UK, “the game seems to be over for Western European countries”. For sure, the 21st century will be that of those who lived in that part of the world we called the third world, decades ago. As if the old complex of superiority we had in the western world over southern countries, in general, had finally led us to take certain supremacy for granted and therefore developed in us a culture of laziness.

In countries such as France, the financial and economic crisis that exists, coped with most revolutions in the Arab world is, in an economic as well as in a cultural point of view, nothing else but the pure display of the limits of western imperialism. There is no doubt today that the regime changes planned by the West in order to spread and impose western values in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and why not Egypt and Tunisia have proved to be counterproductive in a Western point of view.

The economic emergence of countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, and the refusal by many other nations to adopt western values are today vivid signs of the decline of what is known around the world as white supremacy. 2012 with its many crises, let’s say it, may be a historical turning point with the ex-colonial empires coming down to their knees and the ex-colonies getting, at last, to real and complete independence.

So when asked the question, “Who are you going to vote for?” as a citizen of the world and an activist still and always longing for more justice and equity, I prefer to answer “for any system or anything that could bring the complete collapse of the established order.” Yes, as pointed out by many head of states and renowned politicians, a new order is more than needed; yet, lest the same mistakes be repeated again and again, that new order should not be that of the imperialists and ex-colonial powers.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ce-Que-Cachent-Vos-Medias/159124017455829

/DR

If media reports were to be believed on Tuesday, football legend Eric Cantona was going to be the celebrity spanner in the 2012 French presidential election works. But his bid is more a call for social housing to be a core issue in the campaign. Football legend-turned actor Eric Cantona has achieved a PR coup by asking mayors around the country to support an apparent bid to enter the French presidential fight. 

His mission is to put social housing back into the debate and generate support for the Fondation Abbe-Pierre, a charity supporting “social housing for the underprivileged”. Media reports on Tuesday suggested that Cantona was seeking the legally required 500 mayors’ signatures so that he could present himself as a candidate in April and May’s presidential vote.

But there was never any real question of “King Eric”, as he is known by his army of fans at Manchester United, being a serious contender to become president of the French Republic. In his letter to the country’s mayors, Cantona said he wants their signatures because he is “a concerned citizen of our time. I want to offer an opportunity to young people, whose choices are too limited, too unjust, too brutal and systematic.

“This commitment demands that I speak up, more seriously than usual, with a keen sense of my responsibility as a citizen at a time when our country is faced with difficult choices and is determining its future.”

“Getting 500 signatures will allow me to carry my simple and clear message – one of truth but also of respect.”

‘Concrete political commitments’

The message, sent on Monday and titled “Eric Cantona, concerned citizen” pointed readers towards his apparent campaign site www.ericcantona.fr – which was “under construction” until late on Monday. By Tuesday morning the web address was redirecting readers to www.mobilisationlogement2012.com (General Mobilisation for Housing) which is collecting signatures in support of the Fondation Abbe-Pierre. The charity estimates that the lives of some 10 million people in France are blighted by inadequate and unaffordable housing. Every year the Fondation Abbe-Pierre presents its report on the French housing situation on February 1 at a convention in Paris. “All the presidential candidates are invited to attend,” Cantona told left-leaning daily Liberation on Tuesday. “It will be an opportunity for them to make concrete political commitments [towards easing the country’s housing situation.]”

Cantona, who played for Manchester United from 1992 to 1997, is no stranger to highly publicised rallying cries for political action. In December 2010 he called on French citizens to withdraw all their money from their bank accounts in order to bring the financial system to its knees – a call that was largely ignored but nevertheless generated massive publicity. Patrick Doutreligne of the Fondation Abbe-Pierre Foundation told AFP on Monday that the footballer did not actually expect or want to be the next president of France. « He will indeed seek 500 signatures, not for the election but to make sure that housing is a priority. You need a spur like Cantona to give housing the place it deserves in this campaign. »

This article was taken from www.france24.com/en website

/DR

There is a strange atmosphere in the streets of Paris as New Year’s Eve approaches. This is the period when in most West European cities, those who have spent a whole year living without rules and as both slaves of the system and of their own condition give themselves new objectives and targets, they will here again only try to follow during the first weeks of the new year. Too many « Merry Christmas! » and too many « Happy New Year! » in perspective even for those well aware that in these days of economic crisis, their future is more than ever counted and already condemned.

In some of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the Consumer Confidence Index is however said to be at its highest; which, also, reminds me the late Thomas Sankara’s words: “there is only crisis when the poor starts asking for his share”. What, indeed, if the economic emergence of part of what we used to look at as the third world was, among other things, one of the explanations for the economic hardship the western world finds itself plunged in today? In the last decades, the emergence of China as an economic superpower also led to the economic development of many raw material supplying countries. Also, with economic booms in countries such as Dubai, Qatar or again Turkey, it seems that the new Eldorado is more likely to be found in the East than anywhere else on the globe.

But, I remain convinced that the future and success of these new emerging economies will depend on their capacity and ability to deal with the ex or neo-colonial powers. To tell the truth, I am even a bit pessimistic. Many Arab or so called Muslim countries are now signing treaties with their first enemies in the West, unaware that altering or selling part of oneself in order to get peace and protection has always been a mistake not to say a disaster; as the experience of the Jewish community in the first half of the twentieth century in France teaches us. To the same extent, economic prosperity and influence have, also, never been efficient ramparts against military invasions. Few people in the west and fewer people in the Middle East understand that what we call the Arab Spring is just another 9/11 that will end up here again with the colonization of new territories.

A new bill was passed in France last week, making it liable to a prison sentence the denial of any genocide. This new law is without doubt targeting what France, among other countries, considers as a form of genocide perpetrated by the Turks in 1915 against the Armenian people. Once again, the witch apprentice seems to ignore his own committed genocides and crimes, when in an attempt to substitute himself to god, he purposely created a new “race”, selecting and mixing blacks, whites and Native Americans into one man for more profitability (http://www.courrierinternational.com/article/2011/12/26/les-crimes-coloniaux-etaient-un-genocide). He, now, dares come and tell the rest of humanity about what should be, and he goes into raptures over the athletic performances of the “new human race” he created. The year 2012 will for sure not be any better; unless for once the world opens its eyes and every one of us puts light on the lies.

/DR

It was on a Friday afternoon of a warm and sunny Parisian autumn. I was sitting at the terrace of a Moroccan restaurant in a busy street of Clichy sipping some mint tea while listening to an interviewee. I was the interviewer but the young man had so much to share about his experience of France as a Moroccan Muslim that I barely needed to interact.

I was tired, exhausted even. I was just finishing one of the busiest and most interesting weeks in a long while; running across the city, interviewing brothers and sisters and (re)discovering Paris in a way that I was enjoying. In a small week the buzz of the city was now starting to make sense, a sense filled with a human dimension that I would not have suspected. After months of reading books I was finally doing fieldwork, I was in the reality of human lives. And, in the reality of the French capital that despite my numerous visits had never showed herself in such an intimate way.

While the brother was sharing, I was enjoying the passers-by, men, women, families, pure reflection of the real and vibrant diversity of the street. It was a popular neighbourhood, many men were having coffees and loud conversations all around, and street noises were often really loud too. Yet, the young brother facing me was undaunted by his surroundings.

In the middle of the crowd and buzz there I saw this young girl probably 8 years old, riding a scooter at the speed of light, slicing through the air. She was wearing the Muslim headscarf that we all know so well. She appeared to me as defiant, free and strong. The scene put a wide amused smile on my face.

I did not know anything about her, but she touched me. Her cheekiness was written all over her, the movement and momentum she produced was unmatchable.

Few minutes after, I saw her coming again from the opposite side. I barely had the time to notice the bag full of “baguettes” that was hanging from the handlebar. I smiled again and pondered… That was it! The next generation was in motion, impersonating the diversity, the multicultural nation I would love to see grow everywhere in France. The fast girl pushing her way through the male dominated crowd, the bread, the scooter, the headscarf all wrapped together to testify of the force and magic of an assumed plural identity.

I wished I had taped that on film, I wish I could look at the beauty of the action in slow motion, then normal speed again, then slow motion again.

Mariana Dussin is a PhD candidate at Swansea University (Wales), working on Muslim identity in France and the UK

Several articles and studies that I have come across, lack the scientific objectivity and analysis of an academic work. These pieces of work were often written by westerners who are either politicians massaging the ego of the many frustrated xenophobes or pschycologists mainly considering everything different as abnormal. Subsequently, the topic of integration as a modern social phenomenon has never been methodically covered as in a university thesis like in “L`integration de La culture musulmane en Grande Bretagne “by Dr Mustafa Traore.

Due to the exigency of academic work, this study leaves no room for any biased ideas or subjective thought. As a result, we have the privilege to witness the materialization of a great journalistic work illustrated throughout the three chapters of the book covering more than 200 pages in a unique style; scientific yet enjoyable and entertaining.

In a careful approach the “Integration of muslin culture” as a social fact in today’s western society; its difficulties, its success or failure are covered thoroughly from all possible angles, in a pragmatic manner with great depth and honesty. The writer in an implicit way is constantly in dialogue with the reader. Every possible reflection or question of the reader is anticipated. As a matter of fact, there was not a question, nor a query that came to my mind, that I did not find the answer in the following paragraphs, chapters, or better, in the next lines.

I felt transported through different technical religious and legal issues in an exceptionally gentle and easy approach. Many of the misperceptions and ready-made views about Islam are also exposed brilliantly, without any apparent interference.

For a study purpose, our writer took a meticulous attention in choosing his interviewees. Like in an entertaining novel, the writer managed to utilise the characters’ accents and cultural background in a great analytical effort. Based on study and field research, the interviewees’ experiences, perceptions and observations are shaped beautifully in a remarkable academic work.

Djilali bellahsene

Black History Month (BHM)

/DR

In 1987 BHM was introduced to schools in the UK by Linda Bellos to respond to the general absence of representations of Black achievement in the education system.   Since then, in October of every year, BHM has been celebrated throughout Britain in schools and Further Education (i.e. post-compulsory, pre-university and vocational) colleges, with Societies hosting events in Higher (i.e. tertiary) Education. Redressing the absence of Blackness in education is thought to have both engaged ethnic minorities in schooling (particularly those that historically underachieve in UK schools) and create recognition of the various communities that are settled in Britain, who are tolerated and whose cultures are enjoyed at social levels, but not considered as positive contributors to world history.

Pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C at GCSE/GNVQ: by sex and ethnic group, 2004, England

*GCSE stands for: General Certificate of Secondary Education.  It is the qualification that pupils obtain when they leave school at the earliest age of 16.  Good GCSEs are grades A*-C. The indicator of acceptable achievement is set at 5 good GCSEs.

 http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=461

BHM is modelled on its US predecessor. Over there BHM is one of a number of Months devoted to ethnic communities who are under-represented in the education system.  The fact that some institutions over here celebrate the history and cultures of their establishments’ various ethnic communities is one reason why there has not been a perceived need for a designated month to celebrate Greek culture in North London for example.  Another reason would be that Ancient Greek culture already features in education in the West. Ethnicity alone does not therefore justify the grounds for inclusion in BHM.

Notwithstanding this rationale, opposition to BHM centres on a number of issues relating to the overall focus on Black ethnicities at the expense of others. In a number of educational establishments, the English population is in the minority.  Whilst English history and culture are obviously integral to the national curriculum, the absence of representations of marginalised English cultures (e.g. working class) means that the education system is similarly alienating for and dismissive of individuals from these groups. In fact, nationally, White working class boys fare worst from the education system than all other groups. The reasons for such under-achievement are undoubtedly multiple, although lack of identification with subject content is cited as one.  This argument would seem to undermine the premise of BHM in a society in which class divisions are deeply entrenched. The paucity of students from working class backgrounds in the Russell Group (i.e. some of the most prestigious universities in the UK) testifies to these divisions. Fewer than 15% of students who go to universities that are in the Russell Group are from working class backgrounds. 

Other opponents to BHM claim that not leading to a specific skill that is useful in the labour market or resolving a tangible social problem, BHM (particularly during the current period of economic downturn) is a waste of taxpaying resources and a niche topic, given the overall percentage of Black and other ethnic minorities in Britain.

2001 Census findings

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=455

Some opponents object to BHM as it is currently practised, whereby institutions limit the academic focus of the Month to the American Civil Rights Movement, leaving students unaware of both Black British history and the histories of the Black communities (e.g. Nigerian, Jamaican and Somali) that are represented in high numbers in the UK. Further, they criticise the embourgeoisement of Black cultures by the focus on elite personalities such as Mary Seacole at the expense of grass roots individuals and movements. In addition, they are highly critical of the teaching methodology of BHM activities, where students are presented with a series of general knowledge facts and figures, illustrative of Black people’s contribution to world history.  This approach fails to encourage students to actually engage with Black artists and/or movements on an intellectual level. Further, the material presented tends to give simplistic representations of Black communities as entirely positive. 

Of course Black children benefit from having positive images of Black cultures, and society at large benefits from these by reassessing its superficial stereotypes.  However, the Month in this form is not sufficiently challenging.    These shortcomings, coupled with the focus on Black contributions to the Performing Arts at the expense of Black literature for example, suggest that the time when Black British Studies will be offered by the Russell Group is remote.

Mary Seacole                                                                   

 http://www.mylearning.org/jpage.asp?journeyid=281&jpageid=1263

Ethnic Composition of London 2007

 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bd/London_Ethnicity_2007.jpg

The fact that the White working class is marginalised in the education system needs to be addressed. Not only is a nation culturally enriched by education that reflects its social contributors, but also economically.  White working class boys figure high in NEET (i.e. those Not in Education, Employment or Training) statistics.  This does not, however, detract from the need to address other serious educational flaws and shortcomings which also have long-term negative consequences such as social marginalisation.  In these times where funding is being spread thinly across a number of social interests, it is fundamental that whatever initiatives are introduced not only be seen to be fair, but also have long-term positive outcomes. 

Students’ Opinions

In a survey that was conducted in schools and colleges in the inner cities of England in 2009, the majority of respondents stated that BHM improved their general knowledge.  Whilst this is positive, the near universal claim amongst respondents that they knew a lot about Black cultures, yet their failure to associate the Month with academia was startling.  After 30 years of BHM, school children are familiar with Ackee and Salt Fish (the Jamaican national dish) and Djembe drumming, but not with Gary Younge (author of No Place Like Home) or a chapter from Peter Fryer’s Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain.  Their limited associations of Black cultures with music and food are in themselves reminiscent of stereotypes that define Black peoples as entertainers and performers.  Even the brightest of children still commonly only associate Black cultures with a history of slavery past and present, unfamiliar with the specificity of the inherited racial chattel slave systems of the Americas,  and commonly refer to Africa as a country and its languages as ‘African’.

Not only is there a misperception of what Black studies can entail, but also its professional usefulness.  Were students to engage more with Black literature at school, there would be no marked academic outcome because Black Studies does not exist at university in Britain. By contrast, the US enjoys several decades of Africana studies in its universities (including Ivy League institutions). Over there, the first Black Studies Programmes began in 1968, following demands by university students (black and white). Today, universities all over the US offer this programme and have lecturers of all backgrounds.  The connection between this and Black aspiration to be other than a performer or sports person, and increasingly positive inter-ethnic relations post-Civil Rights has yet to be fully documented.  Yet this is undoubtedly a fairer representation of the people that constitute its nation than the system in the UK.  What is the long-term outcome of a nation such as Britain which is famously tolerant of difference, but also equally ignorant, despite its longstanding and continued connections with Black communities? 

It seems unlikely that BHM will change in the UK, principally because of the lack of demand on the one hand, and growing concerns that other larger social groups have been sidelined in the process on the other. Whilst this is understandable in terms of bothsupply and demand and resources, a country such as France that has yet to institute Black studies would do well to take note and consider the need to implement a programme with greater foresight than that which marked the introduction of BHM in the UK.  Just as France has had similar debates on integration as the UK, so too does it seem inevitable that inclusivity in schools will be explored.  Rather than spending funds replicating the UK BHM system, which obliges all students to follow it, yet does not dispel stereotypes because of its rather superficial focus, perhaps a Black studies or Africana programme that was optional yet academic would at least engage those with a interest in the subject at collège and lycée and be academically beneficial (i.e. in representing a serious academic pre- or post-bac qualification that students could then use to further their studies in other areas to begin with, and eventually in this area should they choose to do so).

There are those who are highly critical of the arbitrary and inaccurate labelling of studies as Black or White.  In a world where colour as a social construct is inexistent, these criticisms are legitimate. As things stand, history tells us that when there is no ‘racial’ labelling in education (as is the case in France at the moment), the education system focuses virtually exclusively on authors and a version of history in which historically marginalised (i.e. Black amongst other) groups are absent or stereotyped.   The question is not whether or not there is a need for Black studies in 2012 France, but how to make it (academically) relevant to students who wish to study it.

Dr F. Marfo January 2011

Dr Marfo holds a BA in French from Goldsmiths College, London University and a PhD in African American and Afro-Brazilian Literature from Bristol University. She has published articles in Konch Magazine and Callaloo and was involved in introducing a course on Black Literature in French whilst working in Guinea-Bissau.

Florence551@yahoo.co.uk

/DR

“Don’t be surprised if you get raped when you dress like that”. This is what an unknown male MP from Sarkozy’s party UMP allegedly declared late May 2011.

Since the Dominique Strauss-Khan scandalous sex assault affair broke out (last month) – followed by other similar accusations of sexual harassment made against other male politicians – , there is has been a lot of agitation in the French National Assembly (Parliament), especially when some female MPs started to openly speak about the chauvinism and misogyny of their male counterparts, and on the job more generally.

On Tuesday the 7^th, two female MPs also organised a “Journée de la jupe” (Day of the skirt) at the National Assembly to protest against the unashamed sexism going on in the work place. Male MPs keep minimising such accusations, declaring them untrue or exaggerated. And, as the comment of this unknown MP shows, some even shockingly joked about it – if such filth can be called a joke.

But seriously, what is this? How can an MP dare make such comment?

What I keep being surprised about is how the French society and culture can so easily let such events take place and such declarations be made? Aren’t the politicians supposed to set a good example? Aren’t they supposed to defend the rights of their citizens whatever their sex and gender?

For the past years, and for the past months especially, politicians have been on the backs of veiled French Muslim women, passing laws preventing them from freely wearing garments that many of them consider a protection from the male gaze. Yet, these same politicians are now acting with the same male chauvinism they condemned when supposedly coming from French Muslim men. Explain the hypocrisy here: aren’t sexist comments and behaviours a violation of a woman’s rights to feel safe, secured and dignified at workplace? If so, I believe that is be oppression.

These male MPs do not like when women get dressed in the feminine fashion of the French cultural norm, yet, when women, like some French Muslims, choose to cover up, they also criticise them, calling them subservient to male and oppressed. Do you see the resemblance? Do you notice the contradictions between political idealistic discourses and social realities?

President Sarkozy told the French National Assembly:

“We cannot accept to have in our country women who are prisoners behind netting, cut off from all social life, deprived of identity. That is not the idea that the French republic has of women’s dignity. The issue of the burqa is not a religious issue. It is a question of freedom and of women’s dignity.” He continues declaring that, “the burqa is not a religious sign. It is a sign of the subjugation, of the submission, of women.”

So, women freedom and women dignity… Please Mister President, tell me, do your male MPs respect the freedom and dignity of their female colleagues? Tell me also why, if the burqa isn’t a religious sign as you declared, do you refuse it in the French public and secular space?

Why can’t the French politics and laws respect the dignity and freedom of all women, regardless the way they dress? Why, us, the once so revolutionary, liberal, cannot set an example for the rest of the world in terms of respect towards women, respect of their basic rights, freedom and dignity?

Gosh! We are so far from what a society should be; where one’s freedom stops where the other’s one begins, where all, regardless the citizenship, the colour of the skin, the sex or gender, the belief, share the same rights to dignity, to equality and respect.

Qur’an [3:14] « Adorned for the people are the worldly pleasures, such as the women, having children, piles upon piles of gold and silver, trained horses, livestock, and crops. These are the materials of this world. A far better abode is reserved at God. »

/DR

Why is it that we feel quite nostalgic about the old days when most often the only thing we long is to bring change to our current life, condition or position? The district of Paris I live in has improved for the better these last two decades, most people would admit. Yet, I very often miss the old days, when being of the nineteenth district of Paris had a very strong and negative connotation. Now, every year by the end of July and during the whole month of August “Paris Plage” invites itself in our district making it more attractive to all kind of people. There is no doubt that for those who had adopted the nineteenth district as an integrated part of their global identity, like myself, the changes and improvements of these last decades in the district have somehow left us alienated.

For the readers quite unfamiliar with the French capital city, let us be a bit more explicit. Paris is divided into twenty districts. The nineteenth is the last but one. It is located in the North East part of the capital city. Though it became an integrated part of Paris some 152 years ago, a short walk in the upper part of the district in the late seventies, still gave you the feeling of being outside the capital. The numerous parks and large spaces offered to the delight of the younger generations a sensation of freedom unmatched in the rest of the city.

Yet, “past childhood, it is almost finished” says the French singer Renaud in one of his songs. This is the sad reality many of the residents of the nineteenth district were unfortunately to experience by the time they reach adulthood. As a young boy in the late seventies and early eighties, I remember being the witness, more than once, of quarrels, disputes, and fights between teenagers or youngsters of the district over illicit products and goods of which I at the time ignored the names. Heroine, Cocaine, crack, or ecstasy; here are the names of the different substances that were to deprive the youth of the district of all the skills required to better stand up and fight in an unfair society. By the time I had grown up to be a young man, those who had been in their twenties in the seventies and eighties had transformed themselves into unhealthy frail drug addicts.

With the arrival from the United States of the Rap and Gang culture in the capital, people of my age group were taking a path different from that of the big brothers in the district. Dance, sports, and fights were our first centres of interest rather than Heroine, Cocaine, and Crack. At least, this is what we first thought. Leaving childhood for manhood also means getting to more independence and autonomy and which of course goes along with being able to support oneself financially. Stealing, nicking and selling back was the method we had first found to be totally independent before shifting to a much more lucrative form of business that involved the sale of hashish and other illicit substances.

Fortunately enough, the daily consumption of hashish and other drugs was not to get rid of us as it had been the case with our big brothers and their addiction to Heroine, cocaine, Crack and so on. Our brain and intellect was however to receive a severe blow. Years of too much addiction finally left many of us brainless and with several psychiatric internments.

Here is my story of the old days in the nineteenth. Things have changed a lot since then. Regeneration plans have been decided by the Mayor and other politicians. New populations commonly called the « Bobos »; in other words the well-off are now also part of the nineteenth.

The mayor and his ambitious politicians are keen to please the rich invaders, but tend to ignore the old inhabitants mainly composed of ethnic minorities; most of whom scarcely pay taxes or vote in times of election. As the district is becoming more fashionable, the poorest and therefore ethnic minorities are sent in the suburbs, outside the limits of the district. I am also convinced that the new inhabitants of the nineteenth despise the old ones whose parents like mine came to live here in the seventies and early eighties, when the place was rather deprived and shabby. For sure the neighbourhood has undergone considerable refurbishment plans, yet, it seems that it has been all done at the stake of our souvenirs and memories.

/DR

There gonna be “Burning and looting tonight” as used to put it Bob Marley in his song Get Up, Stand Up. It seems that for the last ten months some countries in the Maghreb region and the Middle East have successfully tried to put into acts this same message. The Arab Revolution or as some others tend to call it the Arab Spring also gained the support of most Western countries. These latter in some cases even urged and directly supported the revolutionaries or rather the rebels as it is under such name that they have become known world wide.

“It is time for regime change!” most Western countries were calling the Arab leaders, contemplating the financial opportunities that such reality could occasion for their own collapsing economy. But that reaction of course was before realising how excellent traveller the Arab Spring -just like the Arab Phone in its own time- was. As a specialist in British cultural studies, I was contacted this week by some French media who wanted me to describe and comment on the spreading revolts over the UK. I later heard that my 15 minutes testimony -not being conform to the idea they wanted to convey- was not going to be taken into consideration. Robin D’Angelo, a young journalist from streetpress.com being just an other product of the French racist society, had simply decided not to mention or use my what he considered “disturbing analysis”.  Let’s make it clear, the British riots had nothing to do with what France knew in 2005. The reasons for the riots in Britain were not racial or ethnic discrimminations as it was the case in France in 2005.

A narrow study of the situation in the UK proves that those revolting and rioting were doing so because they had the feeling of being the victims of deepening social injustices. Britain like most of the Western world is stricken with a devastating financial and debt crisis that leaves the poor and deprived powerless and less likely to cope with an ever growing consumption society. The haves and the haves not, such is the difference in the UK; with the particularity that unlike what is the case in France, poverty is not « racialised » or « ethnicised » as the case of the three Asians killed by rioters while attempting to protect their businesses in Birmingham proves it.

Yes, the British riots look more like a revolt against social injustices; a British version of the Arab spring, some would say. But, unlike what is the case with the Arab revolution, no media or institution seems to be willing to see in it more than unjustified forms of rebellion and unrest. Why is it then, that when it comes to make one’s voice heard in the developing world, we the Western world in general tend to support complete change through chaos, while at home we reject any form of change claim that could destabilise our general system and economy? The same attitude seems to be observed when it comes to southern countries that have their policy and whole institutions dictated by our western countries. I do not hide the fact that in my understanding of the British uprising movement, it would have been more logical for those who used to support the idea of regime change in the Arab world to support the idea of system change in the case of UK.

To the French politicians reading these few lines, I also want them to bear in mind that anything Arabic or Arab moves quickly, quietly and has no frontier. To make it clear: the Arab spring may knock at our doors sooner than expected.

/DR

Life is harsh, painful and often sad; hence the need sometimes to give it an aim and a target. In order to make it more pleasant, some very often opt for habits or automatisms that finally end up being more problematic than relieving or anything else.

Addiction is the word commonly used to describe the state reached by a person who seems to live and exist only and solely through what has become his or her new habit. An automatism eventually associated with one’s life and existence.Addictions are of all types; very often depending on social classes, geographic environment or more simply on culture.

For people of my generation, born of immigrant descents, addiction to the weed of the poor , commonly known in the French capital under the name of « shit »or again hashish was to become a cultural phenomenon by the time we reached the age of 25. While the well off or the bobos, as we call them in Paris, were smoking what we considered effectless and inofenssive cannabis, we guys from the French ghettos were dealing with a much stronger version of the same substance.

Unlike the hard drugs that had taken many of our big brothers’ lives, these cathegorised soft drugs were then seen as easy accessible substances not at all destructive.Stalingrad, the cornerstone of all drug traffics in the French capital, was also the headquarter of all those who because of their addiction had transformed themselves into living ghosts; creatures only living and swearing through their addictions, be it cocaïne, crack or just heroin. What a drawing so sad it was for the youth of my generation to see the big brothers we once respected so much submit themselves to their weakness, and become physically weak and toothless.

My generation really wanted to write an other story of ours. However, the trap of the derived version of cannabis most of us had become so familiar with was not to let us decide otherwise. Unlike real weed or the pure cannabis smoked by Bob Marley and the Wailers in the big posters hanging on our bedroom walls, Shit was not weak, nor smooth. On the contrary, it was harsh enough a substance for the tough guys we wanted and pretended to be.

More than 20 years have passed now since people of my generation made their first acquaintance with the weed of the poor they have finally become so addicted to. What they have become to love more than anything else has more than once been the cause of psychiatric internments. The fact that today in my neighbourhood I cannot find any single shit-smoker who along all these years has successfully managed to really escape insanety makes me think that more than a lost generation, my generation is the generation of the mad man.

I also let you imagine how people like me feel today in front of all the on going French debates regarding the legalisation or not of cannabis. In stead of sincerely answering the issue, it seems that our politicians are more willing to opt for a decision that would alienate the masses a bit more so that they do not contest society and the political system by the same way. Just like their predecesors got rid of our big brothers in the 1980s and early 1990s by not dealing sincerely and seriously with the issue of hard drugs, the current politicians may find it more interesting politically to encourage cannabis adddiction in order to better tame the masses.

This message is, therefore, a warning. Silent but aware of my felow-citizens’ unconsciousness I write these few lines though I know silent and far away in their unconsciousness they cannot feel what I feel.