“We are here! Even if Macron doesn't want it, we are here!”
- "On est là! Même si Macron ne le veut pas, nous on est là!"
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- Fernand Kim, from Seoul
(From December 5, 2018 to January 1, 2019, the author stayed in Paris, where yellow vests movement is spreading. The author is South Korean internationalist and traveler who has free soul. Currently, the author doing the work of translating the French yellow vests movement news into Korean and introducing it. This essay is contributed in South Korean small scale left-communism magazine. But the contents of the essay and the view of the author may be different from the political position of that magazine. And all main titles, subheading and quotations are the sentences that had appeared in 'May 68' and 'Yellow vests movement'.)“Politics is happening in the street”
- "La politique se passe dans la rue"
<April 20, 2019. ACT 23. The capitalism is the cancer of the planet. Macron is a tumour. The yellow vests is antidote.> * Source : Fadhel Ishak
Since the 'May 68' when tried to give all the power to the imagination (L'imagination au pouvoir.), the most explosive popular struggle is spreading throughout Europe centered on France. After the ACT 1 on November 17, 2018, the French yellow vests movement for the past 5 months shows remarkable number that has never been seen until now. And yellow vests movement is still stay strong. Every Saturday there is a large-scale 'Mass ACT' taking place the whole country.
As of April 20, a total of 23 ACTs have been held. The number of participants is close to 3 million. Approximately 40,000 large and small occupations, blockades, rallies, demonstrations, conferences, debates, and actions were held. About 8,700 people were arrested and 2,000 were convicted. 40% of them, about 800 people are sentenced to prison sentences, are still in prison. The remaining 60% received fines, reprieve, ban on rallies, probation etc. 1,800 are still under criminal trial by court. Meanwhile, the police shooted 14,000 "LBD" rubber bullets and 5,000 small grenades to protesters. France is the state which a symbol of 'Liberty and Equality' that launches the so-called 'war weapons' that are banned in most European countries due to serious human's health hazards. Therefore, about 2,500 people were injured by police violence, including 1 dead and 400 serious injuries. Nevertheless, the fever of the yellow vests movement doesn't weaken, and the width of the solidarity is expanding to the whole Europe and the whole world. In the spring of 2018, a struggle song originated from a massive railway workers strike is announced again and resounding among the yellow vests.
“We are here, we are here! Even if Macron doesn't want it, we are here!"
- “On est là, on est là ! Même si Macron ne le veut pas, nous on est là!”
“No replastering, the structure is rotten!”
- "Pas de replâtrage, la structure est pourrie!"
The 'yellow vests' of various regional, sectoral categories such as female yellow vests, handicapped yellow vests, translator yellow vests, Paris yellow vests, Toulouse yellow vests, red vests, red pens, green vests, black vests, pink vests. They voluntarily organizing communication communities. And they are raising the demands of each independent struggle like saying 'independent but coordinating'. In particular, the female yellow vests launched on International Women's Day the march of 'Bread and Roses' on March 8. And educational workers called 'red pen' are enthusiastically participating in the struggle of the youth against the education degeneration of Macron regime. Ecologists, 'green vests' against the climate crisis, in solidarite with 'yellow vests ACT 18', have led to a global international solidarity movement called the 'climate strikes'. A total of 270,000 people gathered in France including about 170,000 youth people in France. Because, on the same day, there was a nationwide intense struggle of the yellow vests which called '1st ULTIMATUM'.
<March 16, 2019. HUGO BOSS, which famous for had been accumulating their capital by collaborate with the Nazi. HUGO BOSS store on Champs-Elysees was destroyed on March 16th by the '1st ULTIMATUM' struggle (ACT 18 yellow vests).> * Source : Black Bloc France
“The most beautiful sculpture is a paving stone thrown at a cop's head!(La plus belle sculpture, c'est le pavé qu'on jette sur la gueule des flics!)”, “Because the government abolished the wealth tax(ISF), we will take the wealth tax directly.” The Black Block which known as a combative street struggles, made the struggles intensively in Paris on March 16. The finest restaurants, many luxury shops and banks have been burned or destroyed. There was a 'plunder' struggle called 'Re-appropriation' everywhere, and Macron, who had gone on vacation as a ski resort, had to return to Elysee Palace in a hurry. The general strike appeal originated from the proposal of the yellow vests activist led to make the participation of the most popular French General Confederation of Labor (CGT), the representative of the 'red vests'. CGT, in solidarite with other trade unions, held a general strike launching more than 300,000 people each on February 5 and March 19, 2 times.
"You, my comrade, you who I was unaware of amid the tumult, you who are throttled, afraid, suffocated - come, talk to us."
- "Toi, mon camarade, toi que j’ignorais derrière les turbulences, toi jugulé, apeuré, asphyxié, viens, parle à nous."
<February 20, 2019. Yellow vests had came to Geneva, Switzerland, with a banner which to condemn the police violence, and to commemorate Zineb Redouane. She was murdered by the targeted tear gas grenades of the police, on December 1, 2018, Marseille ACT 3.> * Source : Revolution Permanente
Meanwhile, on February 20, the yellow vests also gathered in Geneva, Switzerland where the Europe headquarters of the UN was located, to launch international solidarity demonstrations condemning France's terrible state violence. And yellow vests once again preparing for large-scale demonstrations scheduled for April 27 in Strasbourg, France, appealing the international solidarity of all Europeans. This is because the European Union (EU) parliament and the Subcommittee on Human Rights are located in Strasbourg, France. Majority of yellow vests don't have particular political orientation, but they are struggling to put general pressure on the upcoming European Parliament elections scheduled for late May.
“No to necktie revolution”
- “Non à la révolution en cravate”
Over a period of five months, every week, with on average of more than 100,000 people gathering throughout France. The yellow vests movement is enlarging its width and depth of the solidarity by various ways. On January 26-27 and April 5-7, the yellow vests had held whole general assemblies, two times. The elected delegates who from each regional yellow vests general assemblies constitute whole general assemblies. This format is named 'general assemblies of assemblies'. And this is a format that is open to anyone who is yellow vests. A total of 350 yellow vests, including about 70 delegates, gathered for the 1st whole general assemblies and held a two-day debate. After that, A total of 700 yellow vests, including about 200 delegates, gathered for the 2nd whole general assemblies and held a three-day debate. These facts mean that their representativeness has been further enlarged by the significant increase in the number of participants and diversification of discussion structures. They declared as follows. "We faced with the masquerade which was called the Grand Debate. And we faced with government who never have representativeness. Government is just the servant of the privileged minority. Therefore, we are setting up the new forms of direct democracy." And that the week including May 1 International Workers' Day struggle was declared as 'the intense struggle week of yellow vests'. Also, the yellow vests called for the nationwide intense struggle on May 18 calling for the nullification of criminal punishment and the release of all the political prisoners. And they determined to launch the 3rd whole general assemblies in June.
The voluntary 'self-organizing learning' process of the yellow vests is inextricably linked to the slogan of May 68, 'No to necktie revolution!' Also, the yellow vests declared as follows: we don't admit any 'self-proclaimed leaders'. This saying resemble with the voices of May 68, 'I don't want to give or receive orders.' In an unauthorized and can't authorized system, an bumptious activist who tried to represent the yellow vests and attempted negotiations with the government, or attempted run for the European Parliament elections by perverting the fame of the yellow vests, was insulted and kicked out from the demonstrations. It is difficult to prematurely judge that 'spontaneity' and 'consciousness' of the yellow vests how direction to point in the future. However, it is also true that at least the yellow vests movement represents major part of the people's voices that the existing political movements didn't include. Should political movement groups just blame themselves the absence of their 'leadership'? Or should do they have to reconsider their 'agenda setting' and 'perspective' from the origin? When somebody think about how can 'leading' these movements, the yellow vests are already 'acting'. In this context, the shouting of the yellow vests as follows: "Don't look at us, join us." And this shouting is spreading in a strong resonance. Will they repeat once again the arrogant judgments and wrong choices of the French Communist Party (PCF) and CGT at the time of May 68?
"Professors, you are as senile as your culture, your modernism is nothing but the modernization of the police."
- “Professeurs vous êtes aussi vieux que votre culture, votre modernisme n’est que la modernisation de la police.”
“Run, comrade, the ancient world is behind you!”
- “Cours, camarade, le vieux monde est derrière toi!”
<March 16, 2019. Yellow vests and black block who furious about the capitalist system, set on fire to the restaurant of luxury hotel such as the symbols of the bourgeoisie, on March 16, in the "1st ULTIMATUM" struggle (ACT 18 yellow vests).> * Source : Black Bloc France
The following links are online spaces that the author operating. In here, French news about the yellow vests movement can be read in Korean. And at the bottom of every translated text is the original source of the French version.
* Blog https://Emmanuelmacrondemission.tistory.com
* Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Emmanuelmacrondemission
* Telegram channel https://t.me/Emmanuelmacrondemission
