Blacks in Paris: African American Culture in Europe
A LETTER FROM DUCHESS I asked my college students to name a city where many southern African Americans moved after World War I 1914 1918 Their responses included New York City Chicago Illinois and Detroit Michigan These answers are correct But one city that they did not mention was Paris France After World War I broke out more than 200,000 black soldiers came to France to fight for freedom and democracy When they were in Paris they were treated as human beings Back in the United States there were Ku Klux Klan members who might lynch them if they had on a uniform Because of this many African Americans stayed in Paris African American culture took off in France between World War I and World War II 1939 1945 The French discovered African-American music Club owners fought to get black bands during the Jazz Age Please join me on a journey to learn about blacks in Paris This is a story about the promise of freedom in the City of Lights
Louis Armstrong and many other jazz musicians performed in Paris during their careers
CHAPTER ONE
WELCOME TO PARIS Langston Hughes first saw Paris France Hughes had just left his job aboard a early one summer morning in 1924 freighter ship after hearing stories about Paris from a native Frenchman Hughes decided to visit the famous City of Lights for a few months Even though he only had seven dollars in his pocket Hughes set out to see the sights One day he visited the Louvre The Louvre is the world’s largest art museum Inside Hughes saw statues from ancient Greece In his autobiography Hughes said that he talked to one statue He told it If you can stay in Paris as long as you’ve been here and look OK Writer Langston Hughes lived in New York City before he left to travel abroad in 1923
