Tribute to Aimé Césaire

When I learned of the death of Aimé Césaire, we came to Invers@Lis, to finish a series of subject on its two best known faces. We had just spoken of the poet and the politician, but we had not talked about the man, the person Aimé Césaire. Out of all controversy over his coffin and the destination of it to honors, wishing high to the rank of national immortality, it appears that the simplest and most coherent situation for man, is that he be buried in his land of Martinique. This land that saw him born, who saw him grow up, who saw him leave to see him come back, stay and die. Aimé Césaire has built all her work, her humanity from this négraille land, of which he is the local, national, international pride for anyone who identifies with wandering. I had the opportunity to meet the man, the political, the monument. I was struck by two things, his simplicity in the relationship with the other, his soft voice that never let a feeling or a prejudice escape. When I think about it, there is also a third thing. He accompanied the other by a gesture, by touch, by a fraternal attitude. In those moments, none was his equal. This behaviour had marked me in man, this ability to humanize the other, always addressing a third party, he called it or named it. It was a point of camaraderie, it was respect, personification. of a name, he was in the possibility of registering a family in a locality, in a space, in a course. It was in this ability to describe the past, the present, the future, and the nature of a being. In this sense in Fort-de-France He was not only a son, a nephew, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a great-grandfather, an uncle, a great-uncle, a great-uncle and also a friend. Again, there was a love of Césaire authority. Moral authority, not by its status as a giant but by its status as a teacher who taught a few thousand students the literature. In fact, some of them have become professors, engineers, lawyers, doctors and writers. This reality is also beloved Césaire, this reality is also his involvement in this island, from the Caribbean, to whom he has given a global grandeur. On the spot, at the funeral, it was this man who was honored. Out of all controversy, one can only honor a simple, generous and fraternal man. Its simplicity was such a force, that it imposed silence on the first of the French to whom he offered, as we recall, the discourse on colonialism during a visit during an election and presidential campaign. His generosity was such that it is the revenge of the shackled slave breaking his chains by the evils with words in the face of the master. Its aura is such that it is admired, both by the Black Panthers of America and the Middle East, through North and South Africa. His memory will remain honored. This is the opening of an indelible trace that has found its way across all the geographical areas of the world. His wisdom allowed everyone including the mighty of the nation to come and consult him. He will remain in the memories of the arts. He will be remembered by politics. And, we, the fruit of the generation Césaire, will continue to endure his work by music, by literature, by painting, by cinema. Undoubtedly the blend of arts will allow this man to finally find the deserved rest of a built and fulfilled militant life. Perhaps we will do it by listening to the black Marseillaise, Jacques Courcil, Manuel Césaire, without forgetting SOFT or Jacques Schwarz-Bart. For my part, I will continue reading the works of Césaire by listening to these groups, added the sounds of Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Fela, Malavoi, Joby Valente, what do I know… accompanied by a white and dry rum. And I will continue to bring my construction to this trace, leaving the dogs silent. Thank you Aimé Césaire.