Downtown Africa
Have you heard of La Mûlatresse Solitude? She has been the subject of legends and a symbol of women’s resistance in the struggle against slavery.
At the height of slavery in 1802, La Mûlatresse Solitude led a slave revolution against the slave masters in French Guadeloupe. She was eight months pregnant at the time. She fought bravely and survived the battle of May 28, 1802. She was later arrested for the revolution and sentenced to death by the French. But because she was pregnant at the time of her arrest, she was help in prison pending the time she gave birth. One day after her death, she was sent to the gallows and hung. We understand that her last words before her death were, “Live Free or DIE!”
In 2020, the Paris Councilor Delegate in charge of Overseas Territories, inaugurated the “Jardin Solitude” (Solitude Garden) and a statue (above left) in honor of La Mûlatresse Solitude. This is statute is the first in honor of a black woman in Paris. German artist, Künstlerin Özlem Demir, produced a painting (above right) of the statute.
We thank Künstlerin Özlem Demir of Online Kunstgalerie & Plattform für Künstler for producing the painting. We also give special thanks to Margaret Essien of Afribiznis LLC of New Jersey, United States, for sending us the story and photos of La Mûlatresse Solitude.
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