Just so very sad to hear of police brutality in such a civilised place as Paris.
Racism , all types of facism and intolerance have no place amongst human kind.
I often wonder what b,ind people think about the seeing world. It cant make a lot of sense with our complicated superiority complexes and obsession with beauty and celebrity good looks.
As you said so eloquently, the poor family and parents of such a young man .They will suffer this awful loss for the rest of their days.
I had truly hoped that following the anger and public disgust with the terrible murder of George Floyd, that we may have learned something about mindless killing within our collective police forces across the West. Sadly no such lesson appears to have been learned.
Its bold of you a d essential that people react against Marine le Penn, Nigel Farrage and the truly scary ripples from the dissapointingly active far right .
Peace blessings and above all love to youand all of our pen friends
Thank you for writing about this sad and important topic. It’s so heartbreaking even if it’s ‘just’ one young man, but of course it’s not. Of course rioting is not great either, but I really hope politicians start listening to the noise to expose what they are not giving the silenced.
For your readers less familiar with the cités you describe, I highly recommend the films L’esquive (Games of Love and Chance) by the great Kechiche and the classic La Haine (Hate) by Kassovitz. Maybe you know of others.
Thank you for writing this, Hannah! I was born in Paris to Mauritian parents, now living in London. You have shed light on this tragic incident as well as the broader topic of the treatment of French born people to immigrant parents, something that personally resonates. So grateful for the way you've expressed these complex ideas in your brilliant newsletter.
Thanks for your perspective from France. I've been listening with interest to the French politicians brought on to British mainstream news media to talk about this subject and it's quite incredible the way they deflect and pass blame. I've written about this subject too, this week. You might find this podcast interesting -- academics discussing their research on the causes and spread of the London riots in 2011, which has so many resonances with the French riots in 2023 (and 2005). The discussions are particularly interesting on the way politicians, and the public respond: https://uk-podcasts.co.uk/podcast/beyond-contagion-understanding-the-spread-of-riots
I do think that France has moved one step closer to Le Pen this week, sadly.
“I think I have written before that rebellion always feels a bit closer to the surface here. The particularity of Paris, I think, what makes it appealing as well as sometimes overwhelming, is the feeling that anything can happen at any time.”
“Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being.”
― Albert Camus
“Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women."
Hi Darling Hannah,
Just so very sad to hear of police brutality in such a civilised place as Paris.
Racism , all types of facism and intolerance have no place amongst human kind.
I often wonder what b,ind people think about the seeing world. It cant make a lot of sense with our complicated superiority complexes and obsession with beauty and celebrity good looks.
As you said so eloquently, the poor family and parents of such a young man .They will suffer this awful loss for the rest of their days.
I had truly hoped that following the anger and public disgust with the terrible murder of George Floyd, that we may have learned something about mindless killing within our collective police forces across the West. Sadly no such lesson appears to have been learned.
Its bold of you a d essential that people react against Marine le Penn, Nigel Farrage and the truly scary ripples from the dissapointingly active far right .
Peace blessings and above all love to youand all of our pen friends
Thank you for writing about this sad and important topic. It’s so heartbreaking even if it’s ‘just’ one young man, but of course it’s not. Of course rioting is not great either, but I really hope politicians start listening to the noise to expose what they are not giving the silenced.
For your readers less familiar with the cités you describe, I highly recommend the films L’esquive (Games of Love and Chance) by the great Kechiche and the classic La Haine (Hate) by Kassovitz. Maybe you know of others.
Thank you for writing this, Hannah! I was born in Paris to Mauritian parents, now living in London. You have shed light on this tragic incident as well as the broader topic of the treatment of French born people to immigrant parents, something that personally resonates. So grateful for the way you've expressed these complex ideas in your brilliant newsletter.
Yas x
Thanks for your perspective from France. I've been listening with interest to the French politicians brought on to British mainstream news media to talk about this subject and it's quite incredible the way they deflect and pass blame. I've written about this subject too, this week. You might find this podcast interesting -- academics discussing their research on the causes and spread of the London riots in 2011, which has so many resonances with the French riots in 2023 (and 2005). The discussions are particularly interesting on the way politicians, and the public respond: https://uk-podcasts.co.uk/podcast/beyond-contagion-understanding-the-spread-of-riots
I do think that France has moved one step closer to Le Pen this week, sadly.
“I think I have written before that rebellion always feels a bit closer to the surface here. The particularity of Paris, I think, what makes it appealing as well as sometimes overwhelming, is the feeling that anything can happen at any time.”
“Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being.”
― Albert Camus
“Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women."
― Nora Ephron
Hi Hannah, thank you for writing about this, and so eloquently, along with details and background I wasn't aware of.
It's been awful to see this play out, as well as be witness to the various accounts of what happened and the fallout from it all.
It seems to have dropped off the news here in the last few days, though I'm sure that is far from the reality.
I hope the return to the city is ok, and I'm glad to hear you were away from it all in Italy.
Looking forward to those pics 😊