Black Paris Tours

Retracing footsteps of famous African-Americans in Paris

TPARIS HE City of Light is known for the Eiffel Tower, the Mona Lisa and the Arc de Triomphe. But you can create a different type of itinerary exploring African-American connections to Paris. Some of the United States’ greatest black writers and performers sought an escape here from the racism of 20th-century America.

How and why AfricanAmericans felt more at home in Paris than in their own country is the theme of Black Paris Tours, founded and led by Ricki Stevenson.

There’s a square named for the performer Josephine Baker. James Baldwin penned some of his books at Cafe de Flore and Le Select cafe. And the famed English-language ■ Guide Ricki Stevenson explores how, why and where AfricanAmericans found solace in Paris. ▶ blackparistour.com

bookstore Shakespeare and Company served as a meeting place for African-Americans and other expats throughout the 20th century and still does.

In the U.S., AfricanAmericans contended with segregation, racial terror and little support for their art. But in Paris, they drank wine with surrealists, frequented bars that aided the French Resistance during World War II, and enjoyed accolades for their work, Stevenson said. The French showered them with admiration and opportunity — ironic given France’s treatment of its African colonies. And while Paris today is a multi-ethnic city, immigrants from its former colonies, especially North Africans, often face racism and discrimination.

Yet decades ago, AfricanAmericans felt welcomed here. St. Louis-born Freda Josephine McDonald, for example, came to Paris as a dancer after a life of cleaning houses and baby-sitting for wealthy white families.

In the U.S., she was criticized for being “too dark.” But in Paris, she drew immediate fame for her 1925 performance in La Revue Negre at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees. As Josephine Baker, she became one of the era’s most popular performers. Her image, rarely seen in the U.S., is widespread in Paris.

“The opportunity to live a rich, full life is something that she could have in Paris,” Stevenson said. “She could not have this in the United States.”

Russell Contreras The Associated Press Notre-Dame de Paris was the setting for two of acclaimed author Richard Wright’s novels.