Thursday, March 31, 2011

Remembering Janet McDonald

I considered publishing this posting on the anniversary of Janet’s passing, but thought that it would be more appropriate to publish it during Women’s History Month – a time when women’s stories garner more attention and when we collectively celebrate womanhood.


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On April 11, 2007, the world lost a prolific writer and extraordinary person. Janet McDonald, an award-winning contemporary American author and Paris resident, succumbed to colon cancer at the age of 53.


I first met Janet at the American Library on May 29, 1996. She had been invited to participate in an event called “Writers at Work: from Manuscript to Bookstore” for writers who were visiting or living in France. Participants read from their books, discussed their works, and recalled the challenges of becoming a published author. The program described Janet as follows:

Janet McDonald, international corporate lawyer, has a contract with Farrar-Strauss to publish her memoirs, “a sort of Tree Grows in Brooklyn”.

That memoir would be called Project Girl (1999), and it went on to be named Los Angeles Times Best Book of 1999. Raw and insightful, it poignantly tells the tale of Janet’s lifelong struggle to reconcile her upbringing in a New York City ghetto with the brilliance that gained her entry into another world – that of Vassar, Columbia University, Cornell, and NYU Law Schools and beyond. The opening chapter of the book quickly sets the tone for what is to come when Janet describes herself as a college-bound project girl as much drawn to books as she was tempted by violence.

After Project Girl, Janet went on to write six novels for young adults. She reached out to this audience from the vantage point of the “derailed” adolescence that she describes in Project Girl, and did so with great purpose and success. Spellbound (2001) was selected as the American Library Association’s Best Book for Young Adults and Chill Wind (2002) won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award. Janet’s last novel, Off-color, was published by Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux in October 2007. Four of her books have been translated into French.

During my few encounters with Janet, I found her to be quick-witted, eclectic, and yet awkwardly shy. After reading Project Girl, I felt that my initial perception of her was correct. However, I learned that the awkwardness that I had noted was a manifestation of her struggle to find her place in society. Here was a woman who was at once a Mensa member and reformed drug abuser, journalist and rape victim, reformed arsonist and corporate attorney. Her life had been an incredible series of crashing defeats and phoenix-like risings. I stood humbled by her resilience and her ability to maintain a sense of humor.

In Project Girl, Janet describes the Paris that she knew when she first arrived in France and the city that she came to know as an attorney at a French law firm. She offers a unique perspective on life in the City of Light. Following the success of the book, I approached her about writing a literary walk based upon her places of residence and preferred haunts. The project was never completed, but I have resurrected my notes. Among her favorite activities were going to the movies, roller skating, and playing Frisbee. She described her “once and future favorite spot” in Paris as the Eiffel Tower. For her, it was THE symbol of the place where she was finally happy…where she was home.

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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.



Thursday, March 24, 2011

Black Women on French Television

Learn about the hidden jewels that comprise the "real" Paris – the people and places that are the true heart and soul of the city. Click here to sign up for the Paris Insights newsletter announcements and to receive our free Practical Paris guide!

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France has long been criticized for not having enough black faces in the media, whether it be cinema, television, or theater.  Strides forward are being made, however.   Today I bring you the stories of three women who are breaching the color barrier on the small screen.


Rama Yade

Rama Yade
Photo from Wikipedia Commons

Rama Yade, former government Secretary of State for Human Rights and Secretary of State for Sports, and current French Ambassador to UNESCO, can now be seen regularly on the French television station LCI. Yade is one of the panelists on the show Think Tank, which presents a weekly debate on current affairs from a leftist viewpoint.  Her first broadcast was on March 11, 2011.

For a time, it was rumored that Yade would replace Harry Roselmack (the first black man to anchor a French news program) when Roselmack announced his departure from TF1.  But she was quick to refute these claims, saying that she is a public servant for France – "period."

Born in 1976 in Ouakam, Senegal, Yade was one of President Nicolas Sarkozy's early favorites when he was elected in 2007.  In 2008, she declined the Sarkozy government's invitation to run for the European Parliament.  This was the beginning an increasingly widening rift between Yade and Sarkozy.


Audrey Pulvar

Audrey Pulvar
Screenshot from i-Télé

Audrey Pulvar is the first woman from an ethnic minority to present the evening news in France.  A 39-year-old from the French department of Martinique, she made her first appearance on national French television with co-host Louis Laforge on the France 3 broadcast Soir 3 in September 2004. 

Pulvar went on to anchor France 3's national news broadcast 19/20 from 2005 - 2009.  In 2006, she began hosting a monthly news magazine called Parlez-moi d'ailleurs on the Assemblée Nationale station.  She moved to the station i-Télé in 2009, where she broadcasted nightly from 6 - 8 PM and hosted a political show on Sundays.

In November 2010, i-Télé suspended Pulvar to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest because of her relationship with Socialist deputy Arnaud Montebourg, who had just declared his intention to run for president in 2012.  In the interim, she is anchoring a show called Arrêt sur Info, where social, but not political issues are discussed.  This airs on i-Télé at 11:40 AM and 4:10 PM. She is also presenting a special event at the Cité Nationale de l'Histoire de l'Immigration from March 22-26, 2011 on Curiosphère TV.

Additionally, Pulvar broadcasts from 6-7 AM and presents a three-minute spot at 8:37 PM on the radio station France Inter.


Christine Kelly

Christine Kelly
Screenshot from YouTube

Christine Kelly 's career as a nationally known journalist began when she was chosen to present the morning news on LCI, France's most popular continuous news station, in February 2000.  She is proud to have been the first black person to present a national news program.  From March 2005 to July 2006, she wrote and presented a show on sustainable development for Ushuaïa TV.

After taking time off to write a book about French Prime Minister François Fillon, she rejoined LCI in February 2008 to host the station's afternoon news magazines and to serve as co-presenter of the environmentally-oriented weekly show Terre-Mère.

Beginning in September 2008, Kelly hosted LCI Matin week-end on Fridays from 6 - 9 AM and the news on Saturdays and Sundays from 6:30 - 10:30 AM. She resigned her post, but subsequently reconsidered and was assigned an interview spot that broadcast on Fridays at 8:45 AM.

A 2009 article in the UK newspaper The Telegraph about Kelly states:

Although she said being a black icon "is not a end in itself, I'll take the flag as it passes by. If I can help others, encourage people to take up professions, so much the better," she once said.

However, she cannot stand being called a "black journalist". "I'm a journalist, full stop."

In January 2009, Kelly was appointed a member of the prestigious Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA) by the president of the French Senate.  This organization is responsible for regulating all audiovisual broadcasts in France.

Kelly was born in the French department of Guadeloupe in 1969.

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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.



Thursday, March 17, 2011

Encounters in Paris: A Book Review

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Encounters in Paris is a collection of five refreshing short stories about Ellery Martin-Roulet – a 35-year-old African-American public relations executive living and working in Paris. Her seemingly picture-perfect life with her handsome French husband and their twin girls is jarred by infidelity, job loss, and death, and her reactions to these life-changing events are what former Paris expat and author Carolyn Davenport-Moncel wants her readers to contemplate and explore.

In "Pandora's Box Revisited," Ellery deals with the "double whammy" of being relieved of her job and discovering the ultimate betrayal in her marriage. In "A Haunting in Courbevoie," she experiences excruciating heartbreak after learning of a death in the family. "A Brief Indiscretion" explores Ellery's thoughts and actions associated with feelings of insecurity and a desire for revenge. "Until It's Gone" presents the beginnings of the relationship that Ellery embraced with such high hopes, only to see it deteriorate slowly and finally crash and burn.

My favorite short story in the collection is the fifth one – "Some Birds of a Feather..." In it, Ellery "meets" two pigeons during a well-deserved vacation when the birds wander into her rented home near Geneva, Switzerland. After shooing them out the kitchen window, she begins to observe their behavior as they return to the window sill over the next several days. She eventually names them after her deceased mother and father because the pigeons’ behavior mimics that of her parents. Through her interaction with the birds, she learns a valuable lesson about love, loss, and the afterlife.

Though each story stands alone, reading them all in one sitting provides a sense of tenuous continuity and gives the reader an opportunity to "fill in the blanks" of Roulet's life that Moncel leaves unexplored. This was part of the book's appeal for me – it adds greatly to my desire to know what happens to Ellery. Moncel indicates that she will be publishing a new collection of Ellery Roulet short stories entitled Five Ways to Leave a Lover in September 2011.

Carolyn Davenport-Moncel is a virtual media and web consultant and life-long storyteller. Though she has published many online articles on media relations, she had to push through her tendency to procrastinate to get her creative writing juices to flow into a series of short stories. She says that these stories are 25% real and 75% imagination, and that she takes her inspiration from all sources.

Carolyn Davenport-Moncel

Encounters in Paris is available on Amazon.com in paperback and on Kindle. Kindle readers can purchase individual short stories for the price of $5.74, but the collection is a much better deal at $9.17. The paperback retails on Amazon.com at $17.99.

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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.



Thursday, March 10, 2011

A Breath of Africa at the Viaduc des Arts

Each month, our Paris Insights newsletter presents the hidden jewels that comprise the "real" Paris – the people and places that are the true heart and soul of the city.
Click here to sign up for the Paris Insights newsletter announcements and to receive our free Practical Paris guide!

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Aude Minart of La Galerie Africaine has mounted yet another incredible exposition of African / Diaspora art. Called Souffle d'Afrique (Breath of Africa), it showcases paintings, sculpture, textiles, and other items created by artists from Guadeloupe to Sudan. You must act quickly to see it - the show opened on Tuesday, March 8 and will only last until Sunday, March 13.

You may recall the exposition that I featured in the October 20, 2010 posting called A Passion for African Art. In that article, you saw photos of works by sculptress Marie B and painter Camara Gueye. Souffle d'Afrique features new works by these artists, several extraordinary paintings by Sudanese artist Islam Zaim Alabdeen, and much more.

Souffle d'Afrique is being shown at the Viaduc des Arts. The stone walls and lofty ceiling at street level are the perfect setting for life-sized sculptures and large paintings, while a second, basement room provide a more intimate atmosphere for viewing works.

Here's a sneak peak at what you'll see at this exposition:


Grand couple
Niko (France-Benin)
© Discover Paris!



Les Veilleurs
Marie B (Guadeloupe)
© Discover Paris!



Painting by Islam Zaim Alabdeen (Sudan)
Sculpture - Dan couple (Côte d'Ivoire)
© Discover Paris!



Bronze works (Lost-wax casting; Nigeria and Benin)
© Discover Paris!



Massai
TAZ (Burkina Faso)
© Discover Paris!


Brunch will be offered on Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13 at 12 noon.

If you are in Paris, don't miss this exhibit!


Viaduc des Arts
© Discover Paris!


Viaduc des Arts
57, avenue Daumesnil
75012 Paris
Metro: Gare de Lyon (Line 1, RER A), Ledru Rollin (Line 8)
Hours: everyday until Sunday, March 13 from 11 AM to 7 PM
Free entry.

La Galerie Africaine – Visibilité Noire
Internet: http://www.lagalerieafricaine.com/
Contact: Aude Minart – audeminart@hotmail.com


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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.



Thursday, March 3, 2011

Black Paris Profiles™: Alecia McKenzie

Each month, our Paris Insights newsletter presents the hidden jewels that comprise the "real" Paris – the people and places that are the true heart and soul of the city.
Click here to sign up for the Paris Insights newsletter announcements and to receive our free Practical Paris guide!

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Alecia McKenzie
Photo credit: D. De Clercq

Alecia McKenzie is a Jamaican-born journalist, fiction writer, and artist, who moved from Singapore to Paris with her husband and children in 2008. I had the occasion to chat with her last December at a café where her paintings were being exhibited. It was then that I decided to ask if she would be willing to be the subject of a Black Paris Profile™.

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Black Paris Profiles is now available on Kindle.  Only excerpts are available on this blog.
To get your copy of Black Paris Profiles, click HERE.

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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.