Paris inaugurates city’s first park honouring a Black woman

A public garden, honouring a Black woman who fought for the liberation of slaves on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, was inaugurated in Paris.

Mayor Anne Hidalgo also announced plans to erect a statue of the woman, Solitude, at the site in northeastern Paris. It will be the city’s first statue honouring a Black woman.

Amid global protests against racism, French leaders have resisted taking down statues but pushed instead to design new monuments to honour more of lesser-known historical figures.

Solitude was born around 1772 to an African slave who was raped by a white sailor on the ship bringing her to the Antilles, according to newspaper Le Monde.

Solitude later joined Guadeloupe's resistance movement, according to city hall. Napoleon's forces arrested a then-pregnant Solitude, and sentenced her to death.

She gave birth on November 28, 1802, and was hanged the next day.

France abolished slavery again in 1848. Guadeloupe, a part of France, saw protests earlier this year against racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd's death in the US.