barricadeur:June 5th is Barricade Day for the Les Mis fandom — the anniversary of the 1832 uprising

barricadeur:June 5th is Barricade Day for the Les Mis fandom — the anniversary of the 1832 uprising that forms the climax of Victor Hugo’s novel and all subsequent adaptations. But that’s not the only anniversary we should remember.One year ago today — June 5th, 2013 — a young antifascist student activist was killed in Paris by skinheads. Clément Méric was only 18 years old, but he was heavily involved in several radical antifascist and antiracist organizations. Weeks earlier, for example, he had taken part in counter-protests when the French right marched in opposition to marriage equality.  On the afternoon of June 5th, Méric and some of his friends ran into a group of young far-right neofascists outside a store; a fight broke out between the two groups and Méric wound up dead. It’s still not clear whether he died from the blows he received (from skinheads who were probably wearing brass knuckes), or from falling to the sidewalk afterwards.  Today, four young men remain under investigation. Méric’s death prompted a huge outcry in France with massive antifascist demonstrations throughout the country, and led to the banning of three far-right youth organizations. Many took it as yet another sign of the extreme right’s resurgence in Europe…a resurgence that was confirmed in the latest European Parliament elections.(If you’re interested in learning more about Méric, The New York Times’ initial article is here; here is the full coverage from the French newspaper Libération.)I know Barricade Day is usually an occasion for fan work production and historical geeking. I don’t mean to be a downer, really. But I think it’s important to realize that the struggle against oppression and dictatorship isn’t over — it continues to this day, even in the very city where the barricades stood.And today, at the heart of that fight, are the same people who fought and died in 1832 (both in real life and in Hugo’s story): students and the young.That’s really something worth commemorating. -- source link

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