A Mutual Love Affair ; Black Americans, Paris Have a Blissful History

Summary

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Any American with even a slight familiarity with Paris knows about Josephine Baker, the black swivel-hipped cabaret entertainer who shunned racism in America, vaulted to stardom in the City of Light in 1925 and stayed on to become one of France's most adored 20th-century icons.

But what about William Wells Brown, the 19th-century former slave- turned-abolitionist who expressed awe that he could pray next to whites at La Madeleine church, or that some tipped their hat to him on Paris streets?

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A Mutual Love Affair ; Black Americans, Paris Have a Blissful History

Both historical figures feature high in Black Paris Tours, offering a glimpse of the mutual love affair between black Americans and Paris.

Tour guide Ricki Stevenson let me tag along as she escorted four black tourists from Texas, who braved the weak U.S. dollar ...

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