Programs and Events 2010
“The African-American Expatriates, Yesterday and Today”
February 27, 2010
Dr. Monique Y. Wells, Chairman of Friends of Beauford Delaney
The Cultural Affairs Office of the American Embassy in Paris ended Black History Month hosting three back-to-back events from 2:00 pm to 7:00pm on Saturday, February 27, 2010 at New York University’s campus in Paris. Dr. Monique Y. Wells led the first event with her presentation “Beauford Delaney: From Paris to Beyond.” Wells, who is the President of Les Amis de Beauford Delaney, broke down her presentation into three parts: The Man, The Art, and Final Resting Place.
Wells gave the audience a captivating recapitulation of the Knoxville, Tennessee-born artist who lived most of his life in poverty, but still managed to inspire countless artists while earning the love and respect of friends such as James Baldwin (who was a disciple of Delaney), Darthea Speyer, Herbert “Herb” Gentry, Charley Boggs, and many others. Raised in the post- south, Delaney was always race-conscious but never wanted to be classified or remembered as a Black/African-American artist; simply as an artist. However, he was heavily influenced by African art and jazz music (which captivated Paris during the 1920’s -1940’s) as well as many European artists such as Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh.
Delaney began his art career in the early 1930’s drawing pastel sketches and portraits of famous African-American artists and intellectuals such as W.E.B. DuBois, Marian Anderson, Duke Ellington, James Baldwin, and Ella Fitzgerald, which are now considered classics among Delaney’s collection. Like many other African-American expatriates, Delaney headed to Paris in 1953 after persuasion from African-American painter and French resident Herbert Gentry. Initially, his trip to Paris was only supposed to be a visit; but the vibe of the city mesmerized the artist that he never left France.
It was in France where Delaney’s art would gain both refinement and notoriety. He settled in Montparnasse which was then an intellectual haven for many artists. He frequented Le Dôme and La Coupole, two of his favorite restaurants. By now, Delaney had evolved into an abstractionist and had numerous solo expositions in Paris. Suffering from a long battle against mental disorders and alcoholism, Delaney had his first severe breakdown in 1961. It has been speculated that being a black, homosexual, artist was too much to bear for the painter and that those factors contributed to his mental breakdown. Delaney would spend his last years battling mental breakdowns; he died in Paris at St. Anne Hospital on March 25, 1979 alone and destitute.
Beauford Delaney’s final resting place is in an unmarked grave at Thiais Cemetery, which is one of the main reasons why Wells founded Les Amis de Beauford Delaney. Upon discovering that Delaney’s concession for his grave had not been paid since 1981, Les Amis de Beauford Delaney collected money and paid his concession fees through 2011. Wells stated to audience members that the current goal of the organization is to raise $ 8500 to cover the cost of construction and installation of Beauford’s tombstone, one year maintenance of the gravesite, payment for renewal of his concession fees for the ten year period beginning 2011, and other miscellaneous expenses. Well’s tentative deadline to raise the entire amount is March 26, 2010 which happens to be the 31st anniversary of Delaney’s death. 
Ricki Stevenson, Founder of the Black Paris Tours introducing the Tula Race Riot film
Les anciens afro-américains de la Première Guerre mondiale et l'émeute raciale de Tulsa, Oklahoma en 1921 began at 4:00 pm with presenter Ricki Stevenson engaging the crowd’s interest in “Black Wall Street” and the Tulsa, Oklahoma race riots of 1921. Following a brief introduction of herself and her personal emotional bond to the nature of the film, Stevenson presented the audience with a concise background about Tulsa. Stevenson, an Oklahoma native and the descendant of five Indian Tribes, stated that the purpose of showing “Before They Die!: The Road to Reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Survivors” was to educate people about the bombing of Black Wall Street and to enlighten audience members about the actions being taken to bring justice for the remaining survivors.
In the early 1900’s,with newly discovered oil and land up for grabs,Tulsa, Oklahoma had become a boom town, a magnet for people around the world. Christened the new “Oil Capital” of America, its growing economy and population attracted many southerners, who brought with them their slave mentality. Having only recently achieved statehood, Oklahoma was legally and culturally very much a frontier territory. Although African-Americans were free in Tulsa, segregation was ever-present within the society.
On the outskirts of downtown Tulsa, a thriving community referred to as "Little Africa" by some Whites out of spite, later became known as Greenwood. By the beginning of 1921, Greenwood had become the home of nearly ten-thousand African-Americans. Many of the Black people that settled here were descendents of African-American slaves who had accompanied Indian Tribes on the Trail of Tears, and
others were the offspring of runaway slaves who fled to the Indian nations in the years prior to and during the Civil War. In spite of the racial inequality, Greenwood successfully many produced Black owned and operated banks, churches, libraries, public schools and businesses such as Dreamland Theater, which sat across the street from the white-owned Dixie Theater.
Most of these businesses were located on Greenwood Avenue, most commonly referred to as the “Black Wall Street.” It was reported in the film that a dollar would circulated 35 times before leaving the community. As jealousy from the white community and the presence of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) grew, so did racial tensions and on May 31, 1921, whites took justice into their own hands. Dick Rowland was charged with the alleged assault of Sarah Paige, a young white woman, and as word spread of a white mob ascending the steps of the courthouse to lynch him, a group of Black men headed to downtown Tulsa with rifles in hand to protect Rowland. Most of these men were ex-soldiers from World War I who had fought nobly in France, gaining the respect not only of Allied commanders, but of their German foes as well. Having risked their lives in Europe, these Black veterans felt it was time for some justice, and lynching would not take place that night.
Words were exchanged between the two groups and shots were fired, signaling the start of the Tulsa race riots. On May 31 and June 1, 1921, white mobs, with the assistance of the police and National Guard, stormed into the segregated Tulsa neighborhood of Greenwood, burning and looting homes and killing all Blacks (mostly males) who resisted arrest. After 18 hours of attack both by land and air, there were an estimated 300 dead, 10,000 homeless, and over 1,000 homes and other buildings left in ruins. One month after the burning of Greenwood, a grand jury found African-Americans responsible for the outbreak of the race riots. 89 years later, Charles J. Ogletree Jr., a law professor at Harvard University, is fighting for reparations for the survivors. He filed a lawsuit against the state of Oklahoma and the city of Tulsa on behalf
of the survivors in 2003. The legal “dream” team, which included the late Johnnie Cochran, argued that several other oppressed groups in U.S.
history were awarded reparations; however, federal judges dismissed the case. 
In 2009, the John Hope Franklin Tulsa-Greenwood Race Riot Claims Accountability Act of 2009 was passed to provide any Greenwood, Oklahoma, survivor or descendants of the victims from the Tulsa, Oklahoma, Race Riot of 1921, who has not previously obtained determination on the merits of a Greenwood claim, may in a civil action within five years after enactment of this Act, obtain that determination. 
American Poet James Emmanuel
The last event of the night commenced at 6:00 pm with poetry readings and Q & A with famed American Poet James Emanuel. Emanuel read poetry from some of his collections such as “Blues in Black and White” and “JAZZ from the Haiku King.” Emanuel shared with audience members how he started a new literary genre with his jazz-and-blues haikus. During the Q&A segment, he revealed to his interlocutors that he had left the United States in 1971 because he couldn’t write anymore, and that the cure for his writer’s block required him to be in a human atmosphere. Shortly after moving to France, he published 400 poems. When asked about his feelings regarding Negritude, Emanuel replied, “Negritude is still meaningful to Black People. Black People are destined to become the most important people on earth. We are in a position to do things that are unusually human and we’re going to do it.”