Chicago author Kiratiana Freelon has penned a new book extolling the treasures of "Black Paris," a guide unlike most others to the City of Light.
If someone told me I could only live in one city for the rest of my life, without question, it would be Paris. I first visited the City of Light back in 1998, during my first trip to Europe, and I've been mad about it ever since. There's something about this place that woos you like a skilled lover and keeps you coming back time and time again. Paris has had this hard-to-define allure for generations of travelers--and African-Americans have found it especially appealing over the years.
During World War I, when black GIs earned little respect from their white American counterparts, they found acceptance from the Parisians. Black soldiers from the 369th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the "Harlem Hellfighters," became a sensation in Paris and other parts of France thanks both to their legendary heroism and the regiment's band, which played ragtime and jazz. African-American writers like James Baldwin and Richard Wright found their literary voices and fame during their years in Paris. And who could forget Josephine Baker, shunned as an entertainer in her home country but honored as a first-class star from the time she stepped onto her first Parisian stage?
This history--along with far more contemporary delights--is captured in Kiratiana's Travel Guide to Black Paris: Get Lost and Get Found (Eunique Press, $19.95). Penned by Kiratiana Freelon, a Chicago-based Harvard grad who's visited more than 25 countries in her young life and appeared on the Travel Channel as an expert on Paris, this guidebook goes beyond what you'll find in mainstream guides like Frommer's and Fodor's. Freelon walks with you along side streets in arrondisements you aren't likely to see featured on Rick Steves' Europe; tells you about black Francophone festivals, and introduces you to hip house, funk and African and Caribbean clubs you wouldn't know about unless a local showed you.
And that's because for one year, Freelon WAS a local. She moved to Paris, bitten by the travel bug she got after traveling throughout Europe, South America and West Africa thanks to a $20,000 John H. Finley fellowship from Harvard. These trips and experiences help inform the well-reported and well-researched history and perspective she shares in her book.
She recommends books you might want to check out on black Paris history before taking your trip. Shares "origins of the French melting pot," taking a look at the former French colonies many black folks you'll see on Parisian streets hail from. If you're a Josephine Baker devotee (as I am!), Freelon gives a rundown on Parisian places that were pivotal to this groundbreaking entertainer's life.
But don't think you have to be African-American to appreciate black history in the City of Light. What draws tourists like magnets to Paris is its artistic energy, vitality and soul--and none of those have a color (although ethnicity often helps shape them). Besides, Freelon devotes lots of pages to cuisine that gets its roots in African and Caribbean cultures, introducing you to interesting African and Caribbean restaurants (including my favorite, Le Mono, in artsy Montmartre) around town and sharing a glossary of related cuisine terms. We all know this food's appeal goes way beyond black folks--just check out African and Caribbean restaurants here in Chicago, and you'll find a diverse assortment of diners at their tables!
While she offers suggestions on how to spend seven days strolling the streets of Paris and embracing its black culture, Freelon's book also refers to established excursions led by Ricki Stevenson of Black Paris Tours and Julia Browne's Walking the Spirit Tours. I've taken both of these daylong tours, and they offer well-informed and entertaining glimpses into black Paris's storied history and its modern present.
All about inspiring folks to hit the road, Freelon says this is the first in a series of travel guides for destinations in the African Diaspora, including (of course) Paris, London, Brazil, the Caribbean, and various countries in Africa. I love the subtitle of this first book, "Get lost and get found," four words she says "define my philosophy on travel and life."
"Travel is about challenging yourself and losing yourself in the culture and people of another country," she writes. For me, that's always been the allure of international travel, way beyond the great meals and world-class museums. And regardless of ethnic background, for those of us who adore Paris, there's no better place to disappear within your own soul.
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