“Black”, France 4: Tanya de Montaigne revives the forgotten heroine Claudette Colvin

France 4 – Saturday, March 18 – 21:10 – Theater

To listen to Tanya de Montaigne recount the fate of Claudette Colvin is to immerse yourself in the segregationist America of the 1950s, to put yourself in the shoes of a young black girl from Alabama who would make history. On March 2, 1955, in Montgomery, this 15-year-old girl, poor and religious, refuses to give up her seat to a white woman on the bus that takes her home from school. Defying Jim Crow laws that segregated blacks and whites, especially on public transportation, Claudette Colvin was arrested by the police.

In the fascinating show – filmed here at the Courbevoie Events Center in January 2021 – the writer explains the story of this 15-year-old and the struggle of the African-American community for civil rights. blackAdaptation of biography black. The Unknown Life of Claudette Colvin (Grassetti, 2015), Written by Tanya de Montaigne and awarded the Simone-Veil Prize in 2015, it is a form of documentary theater that can easily be watched on screen. This is not a conference, but a story cleverly staged by Stefan Foenkinos and wonderfully told by Tania de Montaigne, who agreed to go on stage to film her own text.

Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King

And what a text! Accurate, enlightening, exciting. “Follow my voice, my voice only…” We unhesitatingly follow his invitation, as if the life of his unjustly forgotten heroine has been seized. Why posterity remembered the name of Rosa Parks – which on 1^Eh December 1955 would also refuse to give up its seat to the white man and become a figurehead in the struggle against racial segregation – not Claudette Colvin?

Tania de Montaigne honestly makes us experience what it means to be black and a woman in post-slavery America. With a sober and eloquent voice, he interweaves the fates of Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks. In 1955, a young pastor, then little known, Martin Luther King, Jr., became involved in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a founding episode in the civil rights struggle. It wasn’t until November 1956 that the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public transportation was unconstitutional.

Throughout this intimate, historical, political, and social history, the voices of the great faithful black singers, from Billie Holiday to Nina Simone, resonate. The stage is decorated with large panels showing clips from concerts, films and iconic locations from the 1950s and, of course, the face of a young Claudette Colvin.

This woman with an incredible fortune is now 83 years old. with blackTanya de Montaigne gives it a very beautiful blessing, giving a history lesson on the height of women and without fail taking us on a journey through the struggle of this African-American woman who was left in the shadows. “When I look at you, I tell myself that you must be someone who wasn’t Rosa Parks.”In conclusion, the writer leaves the scene.