For Postmedia Canada: Parisians express solidarity with Charlie Hebdo victims

Jan. 7, 2015

PARIS — It happened collectively — without a word being spoken.

During a single moment of quiet, unspoken understanding Wednesday night, thousands of people at Place de la République dug inside their bags and pockets, fished out pens, and in an impressive display of choreography, held them aloft under the Parisian sky to send a silent, but deafening message to the world.

It was an achingly powerful moment, following the shooting that killed 12 people at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, the satirical magazine that will forever symbolize the irrevocable right to freedom of the press.

The French are often mocked for their love of a good strike, for making sport of demonstrations.

But on this night, I, a former Toronto resident living in Paris, finally got a taste of the power of assembly, and perhaps a better appreciation of the French psyche.

News that a large gathering was being organized at Place de la République, began circulating late in the afternoon on social media, just hours after the attack.

As a journalist living in Paris, who once pounded the pavement covering breaking news in Toronto, there was no way I was going to miss the opportunity to express my solidarity with the victims, and my newly adopted home.

Until last night, I didn’t know it was possible for a gathering numbering in the thousands to be so quiet.

Read more at https://torontosun.com/2015/01/11/the-march-of-the-century-in-paris