I must admit, the first time I went to Paris in my twenties, I wasn’t at all impressed.
Although I’d traveled and lived abroad, I felt Parisians were cold and off putting. I wouldn’t return for 15 years, deliberately avoiding Paris when I vacationed to other parts of Europe.
But as I finally returned to the City of Lights, I began to understand why black Americans have such an affinity for Paris.
Black Americans have been an integral part of the Parisian fabric since the early 1800s. It was here that Sally Hemmings allegedly fell in love with Thomas Jefferson and where she obtained freedom for her children; here that fellow St. Louisian William Wells Brown, a former slave turned abolitionist, experienced the freedom denied him in the U.S. and was able to write and pray freely with whites.
It was in Paris where another fellow St. Louisian, Joséphine Baker, attained the fame and international celebrity which perpetually eluded her in the States, irrespective that she had become the most photographed icon of her time and the first black American female millionaire.
Just what is it about this magical place that lures so many black American travelers and expatriates to this fascinating city?
Frequenting Paris over the last couple of years, I have truly experienced a sense of freedom and have been captivated by the magical allure of the city, which has shown me time and again that anything really is possible for black Americans here.
I began to wonder why so many people, even Baker and Brown, with whom I share a hometown, had such a love affair with Paris and created their best work and their best selves here. So, I decided to take a walk in Josephine’s footsteps in an attempt to gain a firm historical understanding which would hopefully shed more insight on this city’s allure for blacks. I wanted to see, thorough Josephine’s eyes, why she, like so many other black Americans “felt liberated in Paris.”
I began my research by rereading The Josephine Baker Story by Ean Woods. Next, I caught up with my client, Lynn Whitfield, fresh out of the studio from recording commentary for the upcoming Blu-Ray edition of her Emmy Award winning performance HBO’s “The Josephine Baker Story” to help my perspective, then off I went.
I began at Théâtre des Champs Élysées on avenue Montaigne, where I stood mesmerized by Joséphine’s transformation that would ultimately take place inside this beautiful art deco building.
Joséphine came off a boat from her debut as the first black woman on Broadway, dancing as an “end girl” in a chorus line for “Shuffle Along,” landed in Paris, and on the same day went straight into rehearsals for her show, Le Revue Nègre.
The show was life changing in many ways. Not only did she become a literal overnight sensation for her exotic, soulful, topless dancing making her an international superstar, but here, as she posed for the poster for Le Revue Nègre, painted by French poster artist Paul Collins, did she admittedly first feel she was truly beautiful. This was the newly found confidence she needed to propel her to superstardom. No surprise, then, that they became passionate and longtime lovers. This could happen to a black girl only in Paris, I thought.
I traipsed next to the arrondissement of Montmartre, the home of Sacre Couer, the famous Parisian church that stands majestically on the top of the famous hill. At the same time the Harlem Renaissance was occurring on this side of the pond, many talented Black American musicians flocked to Paris, escaping racism and prohibition introducing the French to jazz, a music they still embrace today.
Walking through Montmartre, one can feel the energy of the storied Jazz clubs where legends such as Cole Porter and Duke Ellington found acceptance introducing new genre of music to enthusiastic non-segregated Parisian audiences. Joséphine starred in the Folies Bergère where she performed Danse Sauvauge in her famous banana skirt in this district and opened her first restaurant Chez Joséphine here in 1926, something that would not be possible in the U.S. for decades to come.
I walked, took the metro and cabbed it to see other sights such as the small square of Place Joséphine Baker which really is nothing more than a street sign in front of a few bustling cafes on the left bank, to the Piscine of Joséphine Baker reflecting pool on bank of the Seine. I ended at the glorious L’Eglise de la Madeline, a beautiful church where La Baker’s state funeral was held. Millions of Parisians came to mourn the loss of the famous Black American turned Parisian showgirl, actress, chanteuse, resistance fighter and ultimately French citizen, locking the streets of Paris one last time.
She found fame and fortune, celebrity, had love affairs and marriages with many French men and adopted her “rainbow tribe” of 12 children in France, and France found a love affair with this little black girl from St. Louis right back.
If you’re looking to be captivated by a magical city that can turn your life around and prove that anything is possible, look no further, Paris awaits.