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Karfa Diallo

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Karfa Diallo
Diallo in the George Floyd protests in Bordeaux, 2020
Born
Karfa Sira Diallo

(1971-03-16) March 16, 1971 (age 55)
Thiaroye, Senegal
Alma materCheikh Anta Diop University
Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux
OccupationsActivist, writer
Years active1998—present

Karfa Diallo (born March 16, 1971) is a Franco-Senegalese activist and writer. He has led the movement to recognize the slave trade past of the city of Bordeaux, among other French cities. In 2019, at the request of former French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, he joined the steering committee of the Foundation for the Remembrance of Slavery.

Early life and education

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Diallo was born in 1971, in Thiaroye, a suburb of Dakar (Senegal). He is the son of Abdoulaye Diallo, a French tirailleur of the Algerian War, of Fulani and Kabyle descent, who later became a nurse in the Senegalese army; and Soukeyna Doucouré, a Jola from Casamance. Diallo is the eldest of a family that would include twenty-five children.[1] As a teenager, he rejected his father's authoritarian conservatism and was influenced by communist theory. His activism began in secondary school, with student unionism.[1] He studied at the Lycée Seydina-Limamou-Laye in Pikine, Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, and Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux.[1]

After his first professional experience at Ford in Blanquefort, Diallo then worked for about ten years as a legal advisor for Sida Info Service (French association for information on sexually transmitted infection).[1]

Career

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Musée d'Aquitaine: gallery of portraits of Afro-descendants from Bordeaux. At the top, in the center, portrait of Karfa Diallo

In 1998, in Bordeaux, Karfa Diallo founded his first association, DiversCités, which worked in particular to recognize the slave-trading past of the city.[2][3] Thanks to pressure exerted by Karfa Diallo's association, the municipality of Bordeaux, then led by Hugues Martin, installed a commemorative plaque on the quays,[4][2] and entrusted the Musée d'Aquitaine with the opening of four permanent rooms dedicated to the Bordeaux history of Atlantic trade and colonial slavery.[2] In 2019, when the city unveil the Woodly Caymitte's sculpture of Modeste Testas, Diallo criticised it, saying one who was freed cannot represent the struggles of slavery.[5]

In 2010, Diallo succeeded in getting Senegal to pass the first African act recognizing the slave trade and slavery as a crime against humanity.[6][7] However, shortly afterwards, he experienced a period of doubt and expressed a sense of powerlessness.[8] It was at this time that he published his first essay, Matins noirs (Black Mornings), presented as a long poem.[9]

Diallo leading a guided tour in Le Havre in 2020

The following year, Diallo regained the energy to resume his activism. He then launched the guided tour Le Bordeaux nègre (The Negro Bordeaux), which he began offering to the public in 2012.[10][2] Afterwards, he developed memorial trails in La Rochelle,[11] Le Havre,[12] and Paris.[13]

In 2013, the foundation changed its name to the international association Mémoires & Partages.[14] In 2020, branches were established in two other slave-trading ports: Le Havre[15] and La Rochelle.[16] In 2021, the cities of Bayonne[17] and Paris[18] also opened branches. Finally, in 2025, a branch was established in Poitiers.[19]

Diallo in a demonstration regarding Bordeaux street names, 2018

Since the late 2000s, Karfa Diallo and his association have been campaigning to rename or explain streets bearing the names of enslavers (traders or owners) in the five main French slave ports: Nantes, La Rochelle, Le Havre, Bordeaux and Marseille.[20] He finally succeeded in having plaques installed in some streets of the first four cities.[21][22][23][24] In a retrospective, Diallo regretted that the selected streets only bore the names of slave ship owners. He hoped that city councils would go further by also including streets named after other enslavers, such as planters and administrators.[25] In May 2022, Rue Colbert in Bordeaux added to the initial streets.[26] Karfa Diallo and his association also succeeded, after a long legal battle, in having the name of the La Négresse district (District of the "Negger Woman") in Biarritz officially removed.[27]

Through his association, Diallo also engages in a calm dialogue with descendants of slave traders.[28][29][30]

In February 2018, he initiated the organization of the first Black History Month in France, held in Bordeaux, to highlight the cultural contributions of people of African descent to local and global history.[31][32] A second edition took place in 2019, which spread to several sites in Aquitaine.[33] The event was further expanded in subsequent years.[34][35][36]

Karfa Diallo has made several attempts at politics. In 2001, he ran for mayor of Bordeaux and obtained more than 4% of the vote with his list "Couleurs bordelaises" (Bordeaux Colors).[37] Then, in 2023, he was elected regional councillor for Nouvelle-Aquitaine on The Ecologists list. He is the only Black member of the assembly.[38]

Works

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Essays

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  • 2008 - Triangle doré. Éditions DiversCités, Bordeaux.
  • 2010 - Matins noirs, essai poétique pour une nouvelle négritude. Éditions Ex Æquo, Collection Hors cadre, Châlons-en-Champagne.
  • 2015 - Sénégal – France, mémoires d’alternances inquiètes. L’Harmattan. Collection Points de vue. Paris.
  • 2017 - Les légions de Senghor, recueil de poèmes. Éditions Ex Æquo, Collection A l'En-vers, Plombières-les-Bains.
  • 2023 - Maison Esclavages & Résistances : document. Éditions Zola Ntondo.

Documentary exhibitions

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  • 2013 - Aimé Césaire, j'ai apporté une parole d'homme, à l'occasion du centenaire de sa naissance.
  • 2014 - Frères d’âme, héritages croisés de la Première Guerre mondiale (label Mission du Centenaire 14-18).
  • 2015 - Bord'Africa, les descendants, sur les afro-descendants à Bordeaux.
  • 2016 - Triangle doré, une histoire de l'esclavage.
  • 2017 - Senghor, l'Africain universel.
  • 2018 - Le Mémorial des Tirailleurs naufragés, autour du naufrage de navire l'Afrique (label Mission du Centenaire 14-18).
  • 2018 - On a tous en nous quelque chose de Madiba, à l'occasion du centenaire de la naissance de Nelson Mandela.
  • 2023 - Afrodescendant.e.s du Bordeaux Colonial.
  • 2023 - Madinina, la Martinique face à l'esclavage colonial.

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Michel, Nicolas (2017-01-02). "Karfa Sira Diallo, chevalier de la mémoire". Jeune Afrique (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-19.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bryant, Lisa (2016-11-29). "In France's Wine Capital, Man on a Mission to Confront City's Darker Past". Voice of America. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
  3. ↑ Onishi, Norimitsu (2020-06-24). "George Floyd's Killing Forces Wider Debate on France's Slave-Trading Past". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
  4. ↑ Aeberhardt, Chloé (2017-10-27). "Bordeaux dans les méandres de son passé négrier". Le Monde.
  5. ↑ "Statue de Modeste Testas". Fondation pour la memoire de l'esclavage (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-19.
  6. ↑ "Le Sénégal veut faire de l'esclavage un crime contre l'humanité". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  7. ↑ "Après le Sénégal, Karfa Sira Diallo plaide pour la déclaration de la traite des noirs et l'esclavage crimes contre l'humanité au Bénin". Senenews - Actualité au Sénégal, Politique, Économie, Sport (in French). 2020-01-30. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  8. ↑ "Karfa Diallo : « Il faut savoir tourner la page »". SudOuest.fr (in French). 2010-10-11. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  9. ↑ "Matins noirs - Essai poétique pour une nouvelle négritude". Africultures (in French). October 2010. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  10. ↑ "Le Bordeaux nègre". SudOuest.fr (in French). 2013-02-25. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  11. ↑ Carl, Patrick (2019-08-27). "LA ROCHELLE - Lancement d'une visite-guidée "sur les traces de l'esclavage colonial", 14 sept". Mémoires et Partages (in French). Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  12. ↑ "Municipales : le passé négrier du Havre plane sur la campagne". Outre-mer La 1ère (in French). Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  13. ↑ "À Paris, une visite-guidée inédite sur les traces de l'esclavage - Geo.fr". www.geo.fr (in French). 2022-07-01. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  14. ↑ "Karfa Diallo élargit sa mémoire". SudOuest.fr (in French). 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  15. ↑ "Mémoires et Partages ouvre une antenne au Havre pour ne pas oublier le passé négrier du port - Paris Normandie". Paris Normandie (in French). Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  16. ↑ Carl, Patrick (2020-09-22). "À La Rochelle, fondation d'une nouvelle association Mémoires & Partages". Mémoires et Partages (in French). Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  17. ↑ "Passé négrier à Bordeaux : l'association Mémoires et Partages continue son engagement". SudOuest.fr (in French). 2021-04-06. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  18. ↑ Carl, Patrick (2021-06-25). "Île de France - Une 5e association Mémoires & Partages installée à France". Mémoires et Partages (in French). Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  19. ↑ "À Poitiers, une association veut entretenir la mémoire de l'esclavage et du camp de la Chauvinerie". lanouvellerepublique.fr (in French). 2025-06-02. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  20. ↑ "Faut-il renommer les rues de négriers ?". Ouest France (in French). 2014-03-12.
  21. ↑ "Dans les rues de Bordeaux, des plaques pour expliquer le passé esclavagiste de la ville". Le HuffPost (in French). 2020-06-11. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  22. ↑ "La Rochelle assume son passé négrier sans se déboulonner". Le HuffPost (in French). 2021-05-10. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  23. ↑ Patrimonia, Site Nantes. "Les noms de rue, témoins de l'histoire". patrimonia.nantes.fr. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  24. ↑ "Des plaques installées dans les rues du Havre pour rappeler son passé esclavagiste - ICI". ICI, le média de la vie locale (in French). 2024-05-06. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  25. ↑ "Bordeaux : "On ne peut pas laisser des rues porter le nom de négriers sans explication" - ICI". ICI, le média de la vie locale (in French). 2019-05-09. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  26. ↑ "À Bordeaux, une plaque rue Colbert pour expliquer la traite négrière et l'esclavage". SudOuest.fr (in French). 2022-05-16. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  27. ↑ France-Press, Agence (2025-02-06). "Court rules Biarritz must drop 'offensive' district name linked to slave trade". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  28. ↑ "Bordeaux : esclavage, le long travail des mémoires". SudOuest.fr (in French). 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  29. ↑ "Bordeaux : un passé à digérer : épisode 2/4 du podcast Esclavage : héritage d'hier, voix d'aujourd'hui". France Culture (in French). 2025-11-18. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  30. ↑ "Commémoration de l'esclavage : à Bordeaux, le devoir de mémoire progresse face au déni". France Inter (in French). 2024-03-25. Retrieved 2026-05-12.
  31. ↑ Provenzano, Elsa (2018-02-02). "Bordeaux: Lancement du premier Black History Month en France !". 20 minutes. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  32. ↑ Mormin-Chauvac, Léa (2019-02-26). "Black History month, les diasporas à l'honneur". Libération (in French).
  33. ↑ "Le Black History Month de Bordeaux porté par Karfa Diallo - ICI". ICI, le média de la vie locale (in French). 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  34. ↑ ULYSSE, Eline (2022-02-05). "La Guadeloupe associée au 5ème "Black History Month" dédié cette année à Joséphine Baker". Outremers360 (in French). Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  35. ↑ AGBON, Sêmèvo Bonaventure (2024-03-03). "Black History month : Karfa S. Diallo parle du cancer de la trahison". Bénin Intelligent (in French). Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  36. ↑ "« C'est une fierté bordelaise » : le Black History Month se consacrera cette année aux héritages afro-andins". SudOuest.fr (in French). 2026-01-29. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  37. ↑ Cherruau, Pierre (2013-04-13). "Karfa Diallo, le Sénégalais qui veut réveiller la conscience des Bordelais". RFI (in French). Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  38. ↑ Cozic, Par Klervi Le; à 19h43, notre correspondante à BordeauxLe 15 décembre 2021 (2021-12-15). "Le seul élu noir du conseil régional de Nouvelle-Aquitaine pris à partie pour sa tenue". leparisien.fr (in French). Retrieved 2026-05-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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  • Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Karfa Diallo at Wikimedia Commons
  • Website of Mémoires et Partages association
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