Entertainment
Jazz pianist Kirk Lightsey found respect in Paris that was missing in the United States — Andscape
Black Americans in France is a series of reports specializing in African Americans living abroad during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Pianist Kirk Lightsey moved to Paris permanently in 1994. After moving there, Lightsey, then 87, joined one other wave of African Americans to maneuver to the City of Light.
Since the early twentieth century, Paris has been a magnet for African Americans who saw the country and city as a refuge from the brutal reality of racism in the United States. For generations of black Americans, Paris has offered opportunity, recent beginnings, and an escape from the constant hum of racism.
As a highly regarded jazz musician, Lightsey was a part of a wealthy jazz tradition that had delighted Parisians since the early twentieth century, when jazz was introduced by the regimental bands of black American soldiers who spread the exciting recent music throughout France.
While Paris was under no circumstances a paradise for people of various races, for a lot of African writers, musicians, and artists the city was a protected space where their humanity was not only recognized but valued.
“Paris was welcoming,” Lightsey said from his home in Paris during a recent interview. “I felt more at ease. I felt appreciated. I felt like people were people, and I was just a human being to all people, and I was very appreciated. It was wonderful to be here. It was great.”
Brian O’Connor/Images of Jazz/Heritage Images via Getty Images
Born and raised in Detroit, Lightsey began playing piano at age 5 and spent his teens and early maturity becoming a part of the city’s vibrant jazz scene. Eventually, Lightsey was prompted to maneuver to Paris when the burden of racism became an excessive amount of to bear.
The first incident occurred while he was serving in the army.
Lightsey was drafted in 1960 and was a member of the Fort Knox Army Band. During one visit, Lightsey and his then-wife decided to go off base for dinner.
“She was visiting me at Fort Knox. We were hungry. We just drove down the hill about 15 minutes from Fort Knox,” he recalled. “I said, ‘I’ve never been to this place, but it looks pretty good, so let’s go in and get something to eat.’ We went in, I was in my uniform, and they immediately said, ‘Excuse me, we don’t serve blacks here.’ I didn’t know what to do. All I could do was take Shirley’s hand and walk out. It was the most outrageous thing that had ever happened to me, as far as race was concerned. And they still expect me to fight for my country.”
In addition to soldiers, black musicians weren’t spared the humiliation of racism during their tours.
“The whole Count Basie band had to do it, a lot of people who were on the road, all these black musicians at the time had to go through it,” Lightsey said. “That’s why so many black individuals who were playing music at the time decided to come back to Europe, decided to come back to Paris, and most of them stayed. They stayed because they knew after they got back to the States they were going to get their asses kicked by white toes.
“There was no racial issue here (France). The French were really happy to accept us as artists and had great respect for us.”
After his discharge, Lightsey became a staff pianist at Motown Records and continued to achieve fame by fiddling with a few of Detroit’s finest musicians. In the mid-’60s, Lightsey joined trombonist Melba Liston’s all-female band and made a pilgrimage to New York.
After his time with Liston, Lightsey moved to California in 1969 to work with vocalist OC Smith, during which era he made his first trip to Paris. He then joined saxophonist Dexter Gordon’s band, returned to New York, and have become a fixture on the New York jazz scene.
One night, Lightsey was riding a crowded subway back from a concert when he was arrested by the New York City Transit Police on a vague charge of hit-and-run. He later learned that he and other black passengers had been racially profiled by the Transit Police in a scheme that was uncovered when the Transit Police targeted an off-duty black police officer. Lightsey sued the city and won a positive settlement seven years later.
“I was working all over New York at the time and had been to Europe a few times,” he recalled. “I was playing in Paris, and Paris seemed like a good place to live.”
Lightsey decided to make use of the settlement money to maneuver to Paris along with his recent wife, who was French. At 57, he had had enough.
The subway incident was the final straw.
“What was happening politically was a big part of why I left the States and came to Europe,” he said. “The club owners were dying and things were changing in New York in the business and it just didn’t feel the same. It’s worse now than it was then, but it was bad enough then. It was at a time when a lot of American musicians were moving to Paris and Europe because life in the States was just so ugly for black Americans, and especially black American musicians. A lot of people moved here. And I came here and found a lot of people who were my friends.”
Samuel Dietz/Redferns
There was no shortage of labor for Lightsey, who enjoyed widespread recognition at this point in his profession. He worked repeatedly at several clubs in Paris, the surrounding countryside, and taught at an academic program outside of Paris. Lightsey believes his profession in Paris has reached one other level.
“Yes, that happened. I was at a different level because now not only was I from New York and playing from New York, but it was a great level,” he said. “And I was one in every of the best pianists in Paris and other parts of Europe that I had been to. So I was on a ladder going up.
“Life in Paris was very easy. I just had to learn the language. But it wasn’t that hard because people in Paris at that time were trying to learn English, so they practiced their English with me back and forth. I don’t have to speak French as much as I did when I came here.”
Because of the historical origins of black jazz musicians in France, Lightsey said, he and other jazz musicians enjoy a level of respect that is usually lacking in the United States.
“My French wasn’t bad. It was beginner’s French, but when people talked to me, they knew I wasn’t French, I wasn’t African, I was from the United States. And that earned them respect,” he said. “Being here and being an American musician, and also being a musician from the States and living in Paris, was a great honor for them. So I was very respected for being a musician and being from the States. I worked all the time. So it was a great feeling.”
After we finished talking, I asked Lightsey what he had gained from moving to Paris. “You gain freedom,” he said. “You gain the language. You gain proximity to very interesting places, like Germany. You’re close to Vienna, you’re close to other worlds. And that’s great, because you can hop on a train and go anywhere.”
How does he see himself? As a black Frenchman? As a black man living in Paris? “As an American living in Paris with a French family, my French wife and my French daughter,” he said.
Would Lightsey ever consider returning to the United States?
“Never, not even in the next life,” he said. “What’s going on there politically is crazy. It’s just crazy.”
Entertainment
She knows Suite celebrates Apple TV+ Doc ‘Number on the Call Archie “and Black Women’s resistance in Hollywood
Even when black women are visible, they still must fight to be really. This is one among the strongest take -out, the recent Apple TV+document that made the waves at the exclusive show run by The Wie Suite in New York.
It takes place in the luxurious New York Fouquet, the night was combined by an intergenerational meeting of black women – from fashion founders to Hollywood stars – in reflection on the message of the document: that for black women, breaking barriers in Hollywood never concerned talent. It was about survival, impudence and unwavering self -confidence.
Directing the award-winning filmmaker Sholi Lynch, the document accommodates sincere interviews with powerful actresses, including Viola Davis, Halle Berry, Angela Bassett and Whoopi Goldberg, taking a look at his journeys as leading women in a system that rarely gave them the highest places-the advantage of doubt.
During the event, the guests enjoyed the elegant reception of cocktails, after which the discussion about the show and panel moderated by the founder and general director of WIA Suite, Dee Poku. The participants were Shola Lynch, along with Lisa Price, the founding father of the daughter Carol and Jessica Cruel, editor -in -chief and magazine.
In a room filled with Changmakers-Ludzi akin to designer Fe Noel, actress Folake OlowoFoyload and founding father of Ami Colé Diarrha N’diaye-Mbaye-Rozmowa was intimate and urgent.
“It was amazing to be here with so many inspiring women who are their own numbers,” said Poku. “These women are so busy and have a crazy life, but understandable and felt the importance of gathering and supporting this film. As bosses, we can never lose sight of the importance of relying on ourselves when we move in our lives and career.”
This spirit of sister and solidarity is embedded in a movie that doesn’t pull out the emotional conscription of being the first, only or reflection. From saying that they should not beautiful enough to make a big screen to maneuver after exhausting the constant proved of their value, stories divided by black actresses “reflect the immunity needed to remain in the game.
Hattie McDaniel was the first black woman who won the Oscar in 1940 for “Best Actorsing Actors” for enjoying Mamma in “Gone with the Wind” and said that she hopes that she can be a recognition of her race. But the “supporting actress” category would turn out to be a little bit of her own ceiling, without every other black woman who doesn’t win the role of “the best actress”, apart from Halle Berry, twenty years ago in “Monster’s Ball”.
But the film accommodates powerful reminders of how black women actresses restrictions. In particular, Goldberg’s Whoopi journey stood out in the document. From making a stage production that helped to begin her profession in 1984-a fight for roles when Hollywood didn’t see her “Fit”, Goldberg Shatted Sufiing. She didn’t wait for the alternative; She selected herself. This example of Shol Lynch sees black women embarrassing outside Hollywood.
“After hearing that Dee Poku and Suite knew they wanted to organize a study, I was inspired to be part of the room and gathering similarly thinking people,” said Lynch. “You want to talk to women who are trying to be number one on their sheet of connections.”
Lisa Price added: “My deep recognition for the cinema, vaccinated by my father, made the film the main source of respite and insight. The victory of the Hallle Berry Academy was a breakthrough moment. This represented the rectification of historical supervision regarding the lack of diagnosis of Diana Ross for the injustice that has long worried me.”
For Jessica Cruel, the document was a moment of reflection on her own journey. “It inspired me to reflect on my own career from the writer to now the chief Edior. It is so important to remain faithful to his beliefs and allow the development of possibilities.”
When he showed himself, the crowd raised his glasses with a collective toast to the way forward for black women in Hollywood. It was not only a vacation of what these women achieved – it was a call to proceed, dreaming and demanding more.
This film reminds us of every part that black women were at all times greater than able to being primary on a sheet of connections – they simply needed to fight harder than most to get there.
The premiere around the world at Apple TV+ March 28, 2025 and is currently available to the stream.
(Tagstranslat) documental
Entertainment
Support is poured by the following shocking reception of Flaver Flav, which he converted after almost five years sober
Flavour Flav left fans when the legendary noise and public co-founder of the enemies began to Instagram with a brutally honest confession about stumbling in his sobriety-a few months before what could be his five-year milestone of a pure life.
Confession is a surprise for followers who watched milestone publicly rejoice since sobriety since 2020. His fifth anniversary is approaching October 19.
Hip-hop legend, known for its characteristic clock necklaces and “Yeah Boy!” Hatchpraze, he was transparent about his struggle with addiction in his entire profession. His last statement reflects his involvement in responsibility and authenticity despite this failure in his journey to health.
“I remain authentic for who I’m, and for me a big part of the last 4.5 years was a journey for me.
His statement continued to substantiate his slip and a request for understanding.
“I converted briefly,” he wrote. “I say this to grant my mistake and publicly attract. I am a man who makes mistakes and does not make me a bad man. I hope that those who are around me support my choice to be sober.”
Hype of the public enemy ended his message with a strong reminder of perseverance: “I came back to 1, again. Time has not stopped, my journey continues.”
Fans quickly gathered with the taste of taste when the Jasmine brand Again His statement, flooding comments supporting messages.
“Sobriety is really a journey from day to day. We fall. We are coming back,” wrote one of the commentators, while others added a straightforward but encouraging words corresponding to “It’s ok! Go Flav” and “Respect”.
Some supporters, nonetheless, questioned whether such a private fight needed to be publicly made available.
“Not everything must be made available on the internet, but great for him for putting health,” commented one person.
Another suggested a more strategic motivation: “Someone was Finna Snitch, a good job, winning before history.”
This is not the first time Flavour Flav was honest in his battles of addiction.
In January 2023 revealed The delightful financial number of his previous drug habit, spending from 2,400 to 2600 USD per day for six years – of almost $ 1 million per yr per substance.
The rapper’s sobriety journey began in 2020, running down with a turbulent period when he was temporarily faraway from the public enemy after the dispute with Chuck for the support of the Bernie Sanders group, Los Angeles Times Reported then.
Since the restoration, Flavor Flav has been giving concert events with a gaggle that recently announced thirty fifth anniversary of the celebration of the breakthrough single “Fight the Power” in London Royal Albert Hall on June 27.
In October last yr, during the World Mental Health Day, the taste of taste common Insight into tools supporting his sobriety, including therapy.
“I talk to the therapist. In fact, I talk to two,” he revealed in the film on Instagram. He also supported the application for AI therapy called Sonia, which he considered significant support during a good concert schedule.
Born William Jonathan Draton Jr., The rapper consistently formulated his journey of sobriety as each a private triumph and a platform to encourage others.
“I think God wanted me to live. And he knows that I am a mouthpiece for the world,” he said in previous statements, explaining his belief that sharing his experiences may prevent others from making similar mistakes.
Despite this temporary failure, Flaver Flav’s desire to publicly reset his sobriety meter shows the reality that many are fighting regeneration – this progress is not at all times linear, and susceptibility may be strength.
(Tagstotransate) flavery flav
Entertainment
The best new music this week: Ciara returns from “Ecstasy”, Alex Isley drops a completely new single, “Sinners” Rod Wave and more – ESENCE
Happy Friday, people. This week, music drops are pure magic.
Today, Ciara makes a dazzling return from “Ecstasy”, a stuffy groove, who proves that she remains to be the queen of the dance floor. “Mrs. GOODY shoes” by Alex Isley is a stuffy bliss, while Wave Rod has a heart together with her emotional “sinners”. Our list also includes Bigxthaplug, Destin Conrad, Sir and more.
Look on the best new music this week,
Ciara – “Ecstasy”
Grammy Ciara’s winner returned together with her single from 2025 from “Ecstasy”. Listen to this HERE.
Bigxthaplug ft. Bailey Zimmerman – “completely”
The rapper from Texas Bigxthaplug uses his rural roots with “All the way” with the participation of Bailey Zimmerman. Check the new record HERE.
Sir ft. Maeta – “from my hands”
Two essentially the most talented stars within the listeners of R&B gifts all over the world with their joint song “Out of My Hands” with Heavy luxury: light. Check it out HERE.
Alex Isley – “Mrs. Goods Two Shoes”
Alex Isley returned with the album “Mrs. Good Two Shoes”. Hear this HERE.
Wave Rod – “Sinners”
Just a few weeks before the discharge of “sinners” Rod Wave gives one with the identical name. Watch the movie inspired by the movie HERE.
PinkPantheress – “Tonight”
Today, PinkPantheress shares his first solo song of the yr from “Tonight”, which is trying panic! At the disco “Do you know what I see?” Listen to the song HERE.
Destin Conrad ft. TEEZO STOP – “Last time”
Destin Conrad and TEEZO TDZIENDOW are combined with a new album entitled “The Last Time”. Streamly send a new record HERE.
Family of Texas Teen, accused of a deadly stab of another teenager on the track, collected over $ 150,000 via the online fundraiser
Kandi Burruses could not be more proud of her daughter Riley’s journey and a fitness journey [site:name]
South of the emotional journey, Midnight does not exaggerate with greeting
Amazon among companies fighting for the purchase of Tiktok as Saturday’s term Byedane for sale near
She knows Suite celebrates Apple TV+ Doc ‘Number on the Call Archie “and Black Women’s resistance in Hollywood
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