TV/Social Media: New lives (Nouvelles vies) – Eight people decided to change their life (France)

New Lives is the new French TV and social media reality show on RFO. Eight people who live in, or have roots in the overseas French territories embark on a journey to change their lives by following their dreams. The show is aired on TV, but people can also participate by posting advice on the social media site. Go to Nouvelles Vies (New Lives) here



See the profile videos here

The profiles:

Corinne, originally from Martinique, is a professional dancer. Her specialty is the limbo. She is the mother of 3 boys. At 40 she dreams of starting a dance school. New Lives proposed to accompany her with the steps she undertook, supported by her relatives. Corinne was one of the singers of the eighties disco group Bony M.

Dominique (Guadeloupe) made her living as financial advisor, and is is 30 years old. She has lived all her youth in the Paris, but has decided to leave everything behind to start a new live from scratch on Guadeloupe. Is she not going to miss the city?

Gwénaelle, 18, arrived in Fort-de-France and entered the prestigious school 'école de Sciences-Po Paris'. A real change of life for this young girl who has left her family and friends, and is preparing for a difficult course. The show follows her career, and her first few weeks of adjustment in the capital Paris.

Samuel , 31, lives in Réunion. He practices organic farming and wants to share his beliefs with other farmers in the region. He is preparing to organise the first eco festival of Réunion. His wife will take the opportunity to give bio cooking classes. We'll see if this pair manages to pass on this new lifestyle.

Nathalie is an expectant mother of twins and her life is not easy. This Martiniquaise 33 years will become a single mother, but she must find a new home, repair her car and organize her life. Preparing for the childbirth, and to her new life as a mother, we follow the change of life.

Audrey, 31, originally from Martinique, dropped her job as legal officer and wants to start a new career in producing films. But the path to the cinema is full of pitfalls.

Fabrice (Réunion) is a foreman in a garage during week and skipper in the weekend: his dream is to participate in the sailing contest Round Créolia. He must train and find a teammate, but parallel to its preparation, he was to inherit a land where he plans to mount lodgings. Arrive there at any juggle? Will he participate in the race?

Tiya earns his living by making Theatre and film costumes, but wants to record an album and pursue a singing career. She has already filmed the first clip and tries to make a name for herself.

For more information see: fxgpariscaraibe (French)

Travelling from Amsterdam to Paris - Black bloggers on the move

Photo and copyright: Linda Garrison (Arc de Triomphe)
Summer news. We, a Dutch black-brown blogger couple, travelled to Paris by train from Amsterdam Central Station to Paris Gare du Nord. This train station is the busiest station in Europe, and one of the busiest railway stations in the world. The female blogger will write her own story on her Dutch Blog.

Most important travel choice. Taking the car was an option, but is was a four hour drive, stops not included. Driving in Paris wasn’t an option, because you have to be a Parisian to drive a car in Paris.

Most interesting train experience. On the Thalys fast train we met a Dutch Moroccan couple who were going to Paris to visit family. It appeared they only lived a few blocks away. What a coincidence!

Most worst metro experience. We had to jump out of a metro carriage into a dark metro tunnel. Everything went smootly when we took the metro to our destination, but when we took the metro back to the city the trouble started. While we were heading to Gare du Nord the metro suddenly stopped in the tunnel. It was a crowded metro on a hot summer's day. There was no message from the metro operator as to why we had stopped. After about ten minutes we heard people opening the door of the metro. And suddenly we found ourselves standing in the door opening of metro carriage, but without the station platform. We had to jump from the metro carriage into a dark subway tunnel. It was like jumping from the top of a bunk. After a two minute walk we saw the lights of the metro station Gare du Nord. It appeared the train was broke. I hate to say this, but this is so French.

Most interesting bus experience. When we arrived at Gare du Nord we took the city bus 42 to the Champs-Élysées. In the bus we met a Dutch Caribbean couple who were heading to the Eiffel Tower. They where in Paris for the second time, because they wanted to show an another family member the culture of Paris. Small world! We also talked to the French folks on the bus. Real city people. Always in for a small talk.

Most interesting black experience. You see black people everywhere. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that in the recent past black people in France were afraid of calling themselves black or “noirs”. Afraid of not conforming to the French principle that all people are French and equal. It was the French black organisation CRAN who activaly began adressing the issue that visible minorities in France faced discrimination. The front man, Patrick lozes wrote the book 'Nous, Les Noirs de France'(We, the blacks of France').

Last ethnic detail. Two black people in the metro were calling us 'Caribe'. Some people are always trying to label you.

Most interesting city experience. Of course we got lost in Paris. So we asked a bus driver which bus we had to take to Gare du Nord. He first pointed us to a bus station in a nearby street, but while we were walking towards the bus station we heard a yell. It was the bus driver. He had left his bus to tell us he knew a shorter route. Great guy. We waved at him as he drove by.

Most notable difference between Paris and Amsterdam. People in Paris ride scooters like people in Amsterdam ride bicycles.

Most favourite French author I was suddenly thinking of. Of course Alexandre Dumas, author of the The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers. I still remember the moment when I found out he was black. Dumas was reburied in 2002 in the Panthéon of Paris, the great mausoleum where French luminaries are interred. Former French President Jacques Chirac acknowledged that racism was the reason why he hadn't been enshrined in the past. Dumas was the greatest.

Dumas reminded me of a video of a school trip of French children from an urban school. They were on a excursion to get to know the famous French author Honoré De Balzac. Interesting detail, the children are from the neighbourhood where the ethnic riots broke out.

Le 93 et Balzac

Black travel experiences in Europe

Photo and copyright: Lola Akinmade
How do black people experience travelling in Europe? Do they feel stared at, feel welcome, or is it a bit of both. And in which Western European countries do they feel most comfortable?

To find out I sampled the experiences (2008 and 2009) from Rick Steves’s Minority Travelers Forum. Most experiences are from African-Americans who visited Europe.

I could have asked photographer and travel writer Lola Akinmade about her travel experience, but on her blog are all the answers. In pictures and in stories. See Lola's blog Geotraveler's Niche. So I stayed on Steves's forum.

To get a big picture of all the experiences I placed the reactions in the categories negative, neutral and positive. Negative means when someone felt being treated negatively. Neutral means, no problems. Positive speaks for itself.


Click on the image to enlarge

1. In England or the UK – Most travellers had a great time. No stares, hardly any discrimination. With 2 negative and 9 positive reactions the absolute winner.

2. Germany – Second best with 1 negative reaction, 1 neutral and 3 positive reactions.

3. The Netherlands – One traveller felt very race conscious in the Netherlands. With 2 negative reactions, 1 neutral and 3 positive reactions third place.

4. France - Very mixed responses. Most black travellers liked it, but the French language barrier remained. Most Americans had neutral feelings about France, but over all they weren’t negative. With 2 negative reactions, 7 neutral and 4 positive reactions fourth place.

5. Italy – Here things started to get dramatically negative. Some loved Italy, others were less positive. Some reported being stared at. To put it in perspective, 4negative reactions, 2 neutral and 3 positive. Fifth place

6. Spain – This country is considered the worst Western European travel destination by most African-Americans on the forum. Most travellers see Spain as a very racist country. However one traveller was aware of racial climate in Spain, but still went. He had a great time in Spain. With 6 negative reactions, 2 neutral and 3 positive reactions it’s a country that leaves a lot of black travellers with some bad memories, but with good ones as well.

Countries as Belgium, Zweden, Austria, Creece and Ireland I didn't include because there were just one or two reactions.

Of course you can’t get a good impression if you have nine responses or less of each country. And it also depends where travellers had their experiences: big city or country side.

Minority
Lola Akinmade is using her blackness to experience traveling to the max. In an interview she explained why she loves traveling as a minority. "Being able to seamlessly move because people automatically assume I’m a local impoverished immigrant allows me to observe and immerse without sticking out like a sore thumb in some places. I get to experience the true attitudes of locals towards others very different from them – both great and bad.

I have experienced everything from utmost rejection to gawks of fascination that a lot of bright-eyed backpackers could never endure. It is at the low times I question the purpose of travel and then Mark Twain’s quote always comes to mind….“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."…… Mark Twain."
Read the whole interview here