Virginie Carillon is the only bossale (new caribean slave deported from Africa) identified from my lineage. In the French West Indies, the surnames attributed to freed slaves were on the whim of the registrar. It is therefore very likely that the name of "Carillon" was given to her in reference to the bell-collars that plantationary system used to dress up the bossales slaves, who dare to run away.
Thus, her name bears the mark of a rebellious spirit! Invoking her memory, I recall the necessary civic disobedience when the social order is unjust. Her finger of honor is a mistrust of the essentialist and naturalistic taxonomic system of his time (symbolized by the insects all around). Is it possible that just as this iniquitous system validated his state of movable goods and livestock, there are other equally coercive systems today? Is it possible for us to distinguish them correctly, when though we adhere to many clichés of our time? My ancestor, who once bore the seal of infamy, is today the guardian of my rebellions, my ethics, my pride and my benevolence towards others.
