African-American history in Paris is a bit like an iceberg. Much of it lies below the radar of most tourists and even residents. The only element that still sticks out as a visible signpost is the enduring presence of jazz. Sure enough, big band jazz marched its way into Paris via the World War I Black troops. From the first show by the 369th Harlem Infantry Regiment at the Casino de Paris in 1917, they set the traditional accordion music scene on its ear. Then it propelled bit players to first-name-only star status: Josephine (Baker) became the glamorous and respected 'Black Venus' -  French women imitated her style, hairdos, and even spread tanning cream on their legs. And master clarinetist/saxophonist Sidney (Bechet) was idolized and imitated by young musicians  tackling this new form of music.

That's how the relationship between Black America and France has played out - like a mutual exchange of each other's best qualities. The French offered up their creed of freedom, equality and brotherhood. Whether the visiting African American was a playwright, the intellectual W.E.B Dubois, or exceptional artist, writer or musician, the French judged them on their talents first. Former slave Frederick Douglass couldn't believe he'd advanced, in one lifetime, from slavery in the States to being solicited in Paris for his great oratory skills. When Philadelphia painter Henry O. Tanner won the prestigious and highly competitive annual Salon art show in 1897, who thought an African-American could ever end up in the Louvre – but he did shortly thereafter. 

African-Americans have visited or lived in Paris since Sally Hemings accompanied then-ambassador Thomas Jefferson's family in 1784. Despite a steady stream since, there were two main periods when African-Americans shone in Paris by sheer numbers and accomplishments. If you'd visited Paris in the 1920s-30s, you could have danced 'til dawn in Black Montmartre, to the tune of New Orleans jazz and the voices of singers Baker, Bricktop and Florence Mills. Meanwhile down in the Rue de Seine arts district, young Harlem Renaissance artists were mixing French techniques with their own style at Ecole des Beaux Arts and in nearby new art schools. Closer to the Sorbonne, poet Countee Cullen, Gwendolyn Bennett and writers Langston Hughes and Claude McKay wrote it all down for our future knowledge.

Jump forward to post-World War II and those same Sorbonne-area streets thronged with GI soldiers, both black and white, who were taking advantage of the GI bill to stay on in Paris and study. During the 1950s and 60s, in the St.Germain-des-Pres clubs, Beboppers Miles Davis and Bud Powell wowed packed houses. Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, in the literary hangouts Cafe Flore and Deux Magots, writers James Baldwin, Richard Wright and Chester Himes among others, debated with French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and feminist Simone de Beauvoir.

The rewarding thing about tapping into African-American history in Paris is the unusual perspective it casts on France's social history. For example, the revolutionary effect jazz and now rap and hip hop has had on its social trends (lots!), or how did welcoming African-Americans give the French a political leg-up vis-a-vis American policy. But that's the eternal draw of Paris, isn't it? Dig below the surface of its fascinating face and you find rousing, inspirational and debatable stories.

Please visit Julia Browne's websites:  http://www.walkingthespirit.com/ and http://spiritofblackparis.blogspot.com/