NMAAHC Inaugural Ceremony Live Streamed at the Musée Dapper

The U.S. Embassy and the Musée Dapper partnered to present the inaugural ceremony of the Smithsonian's newest museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

U.S. State Department representatives Randianina Peccoud and Sophie Nadeau welcomed invitees in the vestibule and directed us up to the auditorium. Scenes from the new museum greeted us upon entry - Angelique Kidjo on stage, views of the crowd queuing for admission and shots of those already having been admitted chatting and laughing.

Angelique Kidjo on live stream
© Discover Paris!
Aurélie Leveau, General Administrator of the museum, greeted the audience and briefly presented the museum and the current exhibition, Chefs-d'oeuvre.

Aurélie Leveau, Administrative Director of the Dapper Foundation
© Discover Paris!
She was followed by Philip Frayne, Minister of Cultural Affairs and Communications at the U.S. Embassy; who also spoke briefly and, in turn, introduced Daniel Yohannes, U.S. Ambassador to OECD.

Philip Frayne, U.S. Cultural Affairs and Communications Minister
© Discover Paris!
Ambassador Yohannes spoke for only a few minutes, sharing that he was born in Ethiopia and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 17. He expressed his pleasure that the museum is finally a reality and took his seat in the audience so we could all continue watching the ceremony.

Daniel Yohannes, U.S. Ambassador to OECD
© Discover Paris!
We were able to view the entire proceedings, including President Obama's entire address and the ringing of the Freedom Bell by the Bonner Family and President and First Lady Obama.

President Obama addresses the crowd
© Discover Paris!

Ringing the Freedom Bell
© Discover Paris!
Then, we were treated to a panel discussion moderated by Rokhaya Diallo, a French-Senegalese journalist, writer, award-winning filmmaker, and activist for racial, gender, and religious equality. The panel consisted of Raina Lampkins-Fielder, Artistic Director of the Mona Bismarck American Center for Art & Culture in Paris; Curtis Robert Young, Professor of Literature and historian; Doudou Diène, Chair of the Board of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, and Jake Lamar, award-winning novelist and playwright.

Panelists on stage
© Discover Paris!
All panelists expressed their sentiments about the discourse delivered by President Obama from a professional and / or personal perspective. Perhaps the most poignant of these was a personal statement by Lampkins-Fielder, who pointed out that her eight-year-old twins have only ever known a black president and that this is "normal" for them.

Moderator Rokhaya Diallo, left; panelists (top to bottom) -
Jake Lamar, Doudou Diène, Curtis Robert Young, and Raina Lampkins-Fielder
Images and collage © Discover Paris!
Because the hour was growing late, Sophie Nadeau invited us to retire to the lower level of the museum and take up the conversation about the inauguration and the panel discussion over wine and cheese. It was a spirited end to an historic day!

Chatting at the reception
© Discover Paris!
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International James Baldwin Conference in Paris

From Thursday, May 26 through Saturday, May 28, the American University of Paris opened its doors to scholars from around the world to celebrate the life and examine the writings of James Baldwin.

This phenomenal conference, entitled "'A Language to Dwell In': James Baldwin, Paris, and International Visions," was co-directed by Alice Mikal Craven and William E. Dow of the American University of Paris. Four plenary sessions and over 150 presentations in 44 concurrently running panels placed "special emphasis on the Paris Baldwin inhabited, both what it was and what it is today as a result of the marks he left behind."

The opening session was held in the sanctuary of the American Church in Paris. Seven scholars participated in a round table discussion on "Presence and Legacies: The State of Baldwin Studies." This was followed by a reception and a "Welcome Show" organized by Samuel Légitimus, director of Collectif James Baldwin - a French non-profit organization that has preserved and promoted Baldwin's legacy since 1993.

Panel for opening plenary session
© Discover Paris!

Samuel Légitimus, Director of Collectif Baldwin
© Discover Paris!

Welcome Show Performers - from left to right:
Inside Voices Choir, Gladys Arnaud (Sister Margaret - the Amen Corner),
Rick Odums Dancers
© Discover Paris!
Highlights of the conference included screenings of Joanne Burke's video documentary Paris Noir: African Americans in the City of Light and Karen Thorsen's documentary Price of a Ticket, as well as Jake Lamar's reading from his screenplay Brothers in Exile.

Jake Lamar reads from Brothers in Exile at the Hôtel Talleyrand
© Discover Paris!
I had the pleasure of presenting "Beauford and Baldwin: Paris Stomping Grounds" on Saturday afternoon. This talk featured the favored haunts of Beauford and Baldwin, with a focus on the Montparnasse and Saint-Germain areas of the city. I also spoke about the recent Beauford Delaney art exhibition at Columbia Global Centers, Reid Hall.

Monique shows the Beauford Delaney catalog
© Discover Paris!
I sat on a panel with Ed Pavlić of the University of Georgia, who presented a paper entitled "Who Can Afford to Improvise?: Black Music as Heard Listening Over Jimmy Baldwin's Shoulder." Pavlić looked at how music influenced Baldwin's writings and distributed a playlist of "music to accompany James Baldwin's career (and beyond)." During the question and answer period, he and I realized that we corresponded about Baldwin's Istanbul addresses eighteen months ago when I was preparing for a visit there. The information he shared with me helped me write the blog post that I published about my trip in March 2015. We were pleasantly surprised to have this opportunity to meet in person.

Monique Wells and Ed Pavlić shaking hands
© Discover Paris!
At the end of the conference, it was announced that a final international conference on Baldwin may be held in Istanbul within a couple of years. Previous conference venues include Montpellier, France (2014); New York City (2011), and Boston (2009).

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Jazz in Paris - University of California San Diego Students Study Abroad

For the fourth year in a row, Professor Emeritus Cecil Lytle of the University of California San Diego (UCSD) is leading the UC Global Seminar: Jazz in Paris. On June 29, 2015, Lytle and his students arrived in the French capital to explore this quintessentially American musical genre.

Part of the course description reads as follows:

We spend the summer following in their footsteps to understand how Jazz developed and why it was so enthusiastically received by the Parisians in the 1920s. In addition to historical lectures, films, and live music in class, we will capture the flavor of the period with excursions to the nightclubs, restaurants, concert venues, and cafes owned and frequented by these African American pioneers abroad.

The ability to speak French or read music is not necessary—a passion to learn about American jazz in Paris is required!

Jazz in Paris is open to all UC students and anyone taking summer courses at the University of California. At a time when jazz has fallen sharply out of favor with American listeners, Professor Lytle believes that

…it is imperative that young Americans are taught and reminded of the great gift jazz has given the world. Much of the popular idioms in music, dress, language, and letters today derive their origins in the language and improvisation of jazz that continues to evolve.

This year, 28 students - the maximum number allowed by UC - enrolled in the course. For the first time, the class was evenly balanced with male and female students, which Lytle says is atypical:

Most years, the class is overwhelming populated by female students, who seem much more brave and adventurous than the guys!

Jazz in Paris 2015 - Students at a reception
Image courtesy of Professor Cecil Lytle
Students have reading and listening assignments that compliment the lectures presented Tuesday-Friday at the CEA Centre, 6 rue de Braque in Paris' 3rd arrondissement. Jazz artists visit the class to discuss their lives and music and students usually visit 3-4 jazz nightclubs in Paris during the 5-week summer session. Additionally, students taking the class for UC credit have three quizzes and are required to produce a final paper of 10-12 pages in length.

Among the visitors to Lytle’s class this year was trumpeter/composer Eddie Henderson, whose all-star band, "The Cookers," performed at the jazz venue Sunside in Paris. The highlight of the course was the students' opportunity to meet and interact with saxophonist Branford Marsalis.

Marsalis was the guest of honor at an informal session where students listened to him tell his story and asked questions of him. One of the young men in the class, saxophonist Daniel McFarland, had the privilege of greeting Marsalis that morning and escorting him to the class.

From left to right - Daniel McFarland (student), Branford Marsalis, and Cecil Lytle
Image courtesy of Professor Cecil Lytle
Marsalis spoke of the influence of his home town, New Orleans, on his upbringing and its contribution to the evolution of jazz. Toward the end of the session, Lytle (who is a concert pianist) invited Marsalis to perform with him. They performed Duke Ellington's Come Sunday and jammed on a blues number.

That evening, the students saw Marsalis take the stage at New Morning, one of Paris' most famous nightclubs, where he, Joey Calderazzo (piano), Eric Revis (bass), and Justin Faulkner (drums) performed as the Branford Marsalis Quartet.

Branford Marsalis at New Morning
Image courtesy of Professor Cecil Lytle
The following day, Professor Lytle arranged a discussion with three non-musicians so that the students would have the opportunity to hear other points of view about being an American expatriate in France. The venue was the Théâtre des Ateliers du Chaudron, a community theater in the 11th arrondissement that is frequently used for jazz concerts.

Courtyard outside the Théâtre des Ateliers du Chaudron
© Discover Paris!
The panelists (all writers) were Thomas Chatterton Williams, Jake Lamar, and me.

From left to right - Jake Lamar, Monique Y. Wells, Thomas Chatterton Williams
© Discover Paris!
Lamar, who has participated in previous editions of Jazz in Paris and who sat in on the classroom session with Marsalis the previous day, moderated the panel. To open the minds of the students and stimulate them to ask their own questions, he began the discussion by asking Williams and me to talk about the differences between our lives in France and the U. S. and what we like and don't like about life on both sides of the Atlantic. He asked Williams to talk about his New York Times article entitled The Next Great Migration and he asked me to talk about the work that I have undertaken as president of the French non-profit organization Les Amis de Beauford Delaney. He asked follow-up questions, to which we responded. Then Professor Lytle encouraged the students to ask their own questions.

Discussion was lively and touched on topics as varied as gun control in France, conditions for African Americans in Paris, French immigration controversies, expat life in France, the gourmet tours and activities provided by Discover Paris!, and how the French make friends and socialize. It continued well after we took a group photo and the official session broke up.

Group photo at the Théâtre des Ateliers du Chaudron
© Discover Paris!

Hye Soo Kim (student) chats with Jake Lamar
© Discover Paris!

Thomas Chatterton Williams talks with students in the entrance to the courtyard
© Discover Paris!
With only a couple of days left in this year's edition of the course, Professor Lytle has this to say about it:

The students are different each summer. Many are infatuated by Paris as well as by jazz. In addition to the readings, lectures, and listening assignments, I will certainly continue the activity of inviting musicians and artists to the class to help present a rounded experience of jazz life and the lives of American expats in Paris. A new feature I hope to develop is a tour to visit Josephine Baker's chateau, Les Milandes, in the Dordogne.

For information about the University of California San Diego Jazz in Paris course, click HERE.

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Ishmael Reed in Paris

Author and activist Ishmael Reed recently spent a few days in Paris with his family before heading to eastern France to participate in the international colloquium “American Multiculturalism in Context”. Organized by l’Institut de Recherche en Langues et Littératures Européennes (European Languages and Literatures Research Institute) at the Université de Haute-Alsace in Mulhouse, the conference seeks to “reassess American multiculturalism from today’s perspective, look back at its history, its development, [its] success[es] and finally [its] celebration as politically correct dogma.”

Ishmael Reed
© Discover Paris!
The organizing committee selected Reed as its special guest because he is an expert on the development of art and journalism within the context of the American multicultural experience and because,

As a prolific writer and opinionator, he has been in the eye of the storm ever since he first promoted the American “multicultural artist” in the late 1960s.

As a songwriter, Reed has collaborated for years on musical works with jazz saxophonist and Paris resident David Murray. One of their most recent collaborations is the 2013 CD Be My Monster Love, with three new songs with lyrics by Reed: “Army of the Faithful,” "Hope is a Thing With Feathers," and the title track, "Be My Monster Love."

Be My Monster Love by David Murray
CD cover
For this special occasion, Murray’s wife, Valerie Malot, organized a dinner reception for Reed at their Ménilmontant home. Malot is the executive director and founder of 3DFamily, an agency that produces concerts and books international tours for performing artists.

Murray was unable to attend the event due to a prior commitment to perform at a Tunisian jazz festival, which he honored despite the recent terrorist attack at the Bardo Museum in Tunis. Among the invitees were novelist and playwright Jake Lamar, fashion model Chrystèle Saint-Louis Augustin, former senior vice president of marketing and communications for the US Fund for UNICEF Veronica Pollard, special advisor to the president of the National Committee for the Remembrance and History of Slavery Florence Alexis, and author and book critic Thomas Chatterton Williams.

Ishmael Reed regales guests with an anecdote
© Discover Paris!

Chrystèle Saint-Louis Augustin and Mahamadou Lamine Sagna
© Discover Paris!

Veronica Pollard and Florence Alexis
© Discover Paris!

Thomas Chatterton Williams
© Discover Paris!
Invited to a reception that was to last from 6-8 PM, guests were pleasantly surprised to find tables set for dinner and were regaled by an Algerian feast consisting of a cooked tomato and red pepper entrée and a main dish of couscous served with chicken and meatballs, followed by oriental pastries and fresh mint tea.

Jake and Dorli Lamar at table
© Discover Paris!

Feasting on couscous
© Discover Paris!
A good time was had by all!

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Brothers In Exile: Three African-American Writers in Paris

To celebrate Black History Month this year, the American Library has mounted an exhibit that features the three most important African-American expatriate writers of the post-World War II era in Paris: Richard Wright, James Baldwin, and Chester Himes.

Triptych from American Library in Paris Web site
Photo credits: Richard Wright, Rue Jacob, Paris, 1949 | Portraits | Todd Webb; Chester Himes, portrait by Carl Van Vechten, 28 Jun 1955; James Baldwin, image from www.autostraddle.com
The name for the exhibit was inspired by the play Brothers in Exile, written by contemporary writer and long-time Paris resident, Jake Lamar. On the evening of February 17, the Library hosted Lamar for a reading from the play and an interview of him conducted by the exhibit's curator, Naida Culshaw.

Jake read to a full house, reincarnating in English what had been presented in French to another packed house at the Théâtre du Rond Point almost a year ago to the day.

Jake Lamar reads from Brothers in Exile
© Discover Paris!
His interview with Naida explored his inspiration for writing the play and the creative process behind it.

Answering an interview question
© Discover Paris!
The display case in which the exhibit is presented consists of nine compartments, seven of which focus on Wright, Baldwin, and Himes. One of them highlights the play, Brothers in Exile. Another contains photos and information about four female writers: Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Terry McMillan.

Chester Himes: Brothers in Exile exhibit
© Discover Paris!

Brothers in Exile: Brothers in Exile exhibit
© Discover Paris!

Women authors: Brothers in Exile exhibit
© Discover Paris!
When asked why she selected "Brothers in Exile" as the topic for this year's Black History Month exhibit, Naida responded:

After curating several exhibits focused on historical experiences of African Americans inside the United States – such as their roles in the civil war, the legendary Negro baseball league, and the many stories of blacks in the Wild West – I was looking for a topic where being both an expat and an African American played a role.

Around that time I became aware of a reading at the American University of Paris featuring Jake Lamar which mentioned his play. It only took reviewing the synopsis of the play to confirm this was the next topic! I contacted Jake and he was open to the idea, so we went from there.

During the interview, Jake was pleased to announce that the radio station France Culture will produce Brothers in Exile as part of its Fiction / Théâtre et Companie series. Laurence Courtois, the literary advisor for Théâtre et Companie, will direct the audio production.

Laurence Courtois and Jake Lamar
© Discover Paris!
The Brothers in Exile exhibit runs through March 22, 2015. The day before it closes, Jake will moderate a literary discussion at the library called "Writers and their Heroes," at which participants will take a close look at protagonists in four seminal novels by Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison and Chester Himes. Space is limited, RSVP required.

For information about past Black History Month events at the American Library, click on the links below.

Black History Month at the American Library
Black History Month 2014 at the American Library

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Postérité: A Review

I am a huge fan of Jake Lamar’s writing. I’ve read his memoir and all of his novels and I attended the reading for his stage play Brothers in Exile.

Jake's most recent book, Postérité (Rivages, 2014), is the only work of his that I’ve read in French. In fact, this is the first book by Jake that has been released in French prior to being published in English.

Postérité represents additional firsts for Jake as well. It is his first novel that cannot be categorized as a thriller. It is his first novel that does not revolve around a black character or examine race relations. It delves deeply into the subject of modern/contemporary art and the tragedy of the Rotterdam Blitz of World War II.

Postérité is the story of two protagonists – a Dutch abstract expressionist painter, Femke Versloot, and an American art history professor, Toby White, who wants to write a book about her. White can be viewed as an intellectual “stalker” of sorts. He desperately wants to expose the “life behind the art” of the enigmatic painter in a scholarly publication, which he believes will open the doors to a prestigious appointment at a major American university. In the hope of getting close to his subject, he begins an intimate relationship with Versloot’s granddaughter (who also happens to be his student).

During the course of the story, we learn that Versloot is a contemporary of Jackson Pollack and countryman Willem de Kooning and that her art does not receive the same level of recognition and accolades as the works of these male colleagues until very late in her life. As Jake “pulls back the curtain” on her world, we discover an artist who is completely obsessed with her work and whose personal life is shrouded in mystery.

Jake signing a copy of Postérité
© Discover Paris!
In his inimitable way, Jake weaves back and forth between past and present, giving us tantalizing glances into events that have molded Femke Versloot into the artist that White pursues. He introduces us to Joop, the younger brother whom Versloot abandoned in Rotterdam at the end of the war. As his story unfolds, the reader almost wills him to expose the secrets that his sister has kept buried for over 50 years. Jake presents the men in Versloot’s life, her daughter, her granddaughter, and friends and acquaintances who provide glimpses the psyche of this impenetrable character. And he includes several twists in the plot that are reminiscent of the thrillers that he’s published in the past.

Versloot’s art takes on the role of a character in the book as well:

“a painting that seemed to seethe, from corner to corner, with molten red and brown”

“September 1949, a churning whirlpool in viscous mud tones”

“ this unsettling tableau, with its purplish epicenter surrounded by expanding greenish-bluish rings that seem to seep through the canvas. Ultra fine blue tentacles snaking through the rings . . .”

Jake’s description of the paintings renders them vivid in the mind’s eye and gives them a soul and a purpose independent of the person who created them. Not only can you see them, you can FEEL them.

For Francophone readers, I highly recommend this well-woven tale of intrigue.

For Anglophone readers, look for a follow-up post on this blog when the original (English-language) version of the book (entitled Posthumous) is published.

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Black Writers at Festival AMERICA

Festival AMERICA is an event that features the literature and culture of North America. It is held in Vincennes, an eastern suburb of Paris, once every two years.

This year, several black writers from the United States, Haïti, and Canada will sit on numerous panels to discuss their publications.

UNITED STATES

The French translation of long-time Paris resident Jake Lamar's book, Postérité (English-language title: Posthumous), was released by Rivages on September 10, 2014. Jake received the prestigious Centre National du Livre award for this book. The English-language version has not yet been released.

Photo of Jake Lamar © Giles Plazy - Opale - Éditions Payot Rivages

Collage © Discover Paris!

Because Jake has participated in the festival multiple times, I asked him to comment on the event. He said the following:

This is my fourth invitation to Festival AMERICA since 2004. I’ve participated in lots of book festivals, all over France, and Festival America, in my experience, is maybe the best of them all. The list of writers is always very diverse. The organizers clearly put a lot of thought into the grouping of writers in different panel discussions. And the public is always very engaged and enthusiastic.

Philadelphian Ayana Mathis' first novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, was released in French under the title (Les Douze Tribus d'Hattie) by Gallmeister in January 2014. It is a New York Times Bestseller and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year 2013.

Photo of Ayana Mathis © Elena Seibert

Collage © Discover Paris!

Jesmyn Ward is a former Stegner fellow at Stanford and Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi. Her novels, Where the Line Bleeds and Salvage the Bones, are both set on the Mississippi coast where she grew up. The French translation of Where the Line Bleeds was released in French under the title Ligne de Fracture in May 2014.

Photo of Jesmyn Ward © Tony Cook

Collage © Discover Paris!

HAITI

Port-au-Prince native Dominique Batraville studied in Belgium and France before returning to Haïti in the aftermath of the fall of the Duvalier regime. His first novel, L’Ange de charbon, will be featured at the festival.

Photo of Dominique Batraville from Festival AMERICA Web site

Collage © Discover Paris!

Louis-Philippe Dalembert received the RFO book prize for his novel, L’autre face de la mer, in 1999. He will discuss his most recent novel, Ballade d’un amour inachevé, at the festival this year.

Photo of Louis-Philippe Dalembert © Stephane Haskell

Collage © Discover Paris!

Henry Kénol is a prolific writer of novels, poems, and essays. His novel, Le désespoir des anges, is "inspired" by the armed gangs that ruled the streets of Haïti's cities during the 2000s.

Photo of Henry Kénol from Festival AMERICA Web site

Collage © Discover Paris!

Journalist, screen writer, and essayist, Dany Laferrière now spends most of his time in Montreal, Canada. He describes his book, L'Art presque perdu de rien faire, as "an autobiography of my ideas." Laferrière is the first black since Léopold Sédar Senghor to be elected to the Académie Française.

Photo of Dany Laferrière © Jf Paga Grasset

Collage © Discover Paris!

Yanick Lahens is a professor of literature as well as a novelist, essayist, and documentary filmmaker. She was awarded the title of Officer of Arts and Letters by the Ambassador of France in Haiti this year. Her latest book, Bain de lune, tells a story of passion, voodoo, and politics.

Photo of Yanick Lahens from Festival AMERICA Web site

Collage © Discover Paris!

Anthony Phelps' Nomade, je fus de très vieille mémoire is a personal anthology of poems written between 1961 and 2011. Phelps was a political prisoner of the Duvalier regime. Forced to leave the country after his release, he emigrated to Montreal, Canada. He has written over twenty books (short stories, novels, essays, and poems) that have been translated into seven languages.

Photo of Anthony Phelps © Setkafilms

Collage © Discover Paris!

CANADA

Ryad Assani-Razaki was born in Cotonou, Benin in 1981. After studying computer science in the United States, he settled in Montreal. He now works as a computer scientist in Toronto. His first collection of short stories was awarded the Trillium in 2007. La Main d'Imam, the novel that is featured at the festival, received the Robert-Cliche prize in 2011.

Photo of Ryad Assani-Razaki © Fatou Binetou Kone

Collage © Discover Paris!

The 7th edition of Festival AMERICA will take place from September 11 through September 14. A youth festival, several photographic expositions, and films and concerts will complement the literary events at the festival.

The primary venue is the Centre Culturel Georges Pompidou, 142 rue de Fontenay, 94300 Vincennes. Several events will take place in additional sites nearby.

For more information, visit the official Festival AMERICA Web site (text in French).

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