Our spring is a spring that is scared, but it dreams. It dreams always and again, with all the strength of the different stories that make us up, all the humanist molecules of our citizen DNA, it dreams for the children of our country, girls and boys, in their luminous diversity of origin. Our spring dreams for the right to education on the values of freedom, equality, and fraternity in a revitalized school of the Republic, for the right to training in critical thinking and the vital values of ecology, solidarity, for the right to happiness to access culture and books equitably. Our spring dreams out loud for the right to independent information from the powers of money. The right to social justice that does not lock citizens in this black misery that can blind them. This means that our spring does not just dream of building a solid barrier against the danger threatening our country today, but it aspires to bring about a powerful springboard for decisive changes. Finally! I reread this morning several books that we have published for 28 years in our little Rue du Monde. They tell the rise of barbarism from 1933 in Germany, the spirit of resistance, they offer garlands of poetry against racism and anti-Semitism, or they invite you to travel to the enriching mirror of all other cultures. And I think back to so many books of our sisters and brothers who invite children on similar paths. Yes, the values of creators of youth literature, librarians, childhood and rights activists, carry a whole other world! But if the beautiful youth literature of our country has the power to make many hearts beat – and that is essential – its muscles are only small paper muscles. So voting, discussing, convincing, demonstrating, encouraging hesitant friends, acting together, and being very numerous is, for us too, our only true strength. This morning, I reread Paul Eluard and his vibrant love song: « Our spring is a spring that is right. »
