#JeSuisCharlie

I think (at least I hope) that everyone has heard about the tragedy that took place in Paris, France. I've been meaning to acknowledge the situation for a few days now, but I needed time to digest everything. At first mention I didn't know how bad the incident was. Yes, it's horrible that people were killed, but what did that mean? Here in America it's certain that you've heard about there being shootings in schools more than a few times. Those times were incredibly hard and reality was difficult to face, but those incidents mostly questioned the general public's safety. 

Here's a brief recap of the events that occurred. 
The shock that took place this past Wednesday at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo (it's like the French version of The Onion) consisted of a deadly attack aiming to harm the producers of cartoons that were not afraid of expressing their opinions through art. In a way, these cartoonists were a symbol of our freedom of speech and that liberty was taken away from them. 

I attended a French school and my dad's side of the family lives in France, so I've been surrounded by a community of proud French individuals, but I don't think that's the reason I've been dwelling on this tragedy. The outcry known to us now as, "Je suis Charlie" or "I am Charlie" was heard around the world and everyone was shaken up because it was a harsh awakening into reality.  That simple phrase has came to symbolize solidarity with the victims of the attack. We are said to be given the right to freely express our opinions, but that freedom comes with consequences. Yes, we are allowed to say what we want to say, but to what extent? The journalists at Charlie Hebdo had their lives sacrificed for that cause and people have now made it clear that we will not back down. We will stay strong, we will unite, and we will not back down. Nous sommes Charlie. (We are Charlie)

The day of the attack, I went to Twitter almost immediately to see what people were commenting on. Much to my disappointment, I had to scroll down quite a bit to read about people's general reaction. I mostly follow celebrities and YouTubers I look up to, so it was really disheartening to see that none of them brought up the event. Instead they talked about irrelevant, materialistic things that couldn't have mattered less in a moment of such tragedy. It came off as really ignorant. Luckily Finn Harries, Will Darbyshire, Niki, and Sammy Albon mentioned the event with passion. If they hadn't, I would've been completely DONE with this world. 

George Clooney perfectly phrased it at the Golden Globes by saying, "Today was an extraordinary day. There were millions of people who marched not just in Paris, but around the world. And they were Christians and Jews and Muslims. They were leaders of countries all over the world. And they didn't march in protest; they marched in support of the idea that we will not walk in fear. We won't do it."

In 2012 a journalist from Charlie Hebdo told CNN, "In France, we always have the right to write and draw. And if some people are not happy with this, they can sue us, and we can defend ourselves. That’s democracy. You don’t throw bombs, you discuss, you debate. But you don’t act violently. We have to stand and resist pressure from extremism." At one of the vigils a sign even read, "The Newseum joins with journalists and all others who support freedom of expression to declare that such cowardly attempts to thwart free speech and a free press will not succeed, and that all people should be able to express themselves freely and without fear."

Although the occurrences were terribly inhumane and lots of people have been misrepresented as a result, we can still put a positive spin on this attack. As an outcome, we've been able to see hundreds of people all around the world taking a stand for the rights we are entitled to. And that makes me happy. As horrid as the event was, the world took the hardship and turned things around, hoping to make this world a better place. 

#JeSuisCharlie

XXX

- your friend, Estelle