Picking up the thread from the Library’s February 2019 panel on mixed race and identity, this public panel, moderated by Tarani Merriweather and featuring discussants Jacqueline Ngo Mpii, Yanique Francis, and Maya Dorsey, will explore questions related to how Black expats define their racial identity in France. What impact can language and vocabulary have on an individual’s sense of identity and belonging? How does this differ when they relocate or become expats? How are they perceived in their new communities, and by locals? What are the commonalities among Black French and Black Americans in reclaiming language and identity and in seeking inclusion, equity, and justice? In a country where acknowledging race is taboo, but gender issues are openly debated, how do Black women acknowledge the intersections of these two salient identities?
Tarani
Tarani Merriweather is a PhD candidate in Social-Organizational Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York, where she also completed her Masters. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Tarani received her BA in Psychology from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She is presently living in Paris, completing her dissertation, which applies an intersectional lens to the study of gender and leadership.
Jacqueline
Behind the rise of the Little Africa enterprise is its founder and CEO, Jacqueline NGO MPII. She is the cultural ambassador for Paris’s cosmopolitan community of Afro-Parisian entrepreneurs – who are fusing these two vibrant cultures to create magic in food, art, and fashion. Little Africa is a sustainable and inclusive enterprise whose mission is to help connect individuals and corporations to African culture in Paris.
Website: www.littleafrica.fr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LittleAfricaparis/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/littleafricaparis/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LittleAfrica__
Yanique
Yanique Francis is an event planner, travel consultant, and the founder and creative director of My Parisian LAB @myparisianlife @elopeinparis @parisfoodiebag and a writer for HuffPost and Travel&Leisure.
Maya
Maya Dorsey is a California- bred, adopted Parisienne and proud citizen of the world. With a wealth of knowledge and resources accumulated from her six years living in Paris, Maya is happy to make your visit or move to Paris as seamless as possible. With her experiences ranging from first-time visitor, to Masters student, to joining the workforce as a full-fledged expat, Maya can help make your dreams in Paris a reality.
Website : lavielocale.com
Instagram: @lavielocale
