Accepting to be a drop, you become ocean
Since several months the yellow vest movement,
which is unparalleled in the history of the 5. Republic,
has been on the streets.
A spontaneous movement of citizens,
that is seperate from any political party.
a movement that has mobilised tens of thousands every Saturday,
for the past six months,
and that gained the support of millions.
A movement whose demands are fundamental:
a direct democracy,
greater social and tax justice,
radical measures towards climate justice.
What the movement demands, it demands for all.
The yellow vests are we.
We artists, we technicians,
authors,
all cultural workers,
precarious or not,
are affected by this historical movement.
We declare that we will not be deceived:
We know too well, which strings are being pulled,
to discredit the yellow vests
as anti-environmentalist, as extremists,
rasists, thugs...
That tactic will not work,
this reporting does not reflect the facts,
even if the media and the government believe them.
Like the violence that they exercise every Saturday,
although the most dangerous violence takes place somewhere else,
the level of repression gets worse every week.
On April 19th 2019 there was one death,
248 head injuries,
23 eye injuries, 5 torn off hands,
on the side of the demonstrators.
This is not worthy of our Republic.
We are not the first to denounce this situation:
Amnesty International, the International League of Human rights, the UN, the EU,
the defenders of citizen rights,
they all denounce the police violence against the yellow vests in France,
The number of injured, the destruction,
the arrests and convictions are unbearable.
How can we make use of our right to protest,
in the face of this repression?
Nothing justifies this legal crackdown
against these alleged thugs,
that threatens our basic rights.
We won't be deceived.
The most menacing violence is economic and social violence.
That the government,
defends in the interest of a minority few, but at the cost of all.
This is the violence that effects the body and the spirit of those,
who slave away daily to survive.
It is our historical mission
to deal with the ecological crisis,
and find a just solution
to leave a liveable planet for our children.
We won't be deceived.
The government has not posed this question,
so as not to cause those responsible any problems.
The yellow vests, as climate activists, denounce this positioning.
Today social and ecological struggles come together.
We will continue to be outraged.
more loud, more often, and together!
And today we call on history to be written.
We are standing up to repression,
the manipulation and lack of responsibility from the Government,
at a deciding point in our history.
If we use our power,
the power of words, music, images, thought and art,
and we achieve a new way of expressing ourselves, to support those
who have been on the streets and roundabouts for months.
Nothing is written in stone.
We can achieve a better world.
This text is from the letter "We won't be deceived"
that was signed by 1,200 artists and technicians,
to support those that have been struggling for the past six months.
The images were taken between 1. December 2018 and 1. May 2019.
subtitles: labournet.tv