France—and Paris in particular—has always had a warm and welcoming relationship with America’s Black citizenry, embracing their athletic competitiveness, military service, and literary and musical contributions. For two weeks, the world witnessed magnificent athletic performances during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris as members of team U.S.A. captured the largest haul of medals—but for visitors to the games, there was more to enjoy than athletic competition. Parisian ambience offered visitors fresh morning croissants, warm evening breezes, and relaxing nightly glasses of wine that soothed the soul.
Art enthusiasts had the opportunity to delve into the history and artistic brilliance of the Louvre Museum. Its displays provided a visual feast for the eyes.
The River Seine provided tourists with a slice of nature in the heart of the city with its unique blend of bustling activity and serene calm.
Many Black folks gravitated to the city’s Montmartre section, the neighborhood where past giants like James Baldwin and Josephine Baker once walked.
Black history is alive in Paris
In the 100 years before Lauren Scruggs became the first Black American female fencer to hear the American national anthem as an individual gold medal winner in the sport, there was William DeHart Hubbard, who, at the Paris Olympic Games in 1924, was the first Black American to receive Olympic gold in the long jump.
The 369th Infantry Regiment was an all-Black National Guard unit based in New York. When WWI started, the American Army refused to assign the Black unit to combat duties. The regiment ignored the wishes of the U.S. Army and the Black soldiers became an essential part of the war effort in France. The French dubbed the unit as the “Men in Bronze” and the Germans more famously labeled the unit the “Harlem Hellfighters” because of their courage and ferocity on the battlefield. On the unit’s uniforms was a symbol of a coiled rattlesnake ready to strike.
More than 300,000 African American soldiers served in World War I overseas in the American Expeditionary Force. More than 40,000 to 50,000 Black troops were assigned to French commanders.
“The French were much more accepting of having Black soldiers,” said Fabienne Germe, a tour guide with Walking the Spirit Journeys: Black Paris & Beyond Tours.
Corrina Santana, a worker at Restaurant Tato in the Montmartre section of Paris. The Montmartre section is where a lot of Black artists lived including James Baldwin and Josephine Baker. Santana has lived in Paris for 16 years and is a native of the Dominion Republic. Photo by Milbert O. Brown, Jr. for the New York Amsterdam News 
Two friends share a story as they return their rental bikes. They were reports that Paris wants to be car free by 2035. The men include: Diallo Cheriff, 22, (left) and a smiling Alimou Amina, 23, on right. Photo by Milbert O. Brown, Jr. 
Elbark Smabino plays the his sax for people walking in a Paris transit train tunnel. Photo by Milbert O. Brown, Jr. for the New York Amsterdam 
The eyes of Taxi Driver–Kabanga David has been driving a taxi in Paris for about 25 years. He is a native of Congo, but claims Paris as his home. Photo by Milbert O. Brown, Jr. for the New York Amsterdam News
After the war, the regiment was awarded France’s highest honor for bravery: the Croix de Guerre medal. According to Germe, America would not bestow medals on their Black soldiers until 73 years after World War I.
In addition to their service as soldiers, members of the 369th Regiment functioned as an all-Black military band under the direction of James Reese Europe, an Army lieutenant and a ragtime and jazz bandleader who helped bring the jazz sound to France and initiated the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance.
Josephine Baker, born in St. Louis, Mo., broke barriers as one of the world’s most influential dancers and singers in France. She established her own home in Paris and became a French citizen. When World War II began, Baker, by then an international performer, asked the French military, “What can I do for France? What can I do for my country?”
“She became a spy for France and managed to gather much information. Because Baker was an entertainer, she could cross borders without limitation,” said Germe, who specializes in her company’s Black jazz and entertainment culture tours. She added that the French people celebrate Baker because of her cultural inspiration in the arts and her love for her adopted country.
A few years after the war, a droopy-eyed Harlemite left his New York environment for a new direction: a life free to find his identity and voice in 1948 Paris. He would later say his reason for leaving America was for self-preservation from America’s Jim Crow racism. That dark-skinned, frail-looking 24-year-old fellow was James Baldwin, a then-unknown writer with about $40 in his pocket. He would later join up with a collection of artists and scholars that included Richard Wright and Baker.
Baldwin was encouraged by his mentor, Wright, to complete his first novel, “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”
Baldwin and Baker’s fame did not alienate them from humanitarian causes—they were supporters and advocates of the American Civil Rights Movement.
Years after the conversations between Baldwin, Baker, Wright, and Duke Ellington, their legacy rests in the high point of spiritual reverence. When walking down the streets where these greats once moved, their whimsical whispers of joy—a testament to the excitement they once brought to Paris as proud Black Americans—can still be perceived.