france’s new government spokeswoman is blackity black

French president Emmanuel Macron has just appointed Senegalese-born media advisor Sibeth Ndiaye as the spokesperson for the French government. Ndiaye is the first Black women to hold the position and considering the French attitude towards African immigrants, this appointment is huge. The media advisor was born in Dakar and only received her French citizenship in 2016 while working on Macron’s presidential campaign so its no secret that sis did her job and did it well.

According to Africa News, Ndiaye will be replacing Benjamin Griveaux in the lead up to the European Parliament elections next month. “France has given me a lot. Today, it’s my turn to give something back,” Ndiaye said at a handover ceremony last week. She also used her remarks at the ceremony to commend her parents for an upbringing that has helped her and her sisters “break through glass ceilings.”

Ndiaye grew up in a highly political family, with a mother who was president of Senegal’s Constitutional Council and a father who was a politician. She made her way to France to study before turning to politics herself in 2002 when she joined the Socialist Party. Macron’s sweeping win for presidency made international news, largely in part to the grassroots campaign that was covered in the documentary Behind the Scenes of a Victory. The documentary garnered much notoriety for Ndiaye, placing her in the public eye.

In France, a Black woman in government is rare so to have a Black immigrant, who rocks braids and her afro, as the face of the French government is, just delicious. Ndiaye’s predecessors are Rama Yade and Christiane Taubira who each served under Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande respectively. At 39 years old, Ndiaye is a seasoned politician whose presence will hopefully mark a shift towards more melanated representation in the French government — that would be the least France could do considering its perpetual colonial ties to the African continent as well as the large African population residing in France. The global takeover of public service by women is still going strong and it’s only getting Blacker each time. Bless.