The white march organized in Châteauroux (Indre) this Saturday, May 4 in honor of Matisse brought together 8,000 people.
The 15-year-old boy was stabbed by another young boy of the same age on April 27.
In the procession, under a gray sky and in the calm, relatives and teachers paid moving tributes to him.
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Matisse’s family chose silence to pay tribute to him, as well as a pink banner, his favorite color, with the inscription: “Matisse, a real nice guy”. Matisse, 15 years old, a boy like any other, who loved football for example. In the procession, Isabelle, the boy’s grandmother by marriage. Like the young man’s parents, she prefers to remember the best. “He was a calm, discreet, funny child. He was a great little child for me. But hey, he’s there, he’s up there, he protects us. He’ll be our guardian angel”she confides with emotion.
Châteauroux, in Indre, has 40,000 inhabitants and brought together 8,000 people in the streets this Saturday afternoon. Many wear otters on their t-shirts or signs, in homage to the nickname his parents gave him. In front of the school where he went when he was younger, there was a break to listen to Matisse’s teachers. “I will never forget your mischievous little look, your positive energy which made you a sunny and radiant little boy”shares one of her teachers.
“I do not want that you died for nothing. So I promised you that every time I am angry with someone, I will think of you to calm my anger and find words of peace.”delivers another teacher, her voice trembling.
“We don’t touch the children”
In the procession, mixed feelings: sadness, incomprehension, dismay, demand for justice… “As a mother of a teenager also 15 years old, I’m mad. It is unacceptable. We don’t touch the children. Children are sacred”says a participant in the march.
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The alleged attacker, a young Afghan also aged 15, was indicted for murder and placed in pre-trial detention. However, this white march took place as Matisse’s parents wanted: in calm and dignity, far from hatred and exploitation of all kinds.
