African Americans in France

African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans) in France are people of African American heritage or black people from the United States who are or have become residents or citizens of France, as well as students and temporary workers.

African American migration to France

African Americans, who are largely descended from Africans of the American colonial era, have lived and worked in France since the 1800s. Unofficial figures indicate that up to 50,000 free blacks emigrated to Paris from Louisiana in the decades after Napoleon sold the territory to the United States in 1803.^[1] Paris saw the beginnings of an African-American community in the aftermath of World War I when about 200,000 were brought over to fight. Ninety per cent of these soldiers were from the American South.^[1] Many black GIs decided to stay in France after having been well received by the French, and others followed them. France was viewed by many African Americans as a welcome change from the widespread racism in the United States. It was during this time that jazz was introduced to the French and black culture was born in Paris. African American musicians, artists, and Harlem Renaissance writers found 1920s Paris ready to embrace them with open arms. Montmartre became the center of the small community, with jazz clubs such as Le Grand Duc, Chez Florence and Bricktop's thriving in Paris. World War II brought all the fanfare to an abrupt halt. The German Nazi invasion of Paris in June 1940 meant suppression of the "corrupt" influence of jazz in the French capital and danger of imprisonment for African Americans choosing to remain in the city. Most Americans, black as well as white, left Paris at this time.

The political upheavals surrounding the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War protests in the United States were mirrored by civil unrest in France. African-American journalist William Gardner Smith who was also a novelist (e.g., Last of the Conquerors), who worked for the French news service Agence France-Presse, reported the events of the student uprising in May 1968. Many blacks supported this movement, which escalated into a virtual shutdown of the entire country of France. Once order was restored however, a notable increase in repressive tendencies was observed in the French police and immigration authorities. In addition, the presence of newly arrived enclaves of blacks from many African and Caribbean nations offer African Americans the chance to experience new forms of black culture .^[2]

Interpretation

Tyler Stovall, a history professor at the University of California, Berkeley, has said:

In many ways, African Americans came to France as a sort of privileged minority, a kind of model minority, if you will—a group that benefited not only from French fascination with blackness, but a French fascination about Americanness.^[1]

Notable people

• J. Alexander, model
• Josephine Baker, entertainer and actress
• Mickey Baker, one of the top guitarists of all time, and one of the most influential musicians in rock and roll
• Nicolas Batum, professional basketball player for the NBA's Charlotte Hornets^[3]
• Sidney Bechet, jazzman
• Arthur Briggs, jazz musician
• Eugene Bullard, world's first Black military pilot
• Barbara Chase-Riboud, novelist, poet, sculptor and visual artist
• Kenny Clarke, jazz musician ^[4]
• Carole Fredericks, singer
• Johnny Griffin, bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist
• Chester Himes, crime novelist
• Ealy Mays, painter
• Chloé Mortaud, Miss France, 2009
• Rashaan Nall, actor, director, screenwriter, painter
• Lobo Nocho, jazz singer and painter who was romantically involved with Winston Churchill's daughter Sarah^[5][6]
• Tony Parker, basketball player for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs and Charlotte Hornets (born in Belgium, but raised in France)
• Melvin Sanders, professional basketball player
• Victor Séjour, playwright
• Nina Simone, jazz and blues singer, a prominent leader during the American Civil Rights Movement
• Ada "Bricktop" Smith, dancer, singer, vaudevillian, and self-described saloon-keeper
• Henry Ossawa Tanner, painter
• Dominique Wilkins, NBA Hall of Famer (born in France while his father was stationed there with the U.S. Air Force)
• Richard Wright, author of novels, short stories, and non-fiction
• James Baldwin, author and essayist
• Saul Williams, poet, singer, and actor

See also

• Afro-French

References

External links

• Jenkins, Maureen. "African-Americans in Paris: 'It's always been about freedom for us'." CNN. February 25, 2013.