French Mayor Threatens To “Stop” Black Feminists Festival For Excluding Non-Black People Organizers of an event called Nyansapo Festival in France intended for Black feminist s caught a lot of grief from Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris this week. The mayor threatened to halt the festival for it’s lack of permission for ‘all’ to engage in certain parts of the event, according to France 24 . The event organizers say it is important to restrict access to certain sessions so that black women can engage in open, honest conversations about their unique struggles, without judgement from others, according to the report. The non-black mayor did not like that, at all. The Nyansapo festival has divided its events into four categories– those open exclusively to black women (which account for 80% of activities), those open to both black women and black men, those open to women of colour and those open to everyone. The majority of events are reserved for black female participants. An outcry of white tears commenced on twitter, where people openly condemned the event. Even a French ‘race’ organization called LICRA says Rosa Park would’ve had a fit if she saw the ‘discriminatory’ festival guidelines. Festival “interdits aux blancs”: #RosaParks doit se retourner dans sa tombe. Le combat antiraciste devenu l'alibi d'un repli identitaire. pic.twitter.com/XXgvyQHOTh — LICRA (@_LICRA_) May 26, 2017 “Forbidden to whites” Festival: # RosaParks must be turning in his grave. The anti-racist struggle become the alibi of a rising nationalism. The mayor then reposted the flyer and added her disgust with the exclusion of white women from certain areas of the festival. In translation, she says: I condemn with firmness the Organization to # Paris event “forbidden to whites”. Je condamne avec fermeté l'organisation à #Paris de cet événement “interdit aux blancs”. https://t.co/DKJmdPry5v — Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) May 28, 2017 Since a part of the event took place in the city hall, Hidalgo threatened to stop the event altogether. “I am asking for this festival to be banned,” the mayor said, adding she also reserved the right “to prosecute the organizers for discrimination”. Later in the day, Hidalgo tweeted that she had found a “solution” to the problem. The festival organized in a public space will be open to everyone. Workshops with restricted participation will be held on a strictly private basis. But, the gag is…that was the plan for the organizers all along. The therapeutic session were being held privately and off of municipal grounds in the first place, according to reports. Thoughts?
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Parisian Mayor Condemns Black Feminist Festival For Excluding White Women
