Fouad Chergui

In 1846, 168 years ago three Americans : John Thompson, Timothy Davis and Chester Sage decided to give the name "El Kader" to their small camp, in honor of the Algerian Emir And El Kader who represents for them a hero of freedom. Today, the city of El Kader is the county seat of Clayton, in the state of Iowa. It has about 1500 inhabitants and is twinned with the town of Mascara in Algeria. People of the city launched the "Abdelkader Education Project", an educational program to prevent xenophobia and open minds and hearts to the world.In 1893, 121 years ago, a group of fifty Algerians stepped for the first time on American soil. They were brought there to run the " Village de l'Algérie et Tunisie " ( The Algerian Theatre ) of the " World's Columbian Exhibition " in Chicago, a gigantic universal exhibition organized to celebrate the 400 th anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. There are a few photos of these Algerans at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.On August 28th, 1963, 50 years ago, Martin Luther King gathered in Washington, before Lincoln Memorial, a "March for Jobs and Freedom" of more than 250000 people. Corresponding to the hundredth anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the United States by Abraham Lincoln. This March, called the " March on Washington" has remained in the collective memory because of Dr. King's famous speech "I have a dream" one of the great historical speeches that helped change the world.From October 15th to December 3, 1983, thirty marchers called "The permanents" were regularly joined by thousands of other people across France from Marseille to Paris to denounce racist violence and deliver a message of peace and brotherhood. The "March for equality and against racism", dubbed by the media "Marche des Beurs" was inspired by the "March on Washington" in 1963 and marches led by Mahatma Gandhi ( especially the famous "salt March" ). It was born in the Minguettes district in Lyon. It met in Paris, 3rd December 1983, with some 100000 people. The French Government celebrated the thirtieth anniversary.I have come ElKader and Chicago, to collect the traces and, above all, the fruits of all this. It is a story that unites mine. For several years, I have had the desire to help young people from French ghettos, young families from multi-cultural backgrounds to enroll in a story that is rewarding and nourishing for them.Thus, in particular using the tools of video and of filmaking, I have worked on the issue of identity, the memory of the area (demolished and rebuilt under another name) of the "Olivier de Serres" neighborhood Villeurbanne on the memory and consequences of the March for equality and against racism in 1983, on the passage of the Emir And El Kader in France in 1852... and so on Because I gather together and work with young people who often have to manage multiple identities which are not always easy to reconcile and in relation to the environment (French and Algerian, French and Muslim, Black and French...and so on), it is particularly important to explore ways of "living together". " living together" with all the elements of one self, and "living together" with others.

I want to fully understand the "Abdelkader Education Project", be inspired and see how to focus my own work.I would like to understand more about how Emir And El Kader still remains a fraternal and mobilizing energy, both in the United States, France and elsewhere in Maghreb.Il would like to traces of the struggle for npn-discrimination, led by Martin Luther King in Chicago between 1965 and 1966, particularity inspired by living with his family in a poor neighborhood of the capital of Illinois.I would like to "Algerian Americans" from Chicago, New York, Washington Boston and understand how they can live both "totally Americain" and, at the same time, remain faithful to their original identity.