t Just last summer, before heading out to Paris for my soon to be expat adventure, I took in as many podcasts as I could to help prepare me for what I imagined would be the hardest academic year of my life. Why so many you ask ? All my classes would be in French, and I needed to be more than just simply ready. And so that couple of months leading up to September were a mixture of feelings somewhere between anxiousness and distress. My brain could not fully register the amount of French that that same anxiety and stress were forcing it to consume.
The previous year, my family had suffered a major setback which would eventually lead my mom to being temporarily relocated to a healthcare facility in a quaint southern town in the heart of the state. I was not very enthusiastic about the drive, but it was half of my world that would soon be down there in Sparta, Georgia. It was a good two hours away and so I decided to take full advantage. At the time, I was still working at the Center for Civil and Human Rights and had recently finished an interview with the Radio France Internationale (RFI), who were working on a podcast of their own, titled « Black American Dream ». Ms Celine Mazurelle, who interviewed me, was a travel journalist based in Paris, working for the RFI. She discovered through thorough conversation, that I planned to be in Paris studying that fall, and so she recommended I listen to a podcast they had done on the Sorbonne, a long-time objective of mine. So on the way down to Sparta, I decided to take a listen. Her podcast, Si Loin, Si Proche, translated literally to, "So Far, So Close" in English, wound up being my go to before the potential move. The podcast covered the 1956 premier congrès des écrivains et artistes noirs, a title which did register with my brain that summer. After listening all the way through a couple times, the city somehow felt even more real and within arms reach. I felt that I too, like countless others who had come before me, could conjure up a new life—from little to nothing—ripe with opportunity, just as my predecessors had. Josephine Baker made a name for herself in the dance halls and on the stages of Pigalle. Baldwin and Wright debated in the famous cafe’s in Saint-Germain. Miles Davis and others musicians showcased their musical talents as jazzmen in the Grande Halle de la Villette. Chester Himes followed his heart and had written police stories in this city. And Angela Davis even graced the same halls that I would have the possibility to grace at the Sorbonne. I wanted, and felt, that I had to be apart of this new narrative that was no longer rife with the longing to escape a home blacks could never truly call their own. I on the other hand, had the privilege to make the choice contrary to their pre-meditated escape plans from the overt Jim Crow south or the covert backbiting north. As expected, this foresight and newfound knowledge helped to paint a never before seen picture of a different life across the Atlantic. I felt an empowerment to prove to myself that I could make the jump not only across continents, but from a school relatively unknown, to one recognized by many. Sources : - http://www.rfi.fr/emission/20170710-etats-unis-black-american-dream-luther-king-noirs-afro-americains-episode-1 - http://www.rfi.fr/emission/loin-proche - http://www.rfi.fr/emission/20160920-premier-congres-intellectuels-noirs-paris-une-rencontre-historique
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Raymond J.
This blog seeks to incorporate stories about life abroad in Paris and beyond. |