black paris: from james baldwin’s writing spot to josephine baker’s cabaret, 10 places to see in paris

AFROPUNK Paris 2017 is right around the corner! In addition to our most exciting lineup yet (including Yasiin Bey [Mos Def], Macy Gray, Laura Mvula and more!) and our customizable Travel Packages, to ensure your experience is the best it can be we have also partnered with Le Paris Noir, which provides walking tours highlighting the history of Black Paris in French and English, to compile a list of must-see places while you’re in town. From the café where James Baldwin completed his first novel to a cabaret honoring Joséphine Baker, below are ten sites central to the legacy of Black Paris that you don’t want to miss:

Café de Flore

Café de Flore is where James Baldwin wrote his first novel Go Tell It On The Mountain

72 Boulevard Saint-Germain

Carrousel de Paris

Formerly a cabaret named “Chez Joséphine”, Carrousel de Paris opened in 1926 in honor of Joséphine Baker

40 Rue Pierre Fontaine

Plaque for Richard Wright

Former apartment of the African American novelist and journalist R. Wright

Place Pigalle

Icon of Harlem sur Seine, a reportage about American jazz musicians living in Paris. Ada ‘Bricktop’ Smith was an American singer made the jump from Harlem to Montmartre—and her nightclubs became all the rage. Now an organic supermarket.

3721 Place Pigalle |Formerly Monico’s BrickTop

Le Grand Duc

The cabaret “Le Grand Duc” is where Ada ‘Bricktop’ Smith began dancing and became famous, and where Langston Hughes frequented. Today, it is a Chinese restaurant.

52, Rue Pigalle

Lycée Louis-le-Grand

Aimé Césaire and Léopold Senghor, birth of la Négritude

123 Rue Saint-Jacques

Place de La Sorbonne

African Presence and Black Activism (Alioune Diop, Anna Julia Parker and Paulette Nardal and many more)

Place de la Sorbonne

Hôtel La Louisiane

Miles Davis and Jazz Music in St-Germain

60 Rue de Seine

Panthéon

Alexandre Dumas, the legacy of an afro-descendant family in France

Place du Panthéon

BONUS: AFROPUNK Paris 2017 at La Villette July 15-16

Grab the crew and meet us at AFROPUNK PARIS 2017! Travel packages available at here!

211 Avenue Jean Jaurès

Meet Kevi Donat – Founder of Le Paris Noir

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