A year before her death, Josie had witnessed from her balcony riots and shootings of civilians in the street below. I worked from 1962 — the year of Algeria’s independence — until last year [1977] for the Algerian press. For example, critics can reproach a black American for marrying an Arab woman because her skin is lighter than his is and so on, and so on. I believe that he would put all his energy in the service of his country (Martinique) and theCaribbean region in general. I also worked with the Algerian Front for National Liberation in the information section. Frantz Fanon est maintenant indésirable, il est expulsé hors d’Algérie, Il s’engage aux côtés du FLN, il rejoint la Tunisie et sillonne l’Afrique noire à son tour lancée sur la voie de l’indépendance, en tant qu’ambassadeur du gouvernement provisoire algérien. He had fought for its independence and becauseAlgeria was a country very dear to him. Similarly, Josie Fanon, whom he married in 1952, remains as enigmatic as ever, despite her vital role in transcribing his work while he was alive and promoting his work after he died. And (174-176), (trans David Kelley and Marjolijn de Jager) J.Fanon: Fanon had been Césaire’s student inMartinique. Understand that he was fromMartinique; born in a French colony, he had assimilated all the cultural values ofFrance. I am also interested in observing the black civil rights movements in theUS, examine the new perspectives and discuss what the hopes are. She would linger, I feel C'est la rencontre avec Frantz Fanon à travers Josie Fanon, son épouse, qui était ma collègue à Révolution Africaine, un hebdomadaire algérien, et son fils Olivier. Frantz Fanon laisse dans le deuil son épouse française Josie (née Dublé), leur fils Olivier Fanon et sa fille issue d'une précédente relation, Mireille Fanon-Mendès France .Josie est décédée par suicide à Alger en 1989. the sea. The army experience sharpened his awareness of the world where division and racism were the rule. The answer is simple: there exists a fundamental fraternity between all colonized people and between people colonized by the same foreign power. speak on the phone: I still hear today Josie's enraged voice commenting Alone!' J.Fanon: It is always difficult to say what an individual like Fanon would have done if he had not died when he did. During the conference, he made contacts with other African leaders of that period notably Patrice Lumumba, Felix Moumié of the Cameroonand President Kwame Nkrumah. cf: When The Wretched of the Earth was published, Jean Paul Sartre prefaced it. I In his works, he states clearly that it is through a revolutionary process that we can understand and resolve racial problems. A year before her death, Josie had witnessed from her balcony riots and shootings of civilians in the street below. However, I cannot say with certainty where. cf: You were in the U S previously in 1961. In New York the J.Fanon: I came to theUnited States in November 1961 because my husband was hospitalized at theN.I.HBethesdaHospital. In 1957, the French government expelled us fromAlgeria. dawn, Josie opened the window of her living room that looked out onto the Fanon's personal friends. Marie-Josephe Duble, called 'Josie,' was born in 1931 in the Lyon region of France.The eighteen-year of Corsican-gypsy descent first met the 23 year-old Frantz Fanon in Lyon in 1949. treatment of leukemia has the highest success rate in the country. We can retrace Fanon’s itinerary. come. more she daydreamed, looking at the summer light from her bed. In 1944, he joined the free French forces to help protect “trueFrance” against the racist French sailors stationed in Martinique during the war — those “sailors who had forced [him] to defend and thus discover [his] color.”. ( Log Out /  She Today, we speak of a Fanon legacy. There is still much more to be written. When Frantz Fanon was in late stages of leukemia at age 36, he was flown to a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland in the United States, for surgery. At last glance at the ( Log Out /  adolescent boy, Karim, the neighbor's son, whom Josie had taken care of since We can draw a parallel between such personal problems and the concept of Négritude, which Fanon analyzed. cf: In the context of recent African history, how would you judge Fanon’s work since his death? He was a man very much opened to reality. She was of Corsican and Gypsy descent, a native of Lyon, France, and daughter of left-wing trade unionists. His book The Wretched of the Earth (1961) is seen as the "bible of Third Worldism." That is where he felt the first onset of his cf: He was not what you would call a professional revolutionary then. Frantz Omar Fanon, né le 20 juillet 1925 à Fort-de-France et mort le 6 décembre 1961 à Bethesda (Washington DC, USA), est un psychiatre et essayiste français martiniquais et algérien. more, O Frantz, the 'wretched of the earth!'" Born inMartiniquein 1925, Fanon… cf: A great deal has been written about Fanon. Why? six hundred young people were shot down. mother to her--as soon as my daughter heard the news in Paris (it was the voice nurse waited for her on Sunday. For administrative reasons, he was unable to get a position in Martinique,Guadeloupe, orSenegal; so he pickedAlgeria, which was still inAfrica. We No doubt, he would have stayed inAlgeria — at least for a while. Otherwise, where is the revolution? J.Fanon: My son was a toddler at the time and because I had to take care of my husband — I was here more than a month — I visited Frantz everyday and spent many nights at the hospital with him. spent a summer's month together in a village by the sea, half an hour from That’s the reason I live inParis now. Black Skin White Mask is a Négritude testimonial in which Fanon acknowledges blackness albeit from the point of view of his French colonial upbringing and Césaire’s adaptation concerning the place of peoples of African descent in the French empire. In his opinion — and this was later proved true — Négritude was but a stage in the dialectical process of the black man’s struggle for liberation. Took off her shoes. phones her son in Paris to reassure him: yes, she will start therapy again with cf: Can you say a few words about Fanon’s relationship with the Négritude poets, Aimé Césaire and Leon Damas? Frantz Fanon was a psychiatrist, originally from Martinique. It was August 1988, we felt good: the rest of the day we would be Back in El-Biar, she took Derrière la négritude, Césaire cherchait à rester sous la domination française, alors que Fanon cherchait à libérer ceux qui étaien t sous to utes dominations. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. In subsequent editions, Sartre’s preface is removed. J.Fanon: When I met Frantz, he had been already inFrance about four years. cf: what are the reasons for your visit to theUnited States this year? [Originally published in French in 1995. He tyrannises you, and you accept it." Josie stiffened, then added, hardly bitter: 'I understood his point of view; he Josie Fanon committed suicide at El Biar, Algiers, ten years later. This pathology is common to the people of the French-speakingAntilles. ( Log Out /  ), She because it is where my husband died. and uncertainty in Tunis. He's been the representative of the 'Provisional Government of the Algerian Oppressed and colonized people cannot free themselves other than through armed struggle. surrounded by our friends, our children. went home to El-Biar on Thursday evening. However, it remains a limitation. He was in medical school; I was in liberal arts. We were both students. reassure himself as well. It was under these circumstances that he came to theU.S. The My This was in 1953, one year before the start of the Algerian revolutionary armed struggle. In my opinion, they have not completely understood his works. Until the Algerian Revolution, Fanon adhered to the principles of Négritude espoused by Aimé Césaire, his lycée teacher. But in June 1967, whenIsraeldeclared war on the Arab countries, there was a great pro-Zionist movement in favor ofIsraelamong western (French) intellectuals. that Josie Fanon, my elder, cannot show me the way with her laughter and her wash the veranda floor. Without independence, nation building cannot begin. On the condition, she told the doctor, Marie-Josèphe Dublé dite "Josie", femme Blanche née française, était l'épouse de l'homme Noir (né en Martinique) Frantz Fanon. She In his life, two things interchanged constantly. He would certainly have maintained his political activities. possible: he agrees to go for treatment to the United States. That was the case of the Portuguese colonies and the case of what is now taking place inSouthAfrica. She read; even From his condition as an individual under French rule to his consciousness as a black man through his experience in a colonial society — up to a superior level and his adherence to the wider cause of the Algeria Revolution and still another level, the African Revolution in general. In 1960, they appointed him the Provisional Government’s Ambassador toAccra. However, when he went to Franceand confronted French society’s racism, he began to understand and he analyzed his personal and his countrymen’s experiences. At the completion of his studies, he wanted to go back to theAntillesor toAfricato look for work. However, you should note that he did not come here of his own accord. was Fanon… To pretend that blacks can achieve majority rule there through a negotiated solution is an illusion and a trick. Concernant Frantz Fanon comme chantre de la négritude, c'est faux, archi-faux et diffamatoire. There is nothing surprising here. Hardly spoke. The Mandé Charter of 1222 1.The hunters declare: Every human life is a life. would recall the past; then become silent. Fanon fumes: she does not type fast enough. Fanon was born in 1925, to a middle-class family in the French colony of Martinique. The J.Fanon: When Fanon leftMartinique, conditions there were not as clearly defined as they are today. todl me, one evening, about Josie's last weeks and days. One year earlier, while representing the provisional government inGhana, doctors diagnosed him with leukemia. Whatever Sartre’s contribution may have been in the past, the fact that he did not understand the Palestinian problem reversed his past political positions. J.Fanon: From a personal point of view, I am a bit shaken to be back in theU.S. letters of her son, her friends. How do you answer these critics? Born inMartiniquein 1925, Fanon was a product of the French colonial system. In general, the English text does not reproduce the breadth, the dynamism, or the flow of the original French. and her big gypsy eyes.... And above all her voice, that happy contralto. the family psychologist. For him, Césaire, Damas, and others like them were very important in his intellectual evolution as regard to the consciousness of his own négritude. Fanon worked within the F.N.L and the Provisional Government. cf: What do you think of the English translations of Fanon’s works? The interview of Mme Josie Fanon took place on November 16, 1978 at Howard University’s African-American Center. geraniums on the neighboring balcony. Josie Fanon, born Marie-Josèphe "Josie" Dublé (c.1930-13 July 1989), was the wife of Frantz Fanon (1925-1961), a political activist, and a journalist. Let us say that from a western point of view, it is a good preface. Some of what is here comes from, or relates to, a particular set of ongoing discussions around Fanon's work in Grahamstown. women's laughter, whining children. We met at a theatre. Fanon’s wife, Josie, came to the United States and visited the author at HowardUniversity. Mireille Fanon-Mendès-France est une militante française, née à Cahors le 24 novembre 1953 [1], présidente de la Fondation Frantz Fanon internationale.Elle a écrit de nombreux articles sur les droits humains et le droit international et humanitaire, sur le processus de radicalisation et de discriminations [2], sur la colonialité du pouvoir, des savoirs et de l'Être. the Algerian Revolution!'. In a certain phase of the struggle, such a position can have for a time a positive and beneficially unifying effect. The Algerian Provisional Government (APG) had sent him here for medical care. publication of The Wretched of the Earth, returns to Tunis to see the G.P.R.A. With my daughter--during the years she was a student in Algiers, Josie was a second He was also interested in news dissemination. Algerian delegation to the United Nations includes among its members some of This is, in fact, what I have done. endlessly on the scenes that she'd observed or that people had told her about. the fisherman setting out to sea in their boats. several days to put all her things in order: photographs, poems she was ], The Fact of Blackness in a Sea of Whiteness, Sylvia Wynter: No Humans Involved - An Open Letter to My Colleagues, Black Skin, White Masks: Exploring the Life & Work of Frantz Fanon, Frantz Fanon: Psychiatrist, Revolutionary, Philosopher & Author. Once thought that all the expenses he was incurring were already quite enough for Josie No, she does not After six years of revolutionary activities in Africa, Frantz Fanon arrived in New Yorkin early October 1961, suffering from an advanced case of leukemia. Bethesda Hospital, three hours by train from New York: its center for the Even today, these colonies are the territories where French colonialism has been the most over-emphasized, most perfidious, and most noxious. Was there at the funeral. am sure that it was then she made her decision: to join him.). that if I were looking after him.... Clearly they saw him as a man of iron, The other important factor was his scientific interests. Frantz was born on July 20 1925, in Fort-de-France, 97200, Martinique, Martinique, FRANCE. He was twenty-five at the time. He's been the representative of the 'Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic' in Ghana and Guinea. more. Tunis, she returned to every place they had lived. She Africans in that part of the continent will have to wage a very prolonged and protracted armed struggle. She doesn't express her desire out loud to Frantz ('It'll be a month, perhaps two at the most,' he tells her, undoubtedly to reassure her, to we would stay there, all morning long, contemplating Admitted to Bethesda Naval Hospital, he died on December 6th. was smiling at us when she left,' a nurse recalled, unable to forget the She brought books, music. writing, Frantz's letters which she had compiled and arranged much earlier, hear Josie letting herself be wrapped in these sounds of Algerian life, by this This blog contains resources directly related to Frantz Fanon's life and work, the secondary literature on Fanon and other resources useful for engaging Fanon's ideas here and now. cf: how do you feel about this second trip to theUnited States? "At the beginning of autumn 1961 Frantz Fanon, a West Indian psychiatrist who has recently acquired, the same year, an international reputation with the publication of The Wretched of the Earth, returns to Tunis to see the G.P.R.A. JOSIE ET FRANTZ FANON, La grande humanité Je ne sais pas comment j’avais entendu parler pour la première fois de Fanon, cela remonte à loin, très loin. J.Fanon: Indeed a number of Western intellectuals have written about Fanon. Moreover, I do not believe that they can succeed without the solidarity of the black American people. Djebar on the telephone, Josie sighed: "Oh Frantz, the wretched of the earth again. Interview with Frantz Fanon’s Widow Josie Fanon by Christian Filostrat After six years of revolutionary activities in Africa, Frantz Fanon arrived in New Yorkin early October 1961, suffering from an advanced case of leukemia. And he was a child. He was 36 years old. In around the rooms in which everything was in its place. of her fifth-story window. Josie Fanon, his wife, committed suicide in Algiers in 1989. Change ). Though just 27 at the time of its publication, the workdisplays incredible literacy in major intellectual trends of the time:psychoanalysis, existentialism, phenomenology, and dialectics, as wellas, most prominently, the early Négritude movement and U.S.based critical race work in figures like Richard Wright. As a black man, a militant, and an anti-imperialist revolutionary fighter, he was not comfortable going to theUnited States. would stay, the window open as if above a well, to catch the rising noises, If you have kept up with what has been written, what is your reaction? But explain, over the phone, that they've been able to get him admitted to the J.Fanon:  It was through my initiative that Sartre’s preface to The Wretched of the Earth was removed. Les six enfants de la famille font des études secondaires, Frantz aura comme professeur au lycée, Aimé Césaire. She Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, né Frantz Fanon le 20 juillet 1925 à Fort-de-France (Martinique) et mort le 6 décembre 1961 à Bethesda dans un hôpital militaire de la banlieue de Washington aux États-Unis1, est un psychiatre et essayiste français fortement impliqué dans la lutte pour l'indépendance de l'Algérie et dans un combat international dressant une solidarité entre « frères » opprimés. one end of the rioting town to the other, not being able to meet, we would him. her fall, Josie hurt no one: only she exploded." He was 23; I was 18. cf: Speaking ofLyon, would you retrace for us the course of Fanon’s life? "12 The legacy of Fanon leaves us with ques­ tions; his virtual, verbal presence among us only provokes more questions. J.Fanon: I met him inLyon (in the southeast ofFrance). Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Frantz Fanon n'était pas un chantre de la négritude. she repeated harshly. Josie took her own life in Algiers in 1989. He left Martinique in 1943, when he volunteered to fight with the Free French in World War II, and he remained in France after the war to study medicine and psychiatry on scholarship in Lyon. ( Log Out /  remained silent, then: 'He died alone, in New York, two months later. she has decided: since her visit to Frantz's grave; she is determined. I think, however, that it is inAfrica and here in theUS in the African-American community that valid works about Fanon will be carried out. It is in this context that the committee decided to pay tribute to Frantz and invited me. 'She by Camalita Naicker  The Fact of Blackness , the fifth chapter of Frantz Fanon’s Black Skins, White Masks, is not an answer or an explanat... No Humans Involved an Open Letter to My Colleagues by SYLVIA WYNTER by TigersEye99. J.Fanon: I came back this year because of an invitation from the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid, which is organizing throughout the year a series of homage and commemorations to black revolutionaries, notably Paul Roberson, Nelson Mandela of the A.N.C., President Nkrumah, etc. He was very ill — in fact, he was dying. Marie-Josèphe "Josie" FANON (born DUBLÉ) Marie-Josèphe FANON (born DUBLÉ) Marie-Josèphe FANON (born DUBLÉ) married Frantz Omar FANON in 1952. Stayed presence known. Josie Fanon, his wife, committed suicide in Algiers in 1989. the sound of the neighbors, the concern of Karim and his mother. her back finally turned on her home and her life, Josie Fanon threw herself out During that time, we enrolled our small son atHowardUniversity’s kindergarten. American During that time, he was also a medical student, specializing in psychiatry. In the first stage of Frantz’s life, while still very young, he joined the Free French Forces during the Second World War. Reading Frantz Fanon in Grahamstown, South Africa. Ils se marièrent en 1953, après la sortie de Peau noire, masques blancs, qu'elle écrivit sous sa dictée.Josie Fanon se suicidera à Alger le … Fanon's relationship with Michelle began in Lyon, France where they were both students. The The Algerian revolution was not alien to Fanon. He never stopped thinking ofMartinique. recently acquired, the same year, an international reputation with the We are not going to limit each other to race! Fanon refused to marry Michelle, and by 1949 had become involved with his future wife, Josie. J.Fanon: I have been for sometime a professional journalist. This meant that for a time, he identified with France. The result of this analysis is in Black Skin, White mask published in 1952. "0 my body, make of me always a man who questions!" Algiers. He was 36 years old. Frantz Fanon naît en 1925 à Fort-de-France en Martinique d’un père inspecteur des douanes et d’une mère commerçante, tous deux descendants d’anciennes familles d’esclaves. Many wonder why Fanon went toAlgeriaor what relationship could there have been between a man fromMartiniqueandAlgeria. him gently when he'd protest or try to refuse, his heart fearful. Was silent for a long time. street. Yes, he wants to hospitalize her for a week or two, no thirty-two years old, and mother of a young boy, hopes to be able to go with The field of his experience and action widened and resulted in the writing of The Wretched of the Earth. (I Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. everyday profusion. From the beginning of autumn 1961 Frantz Fanon, a West Indian psychiatrist who has rested in the hospital for six days. While Josie Fanon has been left out of history books, this short homage does the necessary work of prodding and reminding Fanon experts to reckon with the extent to which revolution is continually framed as masculine, with women simply treated as temporary accessories to the larger project. of the author of Deserteur on the pone with me one morning) she took the plane. In fact, everything he wrote he based on his personal experiences not on abstract theories. Josie Fanon discusses her career as a journalist in Algeria, and the life and work of her husband, the writer, revolutionary, psychiatrist, and postcolonial theorist Frantz Fanon, who died of leukemia in 1961. Sartre took part in this movement. His uncompromising efforts on behalf of the Algerian Revolution shortened his life, while giving him unparalleled insight into and appreciation for national liberations and struggles found in his writing. In first days of October 1988, Algiers reached a fevered pitch; under Josie's Since 1977, I have worked for a Pan-African magazine, Demain L’afrique (Tomorrow Africa) published monthly inParis. so she willingly went to the hospital. In The A Friday. Mireille Fanon, the eldest daughter of Frantz Fanon and Michèle Weyer was born in 1948 in France. The interview is published in Negritude Agonistes. In fact, he was not in favor of this solution. National liberation is a first step; without it, very little can be done. Her son should put his mind at rest, she will do it. And then finally Democrats--friends of the Algerian struggle--will be there watching over him. J.Fanon: That’s right, he was not a professional revolutionary. J.Fanon: It is my opinion, and I believe that it was also his — otherwise he would not have contracted nor remained in this interracial marriage — that there was no contradiction. it, every morning to listen to the sounds of neighboring families rising from illness. He was a psychiatrist and had never abandoned his research in that or other medical fields. two or three days in Algiers; with Olivier, now an orphan, and a young How will I ever learn to grow old, now that they let her go home to her apartment on the weekend: be with her flowers, The (Seven Stories, 2003). See, for instance, Christian Filostrat’s 1978 interview with Fanon’s widow, Josie Fanon, on the occasion of her second visit to the U.S., in Filostrat, Negritude Agonistes, Assimilation against Nationalism in the French-Speaking Caribbean and Guyane (Cherry Hill, N.J., 2008), 155–161, here 156. He had already made contact with Algerian nationalists; so that when the revolution began, he was already integrated in the revolutionary movement. "Oh, Frantz, the wretched of the earth again," she had sighed on a telephone, speaking to her friend Assia Djebar . feel alone: he should not be worried; there's no need whatsoever for him to And that is as it should be. And he...', She indestructible! Born Marie-Joseph Dublé in Lyon, France, she was 58 years old. She Il est l’un des fondateurs du courant de pensée tiers-mondiste. understand: that you couldn't send him such a long way to be treated alone, brazen humor? I think he would be more concerned today, because underneath their departmental status, Martinique,Guadeloupe and Guyane are just French colonies with another name. In one or two seconds, glanced I felt that his pro-Zionist attitudes were incompatible with Fanon’s work. He admired Césaire and Damas greatly. He signed petitions favoringIsrael. Centre for Humanities Research (Cape Town), Johannesburg Workshop in Theory and Criticism, Makerere Institute of Social Research (Kampala), Unit for the Humanities at Rhodes University (Grahamstown). UFrantz Fanon waziwa kakhulu njengomunye wezinculabuchopho zomzabalazo wenkululeko eAfrika. the courtyard: I see her low bedroom, filled with multi-colored rugs where we How can there be a negotiated solution for majority rule there? Very early on the previous day, by the light of cf: Do you know what were Fanon’s plans after the publication of The Wretched of the Earth ? But really, he had no choice. cars. It is reported that when Fanon, at that point gravely ill, read Sartre’s piece he put it down without saying a word. Even if neo-colonialism is active in a country, it is preferable to colonialism and total dependence. Nevertheless, he had already understood that, politically, Césaire could have done much more for the independence ofMartinique.Independence is the sine qua non of political freedom. J.Fanon: I don’t think – and knowledgeable people have told me — that The Wretched of the Earth is perfect; there are some lacunae and translation errors. Josie, next day and the following days, this time in the heart of Algiers, the army His experience and a keen, sensitive mind made him one of the most lucid observers of the realities inherent to colonialism. was to admit to me, years later: 'Up to the end, I hoped: they, his friends, pulled a chair over. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Would you say more about that? daughter then returned to Paris. "Josie The conflicts of the past few years inZimbabwe,South Africa andNamibia demonstrate that fact. His wife, Josie, was to tell me at length about those days of waiting June, she had made the trip to the Tunisian border to visit Frantz's grave. Her husband’s comment: "This Fanon has a hell of a nerve. At the time, they believed that the best medical facilities were in theUnited States. "Oh, Frantz, the wretched of the earth again," she had sighed on a telephone, speaking to her friend Assia Djebar . Republic' in Ghana and Guinea. (92). She would get up early; she would pour out can after can of water to Fanon also developed some important insights into the ideological aspects of racialism and Black consciousness. When exactly in 1961 were you here and what were your reasons fro that trip? Otherwise, we find ourselves in dead-end situations that are impossible to resolve — the sort that we can never put to rest. 13th of July, 1989; El-Biar, above Algiers. J.Fanon: All that has happened inAfrica since independence in 1960-62 demonstrates the accuracy of Fanon’s points of view. They quickly decide that Fanon should get the best care I would work each night, as I heard Mireille est devenue professeur de droit international et de résolution des conflits et est présidente de la Fondation Frantz Fanon. cf: You were telling me when we passed through the campus gate, that your son, Olivier, had spent some time atHowardUniversity in 1961. The verdict seems worrying: lukemia has made its Admitted to Bethesda Naval Hospital, he died on December 6th. swarmed the capital, and, confronted with peaceful demonstrations, opened fire: It is true that a life comes into existence before ano... "At Sartre understood the subject matter in The Wretched of the Earth. He always practiced medicine even while involved in politics and writing. J’ai toujours été séduit par ses positions et sa posture de révolté, ce qu’il disait de la paysannerie, de la négritude et de la lutte de libération. gave her young neighbor, Karim, various presents, 'to remember me by' she told cf: Going back to Fanon’s birthplace – the French speakingAntilles, what is the colonial situation there? cf:  Some critics say there is a fundamental contradiction between Fanon’s works, what he stood for, and the fact that he married a white French woman. Even before his ambassadorship to Accra, Fanon had taken part in a number of African people’s conferences, including the first one held in 1958.