Je suis Charlie

"Je suis Charlie" (French for 'I am Charlie'; French pronunciation: [ʒə sɥi ʃaʁli]) is a slogan and logo created by French art director Joachim Roncin and adopted by supporters of freedom of speech and freedom of the press after the 7 January 2015 shooting in which twelve people were killed at the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo. It identifies a speaker or supporter with those who were killed at the Charlie Hebdo shooting, and by extension, a supporter of freedom of speech and resistance to armed threats. Some journalists embraced the expression as a rallying cry for the freedom of self-expression.

The slogan was first used on Twitter. The website of Charlie Hebdo went offline shortly after the shooting and when it became live again, it bore the legend Je suis Charlie on a black background, a PDF containing translations in seven languages was added shortly thereafter. The statement was used as the hashtag #jesuischarlie and #iamcharlie on Twitter, as computer printed or hand-made placards and stickers, and displayed on mobile phones at vigils, and on many websites, particularly media sites.

Within two days of the attack, the slogan had become one of the most popular news hashtags in Twitter history. Je suis Charlie was adopted worldwide, was used in music, displayed in print and animated cartoons (including The Simpsons), and became the new name of a town square in France. On 12 January, Charlie Hebdo revealed the cover of its 14 January issue, set to be published a week after the attacks began. The cover features a cartoon of the Islamic prophet Muhammad shedding a tear while holding a Je suis Charlie sign, below the words "Tout est pardonné" ("All is forgiven").

About one hour after the attack, an image of the slogan was posted to Twitter by Joachim Roncin, a French artist and music journalist for Stylist magazine. Roncin says he created the image because he lacked words. Roncin said the phrase came to him naturally, because he regularly spends time with his son looking at Où est Charlie? books (the French language version of Where's Wally?).

The slogan is intended to evoke solidarity with the victims, as other similar phrases have done. Such "I am" and "We are" slogans "express sympathy, outrage, and horror by subsuming ourselves into victims' identities", wrote Amanda Hess of Slate. French media in particular noted its similarity to the phrase "Tonight, we are all Americans," ("Ce soir, nous sommes tous Américains") spoken on air by France 2 reporter Nicole Bacharan on the evening of 11 September 2001. The phrase was widely embraced, including being printed on the front page of French newspaper Le Monde the following day. Je suis Charlie has also been compared to another phrase of solidarity, "Ich bin ein Berliner" ("I am a Berliner"), a declaration by U.S. President John F. Kennedy on 26 June 1963, in West Berlin on the 15th anniversary of the Berlin blockade.

Media also have drawn comparisons to the iconic "I'm Spartacus" scene in the film Spartacus (1960). The phrase is also similar to "Main hoon aam aadmi" (meaning "I am the common man"), a slogan used by the Aam Aadmi Party in India.

Beyond expressing sympathy for the victims, within hours of the attack the hashtag was used by journalists discussing the issue of censorship and threats. Sophie Kleeman of Mic wrote, "#JeSuisCharlie sends a clear message: Regardless of the threat of hatred or violence, journalists and non-journalists alike refuse to be silenced. As Charbonnier said in 2012, following the firebombing of his offices, 'I have neither a wife nor children, not even a dog. But I'm not going to hide.'"

In the opinion of Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute and Senior Vice-President of the First Amendment Center, the Charlie Hebdo killings were part of a string of recent threats toward journalists and freedom of speech, following North Korea's threats over the release of the film The Interview (2014) and ISIL's executions of journalists. In his opinion, Policinski stated that instead of being successful at silencing anyone, these attempts at censorship and the Paris massacre have backfired and instead brought more awareness and support to freedom of speech. "Ironically, such violence directed at journalists, authors and others is recognition that free expression and the marketplace of ideas—enshrined in the U.S. [Constitution] in the First Amendment—is a powerful weapon against tyranny", he wrote; "For more than 220 years, in the U.S., the 45 words of the First Amendment have defined the nation's core freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition. We now have another few words that will serve as a global means of declaring those freedoms: #JeSuisCharlie."