{"id":5,"date":"2007-02-14T17:09:58","date_gmt":"2007-02-14T22:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/?p=5"},"modified":"2007-02-22T22:45:56","modified_gmt":"2007-02-23T03:45:56","slug":"travelogue-1-paris-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/?p=5","title":{"rendered":"Paris, France"},"content":{"rendered":"

[French Version<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Paris is an architecturally lovely city, culturally seductive, charming, inviting, erotic and intelligent. In short, all the characteristics that would make for a good lover are to be found here, were she a person instead of a geographical location. Oh sure, Paris can be moody with its ever-changing skies, wet streets, abnormal climate shifts, spontaneous strikes, impromptu street demonstrations and celebrations.\u00a0 And yes, at times Paris can appear to outsiders as a self-righteous and tempestuous wildcat.<\/p>\n

The antiracist uprisings that jumped off in 2005 indeed served to expose Paris\u2019 dirty undergarments. She is simultaneously a city full of grace and beauty as well as a deluded diseased starlet with barely concealed festering wounds.\u00a0 Still, hanging slip, smeared makeup, rotting teeth and all, I claim her as my Mistress. J\u2019adore Paris!<\/p>\n

In the fall of 2005 when Clichy-sous-Bois ignited (unbeknownst to me), I was attending the after party for Cineaffble<\/a>, the Paris Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival.\u00a0 A member of the radical feminist lesbian collective that hosted the party graciously invited me. At the festival, I had met several lesbian feminist activists including a number of Black lesbians at a special screening of LOC short films. That weekend my Paris experience had deepened with new lesbian friendships, intellectual stimulation, and a funky good party amongst the womenfolk.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t learn of the accidental death of Zyed Benna and Bouna Traor\u00e9, in Clichy-sous-Bois until I read news accounts the next day. In 2006, I visited Paris several times and observed a palatable radicalization and militancy amongst Black folks. There appears to be a quickening of Black consciousness and visibility. Depending on ones perspective, these are either exciting or scary times in Paris because Black folks are on a move. Consequently, it is no surprise this energy finds fertile ground in all manner of artistic expression.<\/p>\n

Paris has a long history of embracing literary and performing artists African American expatriates.\u00a0 Indeed, the African American arts legacy in Paris is a constant draw for me. Intentional or not, I always seem to make a personal connection with that legacy.\u00a0 For example, one of my prized compact disc is a recording entitled, \u201cA Lover\u2019s Question<\/a>\u201d that features the late James Baldwin reciting his poetry accompanied by 17 stellar musicians including Steve Coleman, Pierre Van Dormael, Slide Hampton, et al.<\/p>\n

\"JamesYears ago, I purchased this disc in the Virgin Megastore on rue de Champs-Elysees.\u00a0 I wept with sadness and joy when I listened to the disc in my hotel room.\u00a0 James Baldwin epitomizes the affectionate and inspirational interplay between African American expats and Parisians of yesteryear.\u00a0 My discovery of the Baldwin recording in Paris is one of many fond memories; a Black arts connection I cherish.<\/p>\n

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\"morrisonbrochure2.jpg\"In fall 2006, the tradition continued when Le Louvre invited Toni Morrison<\/a> to organize a series of events centered on her theme “The Foreigner’s Home”, encompassing notions of identity, exile and belonging. I was in town on two occasions in November and December while the series was underway. Remember, Paris is a skilled lovah who caresses, kisses, tempts and slays visitors with her irresistible charm. I had made plans to attend the Morrison talk with my friend but ended up being completely seduced by the diffused light-filled clouds over Paris and the warm glow of caf\u00e9 bars along the Palais-Royal.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed a sweet reunion with my friend, the same woman from the radical lesbian feminist collective I visited in 2005.\u00a0 The generosity and kindness of the lesbians I\u2019ve met in Paris completely dispels the myth about all French being snobbish. My friend and I met at the historical Com\u00e9die-Fran\u00e7aise, and then walked along the splendid Place du Palais-Royal, through the enchanting garden and arcades.<\/p>\n

We stopped in a tiny bar caf\u00e9 for what we thought would be a glass or two of wine and then on to rendezvous with her friend at Le Louvre.\u00a0 Nearly two hours past before we realized the time.\u00a0\u00a0 We missed the talk but I made a new friend when I was introduced to a Black sistah who had not seen our mutual friend in years.\u00a0 So okay, we missed the lecture, the French lesbians had catching up to do, and I wasn\u2019t ready to return to my hotel. So in typical Paris fashion our trio set out to find another caf\u00e9 for more wine, food and conversation.<\/p>\n

I did manage to return to Le Louvre in December to obtain details about the exhibit. Le Louvre is not only a museum but also a massive subterranean complex of upscale shops, galleries, and exhibit halls. I felt so proud to be an African American woman standing in that august institution (12th century) in support of Toni Morrison’s work and community building efforts. Morrison was specifically invited to curate this series in recognition of the one-year anniversary of the banlieu uprisings.<\/p>\n

I surprised myself when I became excited at the sight of a 15-20 foot exhibit banner hanging from the museum exterior. I stopped two French white women passersby who appeared to be in their mid-20. I requested they snap my photograph with the banner as a backdrop. I asked the women if they were familiar with Toni Morrison, they eagerly replied: “Yes, of course!” The way my chest was all puffed out one would have thought I was a close relative of Morrison.<\/p>\n

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Paris accommodates wandering pedestrians, intimate conversationalists and lively debaters. The caf\u00e9 scene is ideal for contemplative solitude or lively socializing.\u00a0\u00a0 But it is the emergent hip-hop and contemporary music scene that is generating sparks and perking up ears.\u00a0 Jazz has reigned supreme in Paris since the days of Josephine Baker and members of the Harlem Renaissance started flocking to the city.<\/p>\n

\"bams1.jpg\"My ears first perked up to French hip-hop in 1999 when a Black lesbian sistah gifted me with a CD titled \u201cVivre Ou Mourir\u201d by a French female artist name Bams.\u00a0 I am not a big fan of hip-hop, the genre doesn\u2019t move me, but this artist won me over. The melodic and orchestral underpinnings of her music combined with her hard hitting lyrics rocked my world!\u00a0 The day I started listening to her music is the day I made a conscious decision to stop generalizing hip-hop music.\u00a0 Bam\u2019s 2006 release entitled \u201cDe ce Monde<\/a>\u201d is evident of her musical skills and proof she will be around for a long time.<\/p>\n

\"ka1.jpg\"I was recently introduced to the music of another French female artist named Keny Arkana<\/a>, in fact it was the new friend I met at Le Louvre who gave me the heads up.\u00a0 The raw, gritty, passionate intensity of this artist\u2019s music is like water on parched earth.\u00a0 Her video\u00a0Le Rage<\/a> is captivating in an in your face kind of way, but for me, listening to the MP3 file without the visuals was a cathartic experience.<\/p>\n

Arkana\u2019s musical style takes me back to the days of fierce dub-poetry and recordings like Annette Brissett and the Taxi Gang<\/a>, Lillian Allen\u2019s<\/a> Revolutionary Tea Party and\u00a0Conditions Critical, and Casselberry-Dupre\u2019s rendition of Rivers of Babylon and their album City Down. French hip-hop female artists seem to be screaming the message to mainstream society: “Back the f_k up, Pierre or risk getting stomped!”\u00a0\u00a0The music of Bams, Arkana and old heads mentioned above is like the healing effects of extra strength Tiger Balm, you are going to feel the heat, DA FIRE-YUH, before you feel relief!<\/p>\n

African American literature in general and Black feminist literary influences in particular are deeply rooted in some Parisian intellectual circles.\u00a0 One can scarcely attend any type of lesbian intellectual, literary or cultural function without there being some reference or quote attributed to writers that sprang forth from Kitchen Table Press in the 1980\u2019s.\u00a0 I must say, I find it disappointing that many French lesbian feminists do not appear to seek out more contemporary writers or later work by the earlier writers they cite.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Nevertheless, Paris is a bibliophile’s paradise. One of my favorite pastimes is to browse the antiquarian bookstalls along rue Saint-Honor\u00e9.\u00a0 I nearly wet my panties when I spied a first edition of a title by Sidonie-Cabrielle Colette, best known by her pseudonym COLETTE.\u00a0 I also found bizarre out-of-print hardcover comic books that contained grossly stereotypical images of Black folks, including jet-black hued skin, bone through the nose, red lipped, white eyed characters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A French white fellow standing nearby had such a fit of nostalgia when he saw the comic books I didn’t quite know what to do. Pointing at the “jigaboo-like” character on the cover he exclaimed, “Bibi Fricotin! As a child, I loved Bibi Fricotin!” Alright, dear readers look for yourself:
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\nNuff said. I didn\u2019t want to burst his bubble and inform him that I was interested in the books because they were so taboo and racists. I wanted them as evidence of white French denial about racial oppression and past colonial domination.\u00a0 I let it slide.\u00a0 It\u2019s telling that a word that seems to be reclaimed by some hip-hop youth, in a similar manner to how the N-word is reclaimed in the states, is the word \u201csavage\u201d–as in \u201csavage resistance\u201d, \u201csavage attitude\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Visitors to Paris in February might be interested in seeing an exhibit by a Black queer feminist activist from Italy named Veruska Bellistri. Bellistri (Rome) and Stephanie Muller (Berlin) collaborated on an art\/sound installation entitled RAG DOLLS: Beauty and Blackness<\/a>.\u00a0 The installation is part of the calendar of events for le Festival FULGURANCE hosted by l\u2019Espace Canopy.<\/p>\n

All dolls are named after characters from African American novels that describe what it means to grow up in a white world. Poems, songs and selected passages from Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye and Bell Hook’s Bone Black: Memoirs of a Girlhood are presented by the dolls as well as their own personal experiences. (QCC website<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The list of dolls names include Jabberwocky Baby, Beloved, Sula, Pecola, Po, Tashi, Willa Mae, Tar Baby, Cypress, Precious Jones.\u00a0 Well-read folks will recognize these as characters from the works of Toni Morrison, Marci Blackman, Alice Walker, Jamaica Kincaid, Ntozake Shange and Sapphire.<\/p>\n

I will return to my mistress in the fall just in time for the Paris Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival and Africolor Arts Festival.\u00a0\u00a0 J\u2019adore Paris.<\/p>\n

Skye’s Paris Photo Album<\/a> | Skye Links: France<\/a><\/p>\n


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\nSummary of Links found in Skyeview: Paris, France and additional resources.<\/p>\n