Senegal pays final tribute to George Floyd

A rally in tribute to George Floyd, June 9 in Dakar, Senegal. Charlotte Idrac / RFI

Text by: RFI Follow

In Senegal, a declaration was signed by some 80 civil society organizations and personalities including intellectuals, religious leaders and unions and the media to pay tribute to George Floyd and to denounce racist violence. A small group rally was held on June 9 at the end of the day in Dakar, the capital.

Publicity

Read more

With our correspondent in Dakar, Charlotte Idrac

Eight minutes and 46 seconds, knee on the ground facing the Atlantic Ocean, more than 6,000 kilometers from the United States. In an elegant blue and yellow boubou, Mrs. Diago Ndiaye hopes that the message will reach America. "  We are wholeheartedly, first with the family of George Floyd ," she said. But we also denounce the lack of rights which blacks are subject to in the United States  ”.

There are about fifty of them, some with their arms raised, on the site of the Gorée memorial, a symbolic place, recalls Abdourahmane Sow. "  Senegal was a concentration camp for slaves ," he recalls. And from Gorée, they went to the Americas. This must motivate us more so that we can occupy our place  . ”

Silence of African heads of state

Few people were present for this tribute to Dakar. Some refer to the pandemic situation and the ban on assemblies. Many also question the silence of the majority of African heads of state. "  We are simply shocked that our elected officials who were so quick to say " I am Charlie " are absent subscribers  ," said activist Guy Marius Sagna .

Alexis Tangana hugs his five-month-old daughter in a baby carrier under an umbrella to protect herself from the sun. It is also for her that he is there. "  It comes from the interbreeding and I think that it is important to instill in it already values ​​of tolerance, humanism in fact, humanity  ", he explains. A delegation must bring the collective's message this June 10 to the Embassy of the United States.

► Headlines: Africa outraged after the murder of George Floyd

Newsletter Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • Senegal
  • United States
  • Racism

On the same subject

Death of George Floyd: symbols of the slave trade denounced around the world

Death of George Floyd: many indignant voices rise in Africa

Africa press review

Featured: Africa outraged after the murder of George Floyd