Walking The Spirit Tours - Black Paris & Beyond

02/02/2025

Check out our list of Black History Month links happening in Paris in February but also during this spring. Plan not to miss the English-language and French diaspora events!
And don't forget to book one of our tours for an exciting, rewarding learning experience.

What's On in Paris during Black History Month and in upcoming months.

02/02/2025

Black History Month - What's On in Paris. Do they celebrate it the same as in North America? No and Yes. Read our latest blog post for February events and through the spring

https://www.walkthespirit.com/black-history-month-beyond-in-paris-2025-whats-on/

01/20/2025

You can find a carving of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr at the pulpit of the American Church in Paris.

Reverend King preached there, the first American church on the European Continent, on October 24, 1965.

A man named Nicolas de Chezelles attended what he called an emotional event and told the church magazine, Spire, he estimated that at least 750 people packed into the 550-seat church, and many more spilled out onto the sidewalk and the street.

The carving is one of six crafted by a former church member, Richard Wessel, and dedicated in 1984. Carved from basswood, you'll see the figures of six great preachers and reformers: Pope John XXIII, John Wesley, St. Paul, Martin Luther, John Calvin and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King's sermon at the American Church took place the year after he receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.

12/23/2024

Need a reason to head to Paris in spring 2025? Join our Black Expatriate Writers in Paris-themed trip, A Black literary-themed trip hosted by the prestigious DC bookstore Politics and Prose. Imagine! 7 days exploring haunts of history-making writers and meeting present day authors and artists. Let yourself be enthralled as we explore the city - museums, their fav cafes, wine salons, jazz clubs, former homes, so many places that tell their story and Paris', too.
This exciting journey is led by African-American Studies scholar and professor Michele Simms-Burton. It's organized and directed by Paris expert Julia Browne of Walking The Spirit Tours.
Come travel with the best! With like-minded travelers.

Deadline for deposits is December 31!

Email: [email protected] for details or visit the Politics and Prose Programs Politics and Prose Bookstore

12/03/2024

Came across this display at Gare du Nord train station. 22 people and 22 journeys influential in the fight of Resistance Against Enslavement. Alot of narrative assumes and erases the long and arduous resistance, in all of the colonized lands . We know of Saint Domingue rebirthed as Haiti, but there's so many more leaders and communities.
I'm pleased to see this history out in the open, here in Paris.

12/03/2024

The first book I read by Guadaloupien author Maryse Conde was 'Tituba, Moi Sorciere /I,Tituba, Witch'. I'm thrilled that this same novel is being performed at the Palais de Tokyo next week.

It's the gripping story of a young 17th century mixed-race and free woman in Barbados who voluntarily submits to slavery, for love of a man named John Indian.

They are sold to a Boston-bound minister who ends up being the person who launches the Salem Witch Trials.
Tituba had been taught healing arts and this leads her to be convicted in Salem by her 'owner'.

So many Black women carrying the ancestral knowledge to future generations and still vilified.

I'd love to experience this expressive art but I started reading the book in Paris and am finishing it now on Montreal.



For this who revel in the works of Maryse Conde, and you're in Paris, it'll be Spirit-opening, I'm sure.

12/01/2024

Do you plan to visit the renovated Notre Dame Cathedral on your next trip to Paris? They're expecting 15 millions visitors a year! This video report gives you a glimpse of what to expect. I'm imagining that 9 centuries ago people were thrilled by the luminosity of the white stone interior, just like this restored version. The journalist isn't so pleased.
Link:
https://youtu.be/2uqlUhbphps?si=hJ2SvhTGxo_hp4yi

12/01/2024

2024 we celebrate the centennial of James Baldwin's birth. Today, December 1, we mark the 37th anniversary of his death.
He died in his home of 16 years in St.Paul de Vence. Many people have asked over the years, why wasn't that house, his home preserved.Why isn't it a memorial site? Why do you have to ask at the tourism office how to find its former location.
In this essay, University of Michigan professor and Baldwin scholar Magdalena J. Zaborowska visited the site several times while it was still standing. Among her detailing, she examines the significance of 'Chez Baldwin' on the author himself,his work, his friends, his politics of Blackness, queerness, sense of home/homeless.

I met Professor Zaborowska during a special Baldwin tour in 2018.
Heads up: It's a lengthy read.
https://lithub.com/the-last-days-of-james-baldwins-house-in-the-south-of-france/

Photo: Magdalena J. Zaborowska

11/20/2024

November is blustery and damp in Paris but when you happen upon sights like this... every season has its wow.
At the metro entrance Palais Royale, beside the grand Comedie Francaise Theatre.

08/11/2024

Paris Olympics - you've all seen the impressive Olympic Flame shining in the dark but this is what it looks like during the day. Awaiting the nightfall in the Tuileries Gardens.
I wonder if they'll keep it there during the year?
Something else to add to an endless list of Paris attractions.

08/11/2024

This was my first Olympics. I was surprised how much you could be part of the action without having tickets. The city of Paris set up so many free spaces like these here FanZones around town. This one's at Hotel de Ville: big screens, padded flooring, shaded bleacher seating, water misting, Swedish gymnastics sessions, proper sports-event hot dog and beer stands. It was great fun for visitors and locals alike!!

08/10/2024

Hot off the Olympics press! Last Saturday NBC The Olympic Zone followed one of my tours Walking The Spirit Tours - Black Paris & Beyond and broadcast this succinct report. Also features my friend and colleague Jake Lamar. My travel agent client 'Travel At Its Finest' had t-shirts made just for the occasion!
Canadians, you can watch it here: https://f.io/E443C8AX

During the Jazz Age, Paris became a sanctuary for Black American writers, artists, and musicians as they fled racism in the U.S. Jimmy Roberts learns how these artists flourished after finding their creative home.

06/06/2024

06/04/2024

Happy 118th Birthday (June 3, 1906) to the often imitated but never equaled, Josephine Baker.
Btw, next time you're in the Montparnasse district, check out the new signage at Place Josephine Baker.

05/21/2024

Thank you to the diligent team at Black History Walks London for making this happen... as we close in on the 100th birthday of our James Baldwin.

05/19/2024

Who represents France? It’s a question that has set off a political brouhaha, as far-right leaders complain about President Emmanuel Macron’s suggestion that Aya Nakamura might sing an Édith Piaf song at the Olympics.

05/19/2024

It's with great sadness that we give a last long wave to our friend and colleague, David Burke.
I met him first in 2012 when he and his wife/life partner/creative team-mate Joanne were starting out making what would become their much appreciated documentary series on African Americans in the City of Light, and films 'Paris Noir' and 'Fighting For Respect'.

They'd chosen Paris over New York in 1986 and David packed an impressive resume : Yale graduate, producer for CBS's '60 Minutes'. Together they formed their Blue Lion Film company and traveled the world, bringing to light stories of innovative women from SouthEast Asia, Africa, South America.
David wielded the camera and an eloquent pen. He also wrote several travel books, including the highly praised 'Writers in Paris', which evolved into wonderful tours that always lasted longer than the brochure said - people just kept hanging onto his every word and story. I still refer to his book when I need the nitty-gritty on this city of literary lights.
Illness took him out of the spotlight these past few years but I hold fast to the memory of this man who was so affable, warm, kind, mentally nimble, and fun-loving.
Until we meet again, Friend.