- Title: Guided tours shed spotlight on Paris' black history
- Date: 30th August 2019
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (AUGUST 30, 2019) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SORBONNE UNIVERSITY / FOUNDER OF BLACK PARIS TOURS, KEVI DONAT, ON TOUR WITH AMERICAN TOURISTS FROM BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, JULIE AND STEVE JULIE LISTENING TO DONAT VARIOUS OF DONAT SPEAKING DURING TOUR (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF BLACK PARIS TOURS, KEVI DONAT SAYING: "My name is Kevi Donat. I'm a tour guide from Martinique. I've lived in Paris for about ten years now, and I specialise in tours of the black history of Paris." DONAT AND TOURISTS DURING TOUR VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF SORBONNE UNIVERSITY (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF BLACK PARIS TOURS, KEVI DONAT SAYING: "I was already a tour guide, I was already a tour guide, and people had a lot of questions about diversity in France, the presence of black people in Paris, so it's a lot of questions people were asking me and also I had personal questions about identity. What is being French? What am I doing here? I'm from the Caribbean, the French Caribbean, so we have this special weird relationship with the 'motherland' as we're supposed to call it, so the tour was for me a way to show people there is a different side of Paris, something they don't expect, and there you go." DONAT WALKING WITH TOURISTS OPPOSITE FRENCH SENATE (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF BLACK PARIS TOURS, KEVI DONAT SAYING: "Why aren't we so many? (more tours on Paris black history) I mean, why aren't more companies doing that? I don't know, I think there's not a lot of attention given to black history in France in general which is for one kind of the main reason, if you ask me, and then as it's not so mainstream it's not that easy to find tour guides who care about that history." THE PANTHEON, BURIAL PLACE OF FRANCE'S GREATS INCLUDING WRITER, ALEXANDRE DUMAS, WHO WAS PART BLACK VARIOUS OF DONAT TALKING TO JULIE AND STEVE OUTSIDE THE PANTHEON DONAT TALKING TO JULIE AND STEVE IN FRONT OF STREET ART OF FRENCH AUTHOR, VICTOR HUGO, WHO IS BURIED NEXT TO DUMAS IN THE PANTHEON (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF BLACK PARIS TOURS, KEVI DONAT SAYING: "I think it's not going to go anywhere. Is it going to be more? I cannot really tell - I know that in America some people talk about 'a golden age of black travel'. Is it going to be the same for the rest of the black diaspora across the world who want to travel and learn more about what black people are doing in different places? I don't know. I hope - of course I hope - but I cannot really tell." LUXEMBOURG GARDENS AND EIFFEL TOWER SEEN FROM PANTHEON
- Embargoed: 13th September 2019 15:08
- Keywords: Tour guide Paris people of colour Latin Quarter Sorbonne Pantheon
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Human Interest / Brights / Odd News,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001AUEV2HL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Kevi Donat runs walking tours of Paris with a difference - focusing on the black history and culture of the city.
Donat, 35, founded Black Paris Walks six years ago, after working as a tour guide and realising his - and his customers' - interest in the city's diversity.
"I think there's not a lot of attention given to black history in France in general", he said.
Donat, who is originally from the French overseas territory of Martinique and has lived in Paris for ten years, said the tours began as a personal interest.
"I had personal questions about identity. What is being French? What am I doing here? I'm from the Caribbean, the French Caribbean, so we have this special weird relationship with the 'motherland' as we're supposed to call it," he said.
On a sunny Friday morning (August 30), Donat was giving a tour to American tourists Julie and Steve. Walking around the city's iconic Latin Quarter, home to students and intellectuals for centuries, he shed light on the city's hidden black history.
"I think I knew at a superficial level this history was here, but certainly having even just these couple of hours being able to go a little bit deeper has given me a much broader and much richer perspective," Julie said.
(Production: Kathryn Carlson, Thierry Chiarello) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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