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Marine Le Pen sparked fear and activism in France's poor suburbs

The Charlie Hebdo shooters, the Kosher supermarket gunman, the French-born shooters in the 2015 Paris attacks were all born on estates in the suburbs of Paris — the banlieue. The banlieue is home to millions of first and second generation immigrants, cut off from the capital by a peripheral road, systematic neglect and fear.

But there’s a growing movement in the banlieues, spurred on by the rise of Le Pen, to break the pattern of discrimination, disengagement and violence through political engagement. A group of activists and residents are working within the community to try to convince people who have next to no faith in a political establishment they believe has persecuted and failed them, to vote to keep Marine Le Pen out.

VICE News caught up with some activists and residents from the banlieue before the final round of France’s presidential elections. We follow them as they attempt to rally their historically apathetic neighbors to vote for a better France.

This segment originally aired May 4, 2017, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.