PSG, Palestine, & the Solidarity of Sports

Fans of the French football club showed their support for the people of Gaza on the biggest stage, showing immense solidarity through sport

For most of my adult life, I have had a fascination with French culture. It started when I was 19. I worked at a restaurant and was renting a room from my grandfather’s neighbor who worked in a city a couple of hours away, so I had the house to myself. I didn’t have cable, so when I got home from work, it was a basic antenna with a few channels that awaited me. My choices then were either local news broadcasts or edited episodes of Sex & the City on the CW. I opted for the exploits of Carrie Bradshaw.

In season six, there is a scene where Carrie is running through the streets of Paris and in the background the song “La Belle et le Bad Boy” by MC Solaar is playing. It was my first exposure to French hip hop, and it triggered a fascination with the genre for me.

Years later, on Spotify, a tailored mix suggested songs by French artist Maître Gims. From there I became fully immersed in French music, and have since read more…