Lynn was there, in Paris

A thoughtful and moving FB post from my dear friend Lynn, a Canadian who has lived in France since 1970:

Lynn Hetherington -Blin

2 hrs · 

I have never been a fan of Charlie Hebdo. I must admit to not getting the humour and not being able to identify the genre being used as satire as I understand that genre to be. There is surely a cultural dimension to this, as there is to all things dealing with humour.

However, Wolinski, and Cabu, two of the cartoonists killed in the Charlie Hebdo massacre, were an integral part of my initiation in understanding French culture (and perhaps understanding why I can never become 100% French). Bernard Maris, the left-wing economist who each Friday morning debated economy with the (much) more conservative Dominique Seux, was pure joy to listen to. And so it is with overwhelming sadness and a sense of very personal loss that I have spent the past few days.

As chance would have it, I was in Paris, staying at a hotel near the Place de la République. How to describe the feeling of solidarity in this city I love so much? The “Je suis Charlie” signs on every Metro station, on every street corner, or hanging from the Mairie of each arrondissement. Or Thursday evening, Place de le République, about 50 young people making their way up to the top of the statue of Marianne, under the attentive eye of the CRS (the National Police Force), who were looking on in what seemed to me to be a spirit of solidarity. They were obviously following instructions, but instructions that clearly pointed that though the terrorist threat is very real, it did not come from these young people, brandishing slogans calling for brotherhood and acceptance of the Other.

My friend Stéphane told me she had spent the past 48 hours literally throwing up. Claire, the very staid and dignified President of the Agrégation Jury who was presiding the meeting I attended yesterday, nearly broke down when she evoked the massacre. My overwhelming sadness is shared by the nation.
This afternoon I will be marching here in Montpellier with the millions of people all over the country. The real question now, is how we are going to use this momentum of solidarity to really make space for the Other. Oui, je suis Charlie. Je suis, moi-même, l’Autre.