Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Africa lives in me and I sing for the sake of its memory
I am human, not coloured, white nor black
I mourn Rwanda every April 7th, even if Hubert Védrine disagrees with us
By the way, you know I'm Franco-Rwandan,
And one part of me killed the other without asking me
Rwanda and France gave and took everything from me
I want to be at peace with myself no matter what.
I slam words, but I don't only have words
I've got colourful memories of childhood, barefoot in the laterite
Africa is going adrift, I'm a sentry in a sentry box
The rain pouring on the hot tarmac, scents of moist fragrances
I had to leave this beautiful world into which I was born
I ended up one winter evening in Charles-de-Gaulle airport,
A collateral damage victim from the La Baule speech.
In Rwanda, a genocide took place amidst general indifference.
Between April and July, more than a million people were exterminated because they were identified as "Tutsi".
Twenty years later, the artist Bruce Clarke and the collective for Upright Men pays tribute to the genocide victims
by bringing those men, women and children to life, standing upright.
The aim of these figures is to give presence to the dead, restoring their individuality and reinstating their dignity.
April 7th, 2014
An international light show to restore dignity in a moment of emotion and contemplation.