Thursday, August 11, 2016

The Necessity of French Cafés - Part 2

Exploring Lisa Diane Wedgeworth’s Acknowledgment of the Black body through Installation

By Sojourner Ahébée

Lisa Diane Wedgeworth’s installation, The Necessity of French Cafés, raises some really important questions for the future of the Black-American presence in Paris.

Wedgeworth attested to feeling very light and free during her stay in the city, and she even noted that she did not experience any micro-aggressions or overt forms of racism/anti-Blackness while in Paris. She explained to her audience during the exhibition that “It is a complex and liberating experience, being Black in America, then traveling and being seen as an American first.” She continued by saying, “Although my skin color is definitely seen, I have not experienced any behavior from the French that would suggest that I was less than, seen as a threat, or perceived as negative.” Wedgeworth prefaced this testimony by stating that the experiences of Arabs, Africans, and French-Caribbean people in the city will/may greatly differ from that of her own.

Lisa Diane Wedgeworth recounting her experience in Paris
The Necessity of French Cafés
Galerie Couteron, 2016
Photography by Sojourner Ahébée


I think it is essential to note the weight of such a preface and to consider the relative privilege Black-Americans living in Paris hold in striking comparison to their Black counterparts.

As the evening unfolded and Wedgeworth relayed her story in the gallery, a Black-American woman in the audience who has been living in Paris for many years raised her hand to recount her own encounters with racism in the French workplace. She explained that Wedgeworth’s experience was relatively lucky, and could have been a result of her position as an artist-in-residence in the city.

My own experiences in Paris differ greatly from those that Wedgeworth presented. When I visited last winter, the city relentlessly asked questions of my Blackness that complicated my ability to view it as a place of refuge. Most of my interactions with white French citizens were problematic at best. For example, if I entered a place of business, the reception was cold or hostile, and I attribute this to being falsely perceived as an African immigrant or an Afro-French citizen. But, as soon as I spoke and my American-accented French sprung from my mouth, the reception I received completely changed. It is almost as though my being American erased my Blackness, my being African.

Audience members share their stories surrounding Blackness in Paris
The Necessity of French Cafés
Galerie Couteron, 2016
Photography by Sojourner Ahébée


Aside from the contesting narratives that surround Black-American life in Paris, I do believe Wedgeworth’s installation was incredibly successful at shedding light on this sense of displacement that has plagued the countless pursuits of Black-Americans (and Black peoples, more broadly) in search of freedom and liberation. The fact that Paris -- a city that Black peoples across the diaspora are historically not native to -- serves as a breeding ground for generations of Black liberation constantly astonishes me. Black people in the diaspora are constantly faced with placelessness. As the young poet, Danez Smith, once said of Black diasporic people, “As Black people in the diaspora, we are not native to the land...but we are native to our people.”


Singer Gwen Sampé and dancer Samuel Mwamé
perform freedom songs in front of the installation
The Necessity of French Cafés
Galerie Couteron, 2016
Photography by Sojourner Ahébée


There is a certain French fascination and obsession with American culture, and also with Black-American culture. So in many ways, Black Americans continue to be well received in Paris. But at what expense?

When Black Americans like James Baldwin were in Paris, escaping the violence and hate that was America, the French empire was one of the biggest colonial powers in the world and the French were exacting heinous crimes against humanity upon Black Africans in their colonies. So while the reception of Black Americans at the time was one to be “celebrated,” can we really call this liberation when other Black bodies were being colonized across the Atlantic Ocean?

I think this same question applies to contemporary Black Americans in Paris today. African immigrants and Afro-French citizens are constantly treated as second-hand citizens in Paris. And most recently, Adama Touré, a young African man, died in police custody just last month. It is evident that anti-Blackness permeates many levels of French society.

Sojourner Ahébée pictured holding a coffee cup from Wedgeworth’s installation
The Necessity of French Cafés
Galerie Couteron, 2016
Photography by Sojourner Ahébée

So even if Black Americans continue to receive equal treatment in Paris, is this sense of freedom disrupted by the injustices enacted on other marginalized groups in the city?

In other words, are we free if there are others who do not know this freedom?


Sojourner Ahébée is a 2016 BOSP Continuation International Fellow for the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University. She is currently serving as the Paris intern for the Wells International Foundation.

Read more of Sojourner's work at Sojourner Ahébée.


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