Rokhaya Diallo

Biography

Rokhaya Diallo’s parents are Senegalese and Gambian. Her father was a mechanic and her mother was a sewing teacher. Her family moved to La Courneuve, a suburb of Paris in 1989. After obtaining a degree in International and European Law, Rokhaya went on to study business, which led her to work for a short period at IBM, which she left because she felt "like a pawn". So she decided to work toward a marketing and distribution degree at the Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris I), which she was granted in 2003. She now works in broadcasting production.

As an anime enthusiast, Rokhaya helped found the Japan Expo. She was also briefly a voice actress, performing Kamui Shiro as a child in X1999, by CLAMP, and Ex in Ah! My Goddess: The Movie.

In 2001, she participated in the youth outreach program of La Courneuve. She was asked to join in the city’s Youth Council and rose to the position of president within two years. As a strong feminist, she campaigns for the anti-sexist association Mix-Cité. She also campaigns for the organization ATTAC (which fights for sustainable and socially just globalization policies), notably during the Film Festival "Images mouvementées".

The Indivisibles

In 2006, having heard that "most people consider being black and from a working class background to be a problem", Rokhaya founded the association, The Indivisibles. "People’s looks seemed to associate me with a certain image and uncomfortable stereotypes." "When we were young, my brother and I had never asked ourselves "where do we come from?", until we were asked by others". Diallo was not bothered by attaching the question to one’s origin, but she objects to people placing their own yearning for exoticism over her. The Indivisibles campaigns to put a stop to "a partition of French citizenship by physical appearance" or by geographical origin. Originally created in secrecy, to "work with institutions such as the French Education Department", the association burst on to the publishing scene in 2009 with a large media exposure program oriented around their newly created "Y'a bon Awards" recognizing the most outrageous racist statements by French public figures.

Rokhaya Diallo became a radio and television commentator and in 2011 she published Racism: a guide, in the philosopher Vincent Cespedes’ collection. "France is my country. I know Paris better than Senegal. But how should she behave in a "structurally racist" environment? Mentalities need to change. Especially in the media, when their coverage of a news story focuses solely on a defendant’s skin color or geographical origin". Exposing Islamophobia holds an increasingly important place in her reasoning: "We only speak of secular education when the subject is Islam (and not in regard to any other religion), a religion we are led to believe is only practiced in France by sexist and violent fundamentalists of North African origin."

Activity since 2004

In 2002, Rokhaya Diallo took part in different humorous short-films by the group Une case en moins, as an actress, singer and songwriter.

From 2009 to 2013, she was a commentator for La Matinale on Canal+, and since 2009 on RTL (French radio station). In March 2010, she was chosen to participate in the International Visitor Leadership program and as a guest of the US government. She visited the country to study its diversity. With four other leading figures - François Durpaire, Marc Cheb Sun, Lilian Thuram and Pascal Blanchard - she appealed and draws up a hundred propositions for "a multicultural and post-racial Republic".

Since 2011, Rokhaya Diallo has hosted Fresh Cultures on the Mouv' (French radio station); she also hosted and co-directed a monthly show Egaux mais pas trop (Equals but not too much) on LCP.

On March 6, 2014, she published an editorial opinion piece in the weekly review Politis for International Women's Day.

Awards

Rokhaya Diallo was recognized by Slate as 36th out of the 100 most influential French women in 2013, and appears among the 30 most influential black figures in Europe on Britain’s Powerful Media’s ranking.

Anti-racism

Rokhaya Diallo’s action is consistent with the fight for race and ethnic equality, "especially among non-white French citizens, as their French identity is so often denied and depreciated." (presentation of the Indivisibles on their website).

On June 15, 2013, the person found guilty of using Twitter to call for Diallo’s rape was sentenced to pay a fine of 2000 euros, of which 1400 were suspended, and 1000 euros for damages to the plaintiff. The following year, Rokhaya produced a documentary for French channels LCP/AN and France 3, Networks of Hate, covering hate speech and freedom of speech online.

Campaigning against anti-black racism

Gay rights

In December 2012, she took part in a demonstration supporting the right of gay couples to marry, where she noticed the lack of black participation.

Filmography