Cet épisode de La Poudre a été publié en français le 14 décembre 2017. Pour l’écouter, remontez dans les archives ou cliquez ici : 🇫🇷

The great activist Assa Traoré was the guest of the 21st episode of La Poudre. 

With Lauren Bastide, Assa Traoré talked about her role as one of the eldest in a family of 17 (04:50), about her bond with her father who died when she was 14 years old (08:08) and about  his first two wives (13:21). She spoke about her job as a special-education teacher in Sarcelles, north of Paris (20:13), about how young men of her neighbourhood are stigmatised (24:05) and about the night of Adama Traoré’s death (26:30). She explained what led to the incarceration of two of her brothers (34:00) and detailed her profound link to Mali, where her father and Adama are buried (40:13).

Assa Traoré was born in 1985 in Paris. At a young age, she takes care of her little brothers and sisters, born out of the other marriages of her father. Following an oral presentation in her school, she decides she wants to be a special-education teacher, a path she successfully follows. On the 19th of July 2016, her younger brother Adama Traoré, who was turning 24 on that day, dies in Persan’s police station, after an identity check and questioning in Beaumont-sur-Oise. In the hours following his death, his family accuses the police forces of being responsible for his passing. The authorities deny any such responsibility. A battle both in court and in the media follows. Assa is fully dedicated to this fight and becomes spokesperson for the advocacy group “Justice for Adama”. In May 2016, she co-signs “Letter to Adama” with the journalist Elsa Vigoureux, a book recounting this battle for justice.

To support the “Justice pour Adama” association, you can click here: https://www.okpal.com/adama-traore/#/

Executive producer: Nouvelles Écoutes

Production and signature tune: Aurore Meyer-Mahieu

Translation: Lucie Plescoff

English voice-over: Sara Martins

Production assistant: Gaïa Marty

Recording: Laurie Galligani

Mixing: Marion Emerit