Dear Readers

What a paradoxical title! A meaningful and durable revolution is always peaceful, says the French woman who inherited a history of the French Revolution between 1789 and 1799. That revolution was bloody and turned the values of France upside down, which some would say helped even the French social system. It is just an illusion because in reality like in most societies the rich continue to be privileged, influential and to be rich and the poor remain oppressed and are the ones paying a very heavy social bill. I love history, I love to learn what happened in the past for it allows us simple mortals to learn from our mistakes but looking at the current chaos in the world, it appears that we haven’t learned anything from the past. The 3 current examples are the situation in North Korea, Venezuela and Syria. As always, the United States of America have decided to be « world’s police » and are about to drag the world into a potential war. As if they haven’t done enough damage by splitting Korea in 2 countries in the 1950’s, why can’t they learn that war or violence doesn’t solve any problems? Did they not learn it  from the 10 year Vietnam war in 1963, the Iraq war in the 2000’s or the invasion of Afghanistan? Thousands of innocent people died because of the decision of one single human being who decided to take his own country into war i.e the one and only President of the United States. Who knew that a young country like the USA would one day rule the world?

What about the crisis in Venezuela? So far 28 thousand people have died because of violence, its highest inflation and it is said that Caracas is the most dangerous capital in the world (Source BBC Hard Talk http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08p2gm5/hardtalk-on-the-road-in-venezuela). The crisis is so bad that the Venezuelans are forced to commit crimes to nourish themselves,  are forced to demonstrate every day for their basic needs ( food, shelter and security) and they are forced  to demand elections to get rid of the current President. I mean any fool would know that a bus driver with no political experience and no visions would not be able to run a country. Not only did he nurture corruption but he also mismanaged the country’s wealth. It is heartbreaking to see the poor Venezuelans queue for hours to get a piece of bread when they know that their country should be the richest country in Latin America thanks to its natural resources. Hundreds of people are left with no other choice than migrating to a different country. That’s the case of my friend Maica, a renown music teacher, who left her friends and family behind to move to the UK. She is very lucky to have a dual nationality ( British and Venezuelan) and to have a wonderful husband and a safe home here in London.

What about the Syrian war that has been going on for years? It has led to thousands of people fleeing to different parts of the world because of their psychopath leader so why on earth the world isn’t intervening to stop the massacre over there?  Well my friends the world is very elitist and full of people wanting to hang on to power at all cost!  Did anyone think that Trump was going to solve the ordinary American’s problems? If so, take a very close look at his cabinet, most of his staff are millionaires so how are they going to represent the ordinary American?

From my point of view and thanks to the numerous examples throughout history,  a long- lasting revolution is always peaceful. Let’s take the example of Ghandi who went through a hanger strike for years so that India could become independent in the 1940’s. What about Nelson Mandela who was jailed for over 20 years for wanting the abolition of Apartheid in South Africa? Discrimination is an ongoing problem in South Africa but Mandela managed to unite the South Africans when he was elected as President. It goes without saying that Martin Luther King impacted the lives of millions of  Americans with his peaceful demonstrations and his « I have a dream » speech, inciting unity among all Americans!  Aung San Suu Kyi has peacefully revolutionised politics in Burma by becoming the first and incumbent State Counsellor and Leader of the National League for Democracy. My « man »  and my hero Barack Obama is in my opinion one of the most successful American presidents and  he has set a precedent that Black people are not only equal human beings but also great leaders!

I know what you are thinking… It took years for those great people to obtain what they wanted peacefully. But god it was worth the wait! Not only did they revolutionise the world but what they have achieved is powerful, meaningful, long-lasting and proves that human beings can learn from the past mistakes!

I am only starting my humble contribution to the world  and I am confident I can make the same impact as those great ordinary people. This blog is one way to do that but I have another concrete example. In 2006, I was elected the secretary of AEMM , which is a Montpellier and Mayotte student association and I humbly broke the chain of division within that association. One of its mission is to help students from Mayotte to integrate in France without forgetting their identity and their traditions but I noticed a tendency to divide people depending on which villages they were from in Mayotte and I am sure you know the expression « divide and conquer ».  I still remember this girl who called me late in the evening panicking because she didn’t know what to wear for fear of being judged. Here is what I said to empower her « wear whatever you feel comfortable in, whatever it is, people will always judge you because this is the first thing they see but the people worth knowing and caring about are the ones who will go past your outfit and will get to know you and respect you for who you are… » and then she replied: Jeans and and white top it is!’ This division was of course endorsed by the former President of the association also known as my ex, as they say it always starts from the top! The very first thing  I did as a secretary was to tell my people to be proud of where they were from and to always remember that we are all mahorais so we should be united. Secondly, I strongly advised them to feel free and to focus on their higher education studies, which is why they were there. Traditions won’t go anywhere but they might miss an opportunity if they didn’t concentrate on their goals. I am proud to say that since then the AEMM’s priorities are now to promote success and to truly help people fully integrate.

The journey to make a meaningful and long-lasting contribution will hopefully continue in July with the very first Erasmus Plus program between Mayotte and the UK and with the « Emanciper Mayotte Festival » the first week of august, watch the space!