This is the third time since the start of the five-year term that the Head of State has visited the Luxembourg Gardens, in the heart of Paris, on Monday, May 10, to meditate in front of the monument commemorating the abolition of the slavery.
On the occasion of the National Day of the Memories of the Slavery and their Abolition, Emmanuel Macron will be accompanied by five ministers: Gérald Darmanin (Interior), Eric Dupond-Moretti (Justice), Jean-Michel Blanquer ( National Education), Roselyne Bachelot (Culture) and Élisabeth Moreno (Equality between women and men and Diversity).
The 20th anniversary of the law of May 21, 2001, which recognized slavery and trafficking as crimes against humanity, will be celebrated by reading an excerpt from the speech given by the deputy Christiane Taubira, rapporteur of the proposal law, before the National Assembly in 1999. The text will be read by the Guyanese actress, Yasmina Ho You Fat.
Also participating in the ceremony are the winners of the "Voix des Outre-mer" competition, who will perform a traditional Guadeloupean song, "Elwa or ka vwayajé", and the students of the national competition of the Flame of Equality, which focused on the slavery theme.
"I measure what slavery, trafficking, abolitions and their legacies represent in our country, in our culture, in our soul. This History is our History," Emmanuel Macron said during the ceremony on May 10, 2019.
He also addressed this theme, Wednesday, during the bicentenary of Napoleon's death, considering that the emperor's decision to restore slavery in 1802 had been a "betrayal of the spirit of the Enlightenment".
Slavery was then abolished in 1848.
It is estimated that nearly four million women and men lived in slavery in the French colonies from the 17th century onwards.
With AFP
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