The commune of Sainte-Rose – the second largest commune in Guadeloupe, lies on the northern coast of Basse-Terre (or the top left-hand side of le papillon, as the island is affectionally known, because it resembles the shape of a butterfly spreading its wings).
Adrien Baron, the new Mayor of this verdant, picturesque, and quintessentially French Caribbean commune by the sea, assumed office in 2022. As Baron’s number two, Mr Elie Yaccou, the Deputy Mayor is intimately involved in the political and social life of the commune and begins by proudly explaining when he personally takes charge in a hands-on capacity. “As first deputy, I take responsibility for administering the commune during the Mayor’s absence.”
Municipal vs. Mayoral Duties And Responsibilities
He then deftly explains the difference between the municipality and the Mayoral responsibilities in the commune.
“The municipality is responsible for administering all the issues of general interest to the commune. Very concretely, everything that pertains to the administration of the commune, such as educational issues, cultural issues, economic development, and agriculture. We (the Mayoralty) are in charge of the development of life but for all its administration. The town traditionally manages some subjects. For example, the cleaning and the beautification of the town. In terms of education, primary schools have traditionally been the mayor’s responsibility.”
Attempting to situate Sainte-Rose within the island’s geographical makeup and political framework, he states, “In the north of Basse-Terre, there are six communes. Sainte-Rose, therefore, participates in the administration of the agglomeration community of the northwestern part of Guadeloupe, and the Mayor of Sainte Rose, Adrien Baron, is the first vice-president of this community.”
Continuing to explain how the commune’s governance is structured, Yaccou adds with typical Gallic clarity and precision, “Next to this community, we have a general departmental council which has a mission from the social and medico-social angle. Traditionally, the county council has always been in charge of social cohesion issues, elderly issues, and social integration issues. Finally, there is the regional council, which is in charge of everything that has to do with economic and development projects.”
Creole Culture and Federated Creoles of The World
Yaccou then asserts that Creole culture is also an important part of the mayor’s remit regarding the civic life of the commune, although other municipal entities have direct input.
“On issues of culture, and especially when it comes to Creole, it is the department that is part the council, the community, a little leader, traditionally legally on these issues. However, cultural and educational issues cut across such structures. So the city of Sainte-Rose, the agglomeration community, the departmental council, and the regional council must also all organize themselves so that questions of Creole culture touch the life of each citizen.”
The Problem of French as an Official Language
For Yaccou, it is often problematic (albeit unavoidable) that French, as opposed to Creole, has official language status on the island. As he duly explains, “Here in Guadeloupe, Creole is the lingua franca of the people. The problem is that all the official documents and texts are in French, and sometimes, the texts are complicated to explain in French. So if the person doesn’t understand the French text, you must explain it to them in Creole.” He adds, knowingly, born of experience, “The disadvantage of uncontrolled translation is that, by translating, you can modify the text, because as they say a word right, you can add to the text.”
Promoting Creole as an International Language of Communication
Cognizant of the contentious history of the French language being esteemed higher than Creole in the French Caribbean and thus displacing it as the language of instruction in schools, commerce and all professional endeavours, Yaccou understands that Creole was traditionally looked down upon with scorn and suspicion by the white French colonisers and that then, with a bizarre type of linguistic self-hate, this pejorative attitude was duly internalised by the local Guadeloupean people themselves. So, with spirited defiance and hope, he says, “If the ambition is to create a real, international community of Creole speakers, I am very happy with that because, in fact, I think that we in Guadeloupe have too often been separated and divided on language issues by saying that it is French which we must speak here.” He adds sagely, “The only thing that a language requires is for the people to be able to understand what we say.”
An ardent devotee of the Creole language, he looks forward to it achieving widespread diffusion, greater prominence and a welcome boost in popularity. He says unequivocally, “I dream of the day when our administrations will be able to write letters in Creole to communicate officially and when we will be able to make websites in Creole.”
One Wish for the Creole Language
Despite it being highly unlikely, given the contemporary global dominance of English, Spanish, and Cantonese and the overwhelming numerical advantages those languages have in terms of the number of native speakers around the world, the Deputy Mayor of Sainte-Rose is hopeful that one day, Creole will also become an international language.
For him, continued mutual effort is the key to that wish’s reality. As he says of the international cooperation which will be needed to help the Creole language flourish and make truly global inroads, “If I had to make a wish, it would be that we continue to meet, even remotely, so that we can work together on these issues, each in his country, each doing a little bit, so that eventually we will all be responsible for making Creole emerge as an international language.”
Dreams and Desires
Yaccou then shares a personal wish for subsequent generations of his family. Keen for them to become polyglots equipped with the requisite linguistic tools to enjoy a global, multilingual career, he would still love them to retain—and be able to use in some professional capacity—their fluency in Creole.
“I have three grandsons. I would dream that they would be able to travel widely. For example, to go to India, to go to the United States or to go to France, and be able to speak French, to speak English and to speak Spanish.” He adds optimistically, “I dream that in their chosen professions, they can write and express themselves in English, Spanish, and Creole, or even in other languages, such as Asian ones.”
Heeding the Example of Haiti
Yaccou is also keen for Guadeloupe to contribute more to international development on the regional stage. With a hint of sadness in his voice, he then invokes the memory and remarkable achievements of the famous Haitian slave revolt leader Toussaint Louverture and the inspirational history of freedom in Haiti to make a point. It was Louverture’s indomitable spirit that galvanised the entire Caribbean and enabled his people to throw off their colonial shackles.
With a didactic pointing, he says, “We have all forgotten the example of Haiti, an island not too far from here and which was the first black republic (in the Western hemisphere).” He adds with an almost academic insight, “What history has taught me, when the slaves liberated themselves in Haiti under Toussaint Louverture, was that they also planned to come to our island. But being at war (with Napoleon’s armies) made it impossible to reach Guadeloupe.”
He continues pensively, sombre as if imagining an alternative reality and what could have been had the tenacious spirit of Haitian revolutionary zeal and their unslakeable thirst for freedom made it across the seas to Guadeloupe. “So I tell myself that we also have a duty. We have a future generation to recreate this link (between Haiti and Guadeloupe).”
The Value of Creole Fraternity
Yaccou has also thought deeply about the country’s constitution and what the (in)famous French national motto of “liberté, égalité, fraternité” actually means in a Caribbean context, given the pernicious history of slavery, which held sway for so long in Martinique and Guadeloupe, until it was definitively abolished in 1848.
“As I often say, we are civil states in the French legal sense with liberty, equality, and fraternity, but freedom does not belong to any one country. Equality belongs only to a country. Fraternity does not belong to a country but to us and our descendants. From my international travels, I have seen that we are much more concerned about the sense of fraternity here in Guadeloupe than in other places.”
With a welcome – some might even say touchingly Afrocentric – awareness of the African continent as the true cradle of humanity, Yaccou proffers his opinion, “I think that it’s to do with the culture of our ancestors’ countries. The world’s first cultures are all cultures coming from Africa. That, for me, is the essential thing for countries to realise.”
Feeling a strong kinship between Creole people from countries with African heritage, the Deputy Mayor states, “Creole people have a distinct vibe and a bond. When I’m in Paris, when I’m in Quebec, when I’m in London, when I’m in Jamaica, or when I’m in Trinidad – all places with Creole peoples, we feel that something is happening. Yet, on the other hand, there is something even more when you are in Africa. So fraternity, for me, would be something positive to promote and value.”
With a mixture of pragmatism and political experience, he continues, “I now feel things in a very operational way and see very concretely what needs to be done to propose and make the case for an international Creole academy and to advance an issue like this.”
He continues, putting forward the case for Creole linguistic unity and an international Creole school, with a distinct echo of MLK in his rhetoric. “I dream of the day when children from Guadeloupe and Martinique can go to the international Creole school based in Louisiana. That would be extraordinary. We also have the right to dream about that and make it to Louisiana.”
Conclusion
Yaccou is proud of what the Mayor and his team achieve and their tangible, positive impact on daily life for the commune’s inhabitants.
A fervent believer in – and an unwavering supporter and tireless proselytiser of the beauty, necessity and utility of the Creole language, his vision for the future of Creole is noble, inspiring and laudable, albeit one which will require much work for it to be realised. If only the other communes in Guadeloupe and Martinique possessed such staunch and eloquent political advocates for Creole, who knows how far the language would spread.