Paulette Nardal's 125th Birthday

Google Dooles 12.10.2021 04:00  Date: October 12, 2021 Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Amsterdam, Netherlands-based guest artist , celebrates the 125th birthday of Martinican-French author Paulette Nardal. She is widely considered one of the founders of Négritude, an intellectual movement produced by Black artists and writers who joined in solidarity to champion their cultural heritage and carve out space in the prevailing literary world for Black voices. Born on this day in 1896 in Saint-Pierre, a French colonial town on the Caribbean island of Martinique, Félix Jeanne Paulette Nardal was the daughter of one of Martinique’s first Black engineers in the Department of Public Works. Nardal followed suit and established a trailblazing legacy of her own when she arrived in Paris in 1920 and became the first Black woman from Martinique to enroll at the city’s prestigious university, La Sorbonne, earning a master’s degree in English. In the 1920s, members of the French Black community, many being West Indian immigrants like Nardal, often faced intense racial discrimination. Paulette Nardal and her sister Jane opened a Paris salon called Le Salon de Clamart in 1929 as an intellectual meeting ground to reflect on the Black condition. Known for its hospitality and elegance, the well-appointed salon allowed Nardal to gather intellectuals for conversation and mutual support. Scholars credit this salon as the birthplace of the Négritude movement, which Nardal helped initiate by authoring social commentary articles in the review journal “La Revue du monde noir” . Another significant moment of her life occurred at the beginning of World War II. Nardal left Martinique for France but suffered a lifelong injury when a submarine attacked her ship. Her demand for France to recognize her as a civilian war victim and survivor highlights the convergence of race, gender, disability, and citizenship. This event eventually inspired Nardal to establish organizations and newspapers encouraging educated women to channel their energies into social improvement and suffrage. Nardal rose to prominence through her writings and fostered an international community of Black women who broke down barriers across race, class, and educational status. In recognition of her unifying work, Nardal was elected as a delegate to the United Nations in 1946 and was awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1976, the nation’s highest honor. There is the Promenade Jane-et-Paulette Nardal located on 100 rue Didot in Paris, and a plaque honors Nardal’s legacy in the Paris suburb of Clamart, where her salon catalyzed an international movement. Happy Birthday, Paulette Nardal! Early drafts of the Doodle below Location: , Tags: , , , , ,