The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron visited New Orleans [fr]
The President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, visited New Orleans on Friday, December 2, as part of his state visit to the United States, the first organized since the election of US President Joe Biden. This visit highlighted the strong and historic ties between Louisiana and France, but it also allowed the launch of new partnerships in the fight against climate change and the promotion of the French language.
As they got off the plane, the President and his wife were welcomed by the Governor of Louisiana John Bel Edwards, his wife Donna Edwards, the Ambassador of France Mr. Philippe Etienne and the Consul General of France in Louisiana Mrs. Nathalie Beras. They were given the opportunity to listen to a typical New Orleans Brass Band and to admire a traditional dance by a Black Indian from the city.
They began their visit in Jackson Square, in front of the Cabildo, where they were greeted by the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, Mr. Billy Nungesser and the Mayor of New Orleans, Mrs. LaToya Cantrell. The President of the Republic then walked down Royal Street, accompanied by Mrs. Cantrell, the former Mayor of the city, now Special Advisor to the President of the United States, Mr. Mitch Landrieu and the Director of the Historic New Orleans Collection, Mr. Daniel Hammer. The walk, interspersed with a crowd of enthusiastic Louisianans and French, ended at the Historic New Orleans Collection, where the President of the Republic was greeted by the Governor of Louisiana.
During this meeting, the President of the Republic addressed the key issues of climate change and energy transition. This was followed by the signing of a declaration of intent that formalizes the creation of a position for a French international technical expert specializing in the energy transition, integrated into the Governor’s Climate Task Force. This document was signed by the Governor of Louisiana and the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Catherine Colonna, in the presence of the President of the Republic. The President then met with representatives of companies involved in the field of energy transition and climate, in the presence of the French Ambassador to the United States and the French Consul General in Louisiana.
Accompanied by the Lieutenant-Governor, Mrs. Brigitte Macron visited the Cabildo with Susan Maclay, Director of this public museum, and then exchanged views with Louisiana partners on the economy, sports and the French language. This was followed by a visit to the Lycée Français de La Nouvelle-Orléans, organized by Mr. Chase Mc Laurin, the school’s President and CEO, and Mrs. Tiguida Mathieu, Principal of the Priestley campus. Students recited the opening scene of Marivaux’s "Les Jeux de l’amour et du hasard" before Madame Macron spoke to several classes about bullying in schools, particularly cyberbullying. The last step of Madame Macron’s program was a visit to the World War II Museum, where she was welcomed by its President Steven Watson who showed her the Higgins Boats, barges built in Louisiana and used during the Normandy landings and key elements of the success of the operation. She was accompanied by seven 8th grade students from the Bilingual School of New Orleans.
At the New Orleans Museum of Art, in the presence of many local actors of the French-speaking world in Louisiana, the President of the Republic gave a speech underlining his attachment to Louisiana and its rich French-speaking tradition and recalled the actions taken to promote the French language throughout the world. He then announced the creation of a new fund to support the learning of French in American schools: French for All.
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“[...] Here, women and men also considered that choosing a language was to continue to be faithful to values, to a struggle, to their history, to an identity. And because white Creoles, Afro-descendants who loved French so much, because Acadian-descendants in such a troubled period, and deciding to come here, have, in a way, by a form of malice of history, succeeded in creating something literally unique in this place.”
“This is the meaning of this French For All initiative that I have the pleasure of launching today [...] it is to support the teaching of French, of French-speaking cultures, and to allow children who sometimes come from all over the world [...] to be able to be taught in French [...] and to make it a language of cultural and economic opportunities, of emancipation for young people from all over the world who sometimes come from French-speaking areas.”
“And that is why we have decided, and the members have agreed, to host the next international summit of the Francophonie in 2024 in France, [...] and we are going to do it in Villers-Cotterêts. […] But above all, we have created the Cité Internationale de la Langue Française, a place of education and invention, a place that will reproduce the odyssey of the French language, where we will speak of here, of the Caribbean, of the Pacific, of Asia, because our language is found on every continent, and the sun never sets on the French language. And it will also be a place where we will welcome artists’ residencies, like students, in Villers-Cotterêts, and Louisiana will be there. [...]”
“And so, there is, in my eyes, something admirable, which I believe we all hope for in times of division, or risk of division, and when I look at the singular history of New Orleans, which belongs both to the history of the United States and to the history of France, and also to the history of Africa. It is not a story of whites and blacks, it is a story of women and men, of all origins, of all colors, who did not speak the same language, who did not practice the same religion, and who came together for the right reasons: To embrace a possible future and decide to create something beautiful and strong together. And so thank you for that, because it is an example of a possible path to follow, of a hoped-for path, in any case the one I believe in.”
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After this sequence dedicated to the French-speaking world, Mrs. Brigitte Macron joined the President of the Republic at a dinner at the Windsor Court Hotel specifically focused on culture with actors from the world of music and cinema to establish future cooperation.
Finally, the official visit of the President of the Republic and his wife ended with a stroll down Frenchmen Street, in the company of the famous jazzmen Trombone Shorty and his brother James Andrews, to discover what makes New Orleans so unique: music and jazz in particular. !
