Multicultural Streets of Paris...

BOULEVARD BELLEVILLE

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After long a due, I will take you on a tour of less visited areas in Paris... to the heart of a few multicultural districts. The avenue I live on parallels Boulevard Belleville, one of the principal "ethnic" veins of the city. Here you will find Moroccan tea salons, Tunisian dining, Algerian pastry shop, small storage-type stores selling every herb, spice and grain of the Orient. You'll also pass by a small strip of of Jewish merchants, clearly distinguishable by the Star of David on their signs. You'll spot many groups of old men, arms crossed, holding what "appears" to be serious discussions.

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On Tuesdays and Fridays this colorful, vibrant street is home to one of Paris' largest markets. It is nothing like the Saturday market in the 17th arrondissement. There are no rules, no codes. However, there is some variant of order in what first appears to be mad chaos; men shouting over one another driving their fruits and veggies down nickels and dimes throughout the day, loads of heavy set old ladies shoving their way through the crowds.

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The nose is overwhelmed by the melding of strong odors from bodies, tobacco and streams of hot exotic foods. The ears stress to decipher who is actually speaking french and who is speaking in a foreign tongue. African women travel together with packs of children, either comfortably tied to their back or dashing around nearby.

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ASIAN DISTRICT

Going up the boulevard, eventually you cross a street and are magically transported in to Asia. One street separates a sea of Arabic and African faces from a densely Asian populace. One beautiful Sunday, I spent several hours discovering the area. I can't help but to be very curious about these people and their culture. For one thing, I have so little exposure to them. I work in an office that offers aid to immigrants but we never see any Asian folk. I asked my boss lady about this because it makes no sense when you consider the large communities residing in and around Paris. She explained that first and foremost, there is a deeply embedded distrust for all that is State institution. For many, especially the Chinese, generations experiencing only persecution and corruption by their governments have taught them to depend only on themselves for whatever their needs might be. This also translates in to a genuine fear... apparently many would rather pay a person in the community designated to handle all administrative dealings, than inform themselves and take advantage of the vast social aids France offers.

But where do they all come from? How come we never see them pass through the immigration office? There are huge numbers of Asian "sans papiers" but they are a lot harder to catch or expulse because they remain below the radar. They do not disturb the system. They are extremely communitarian and very self-sufficient.

One of my boss lady's goals is to help this community realize all the goods and services available to them, many of them free of charge. We are working on creating a guide for immigrant dense communities that would break down all the associations and organizations, what they do and why. We are also trying to find ways to encourage exchanges so that these people don't suffer needlessly in their alienation.

RAMADAN

Ramadan in these predominantly Muslim neighborhoods is a huge event. I took a small detour almost every day after work to walk the streets during the festive hours just before sunset. Lots of people set up tables along the side walk selling home-made breads, butter, olives and pastries. Dried figs are sold on every corner.

There is also an abundance of beggars... mothers and children, old ladies and men taking advantage of this holy month for alms giving, one of the 5 pillars of the Muslim faith.

CRETEIL

Working with l'ASSFAM, I travel in many of the banlieus to attend workshops. They are aimed at helping new immigrants understand how France operates; social aid, the school system, how to find housing or a job, taxes, public transportation, healthcare, etc.

Unfortunately, whereas in the past workshops were taught over the course of several months, allowing educators to go in depth on different themes (by incorporating field trips and special guests such as school administrators, representatives from the power company, etc.) the government now wants all the classes to be uniform and all the info crammed in to one day. I've sat in on about 5, serving as a translator in 3. Since the workshop is based on voluntary participation, most people attending are pretty positive about being in France. A large portion are there primarily for information on how to find work. Unfortunately, there isn't too much we can do for them other than make them think realistically about what they are qualified to do and what types of opportunities exist. But regardless, the class is helpful... I'm sure some immigrants leave knowing more about how the different french institutions works than many citizens.

Questions

Southern Bretagne

Weekend in Barbara's Terre Natale
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Last weekend I spent 3 1/2 days in Babara's hometown, beautiful Croisic. I already know that my short vacation with her family, walking along the coastline, eating delicious regional foods (mussels marinieres and crepes .....mmmm) will be amongst my most memorable.

Coast line by Babara's house. Picture taken by Yann Ranchere.

Barbara's mom has a full house, 3 super adorable Yorkshire terriers and a parrot from Gabon. Meet Lilu and Lala. Lilu is the sweetest pup ever. She just loves to hang and cuddle. And Lala is quite amusing. It's amazing how accurately she can imitate the dogs barking and then Bab's mom telling them to shut it. I had such a nice time in their cozy home. We even roasted marshmallows in the fireplace!

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Charming Croisic

The small town of Croisic is centered around fishing. As you walk along the small port you come across young and old with pole in hand, motley fishing boats, old nets and chains laden with years of rust, crab traps... cool salt air and bright colors are accentuated by the solid grays and blues meeting along the horizon.

Barabara's stepfather comes from a family of fishermen. One of there old boats sits in the harbor. During months at a time, he is off the coast of Africa filling the boat with tuna.

He brings back lots of gifts from local markets. The house is full of wooden statuates, shells, paintings, colorful prints... quite lovely.

Babara's sweet mom gave me an ESQUISITE shell from her collection. It's from the islands of Seychelles... all in pearl. Unbelievably beautiful.

Barbara explained that though she loves her small city by the sea, there are drawbacks living in such a small community. With only 4,000 residents during off seasons, news travels quickly. It's hard not to run in to people you know. While walking along the jetty towards the lighthouse, Barbara ran in to her old prinicpal, also the father of her friend.

La Côte Sauvage

(The Unruly Coast)

Climbing the ragged coastline, discovering seashell species altogether different from my native Florida beaches was a real thrill. I could have spent endless hours kneeled down, examining the unique varieties and conglomeration of colors and textures.

Yann and I also made good use of our walks for extensive photo sessions. It was impossible to stop shooting. Unfortunately, they do not capture the intensity of the cold chill, heavy clouds and wrestless waters.

La Baule

Nearby Baule is a swanky little town with lots of boutiques along one main stip. The street runs in to the beautiful beaches of Baule... a relatively wide coastline of speckled sand, prefect for a tourist retreat. We were graced after our hour of shopping with a stunning sunset.

Favorite pass times: shell hunting, picture taking

Cool blue... serene skies

A Perfect Sunday

Our last day in Bretagne was very special. The morning greeted us with beautiful blue, sunny skies. Yann and I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather for crab hunting! Well, rather, Yann searched for crabs while I looked for shell treasure. Meanwhile, Babs was in the kitchen making a declicious apple crisp to bring over to the family brunch. Grandpa, aunts, uncle, cousins and pets were all united to share in a huge meal of raclette. This involves lots of charcuterie and potatoes with slices of cheese (raclette) that you put on individual mini pans and place on a warmer. Once it starts to bubble you ooze it all over the meat and potatoes. Yummy and very convivial. After the meal was over I felt my chest tighten... I wondered why was I all the sudden struck with sadness. It was not until we got in the car to leave that I realized being around Babara's family, so friendly and happy made my heart ache for mine.

Valentin

One last walk on the beach... On the other side of the house in the picture above, there is a very pretty small sandy beach called Valentin. We took a long, brisk walk to try to work off a bit of the mid-day feast before the 4 hr car ride home.

Much Thanks Babs and Yann...

I feel priviledged to have visited your home towns, met your families, shared in your life's joy. Sweet thought of these trips, your kindness, will remain with me always.

PICTURES AND BLOG ENTRY OF YANN'S LYON TO COME!!!

Banlieu Paradox

HLM in Seine-St.Denis where my ASSFAM office is located

In thinking about the recent events, I've been struck by what I call the Banlieu Paradox. In the rough and tough banlieus exist two worlds; those who are ready to fight in contest of their miserable living conditions, others making huge sacrifices, sometimes risking their lives just to get in.

Banlieus are found on the outskirts of a great number of french cities. They usually contain a few nice communities but are mostly composed of cités. Cités are conglomerations of about 5-8 tall, austere concrete block buildings subdivided into as many apartments as will fit. My boss lady took me and the other intern on a car tour yesterday to check out the neighboring cités… we quickly realized our building (seen above) is quite nice compared to the others. We came across street after street of depressing, massive, institution-like complexes. The cités have extremely dense populations crammed in to a small space… huge amounts of human energy with no outlet for diffusion. In the banlieus, there are too few jobs, very few centers for activity… just a sad looking gymnasium here and there.

Take for example, a cité called "les 4,000". Imagine a street the length of a block, with large towers composed of 4,000 apartments, each housing an average of 3-4 people. Now imagine on your suburban street, those of you who get mad at the guy down the street for things like leaving trash out (or vice-versa), having 12,000 neighbors!

These buildings, called HLMs, are provided by the government. France, being a State of “solidarity” – meaning those who have more help those who have very little, construct HLMs in order provide cheap housing for those with small incomes. Unfortunately, they are often built cut-rate, too quickly, with little planning in terms of integrating them in to a viable community. No commerce, few parcs, etc. Poorly designed housing goes back before the 30s when large influxes of immigrant arrived in France. They were encouraged (or forced in the case of many Algeriens) by French officials to come and fill low-wage industrial jobs. These immigrants were always considered temporary employees and therefore the government never bothered to make available adequate lodging. But as years passed, families settled permanently. It is in large part the children and grandchildren of these earlier generations that today are out on the streets vindicating the miserable condition of their communities.

However, the government has put forth great efforts in the last 10 years to rehabilitate these areas. The most dilapidated of towers were demolished, replaced with smaller, more convivial complexes. Extra funds were given to schools in “priority zones” to incite more teachers to come to rough areas and also so schools would be just as equipped as those in richer communities. But, these efforts have done nothing to tackle one of the biggest problems, an extremely high rate of unemployment (40%). It most clearly shows the huge socio-economnic gap between the immigrant dense banlieus and the rest of French socity. And understandably, it leaves a great number of people frustrated and undervalued. That is why Prime Minister Villepin, when he was on the national news the other night, added in his pack of goodies (meant to calm rioters) tax breaks for companies agreeing to build and hire people in these struggling communties. It has been done in the past and with relatively good results.

Now, there is also a huge population of sans papiers, immigrants residing illegally in France. No one really knows how many there are. But, from my experience at work, where we have people knocking at our door every day asking us for help getting them legalized and from the huge sans papiers street protests, I gather there are a large number. They all tell us how horrible it is to have to live in the shadows, always fearing being forced back in to their country. As said before, many arrive because of extreme hardship in their homelands… civil wars, lack of medicine or food, etc. But MANY, come with the false illusion that France is paradise, the land of opportunity. A taxi driver from the Congo explained to me, “you see, they leave with these false ideas, they tell their loved ones they will go and get a good job, make a better life for themselves and their families. Then, they arrive and life is hard, very hard. But, they don’t want to admit it to their families. You see, it is less hard to stay and struggle than to shatter the image, the hope, their loved ones hold back home. Returning to their country would be seen as a defeat."

So for whaterver reason they come to France, often times leaving all their friends and family behind and then struggle for the most basic needs. It is extremely difficult to find shelter. It is not easy to get someone to agree to lodge them. Legal immigrants found housing sans papiers risk expulsion, French citizens risk heavy fines. And though there is a substantial amount of under-the-table jobs such as working in an illegal textile plant, selling vegetables at the market, working construction jobs, they are never stable in pay nor permanent. And since their precarious situation is known, they are easily exploitable. So you see, for the many sans papiers of the banlieus, having their own little space in one of these towers with cheap rent, the right to look for a real employment, the ability to benefit from the enormous financial aid packages the government doles out is the dream. Quick note; for those immigrants that we can help get legalized, they still must face the current 6-7 year waiting list for a spot in an HLM! There is a HUGE housing crisis in France.

You see, it is very difficult to hold a stance when there are so many sides to juggle… the government who has done tremendous work to try to rectify social ills but unable to meet the roots of the problems, the young kids acting out of rage and frustration for their alienation and discrimination and finally the poor individuals who have absolutely no voice and no rights, just struggling to survive.

BANLIEUS IN FLAMES -Part 2

Over the course of past 12 last nights of violence, reporters have gotten closer and closer to hearing the thoughts of the young men responsible for so much destruction. Yesterday, there was a several page spread in the French paper, Le Monde. A reporter followed a group of 10 young guys (ages 17-25) through the night as they put cars and trashcans on fire. Why were they destroying their own schools and public spaces? Because to them it is all worthless, a symbol of the community’s failure. Declaring, “we are ready to sacrifice everything, because we have nothing”. All 10 of the guys finished school, yet not one could find a job. One calls out, “I sent out 100 resumes, I got 3 callbacks and still ended up with nothing”. “Listen” another says, “we aren’t doing this because we want to, it is because we feel we have to. No words can express our frustration, our rage.” Another explains, “yeah, I even put my buddy’s car to flames”. The buddy steps to the front, replies “yeah I was pissed, but I understood”. He then pulls out his cell phone to show the reporter a picture of his own doing, a police car burnt to smithereens. “When we throw the Molotov cocktails in to the window of these cars, it is our cry for help” says another. “Fire is our voice, symbol of our rage. You can only pin a dog to the wall so long before he becomes aggressive, we are not dogs, but we are animals”.

Another article features a group of young girls, all sisters of young rioters, who say their brothers are chameleons. “They are so respectful and sweet at home, then they go out on the streets and terrorize”, says one. Another adds, “my brother would never do this kind of thing if he was acting alone. There’s a lot of pressure from les grand-frères. (“big brothers” or gangs of the banlieus). It becomes a pride thing… if they don’t do it, they are called chicken. Even girls provoke them. They all nod with approval when one of the girls comments, “and things got a lot hotter when Sark (nickname given to the Interior Minister) addressed them all as racailles (thugs). The French politician’s insensitive and war-like talk is believed to have spurred many more rioters to action all over France. These so called “thugs” are mostly minors, even as young as 10 or 12 years old.

People of the community are understandably disturbed, but refuse to just sit around and endure the destruction. Many have signed up as volunteers to patrol schools, gymnasiums and commercial centers. “We are not the police, but we can’t just stand by and watch our children’s schools go up in flames” says one with fire extinguisher in hand. “Where are these kids parents?” screams another.

One parent makes a poignant comment. “Our Arab dense communities are often stigmatized as Islamists, our young men as potential terrorists. But the guys committing these acts are not doing it in the name of religion. They are like their other French compatriots; they just want to be consumers. They want to make some cash so they can buy all the stuff they see on t.v. Their poverty is accentuated by the inability to access the lifestyles constantly thrown in their face.

There is something positive in all of this… as one statesman remarks “it’s unprecedented, for the first time, the message of misery in the banlieu has been heard”. In fact, the Prime Minster went on the national news yesterday and told the public the State has decided to consecrate 5 billion euros to rehabilitate the banlieus and to reinstate all funding to local associations. With government assistance progressively cut over the last 2 years, many programs had ceased to exist. This is excellent news for my association because we too were on the list of organizations with unsure futures. The Prime Minister acknowledged the very important role youth centers, social workers, mediators have in these communities as the go between for inhabitants and elected officials.

And to finish with one more positive thought… I was also happy to hear a number of guys have gone on the streets to dissuade their angry co-residents from using violence, advocating them instead to get involved in their communities, use their voice through their vote.

BANLIEUS IN FLAMES

For all those of you following the news about riots in Paris and wondering how this is affecting me, my answer is: I’m safe and in no danger… however, it is nonetheless troubling. My mind is having difficulty grasping it all. Not long ago in the “Amendment Matters” entry, I wrote that the violence isn’t at bad as some think; the conception of the problem is over-inflated, “one car is set on fire and it creates a sensationalist nightmare”. With 1,275 cars set on fire just last night and the continuation of fires in several commercial centers and public buildings, there is no denying a real crisis.

To be clear, though these events are in reaction to the two young men electrocuted while hiding from police near a power transformer, there are much deeper problems driving the explosive and continued response. I've touched on many of these issues on my website. The violence and destruction are acts of protest specifically targeted towards the French institutions. They are angry with their government; its failed attempts to rectify the degradation, poverty and discrimination their communities face. The frustration has been building for a long time. 30% of the youths in the banlieus are unemployed compared to the 10% national average. The old adage, “trouble springs from idleness” in this situation, proves a miserable truth. I really can not predict what will happen next. It seems each night, new communities are getting involved. Putting cars aflame is most popular… these night fires, spectacular and morose represent a forceful voice, an inescapable message to the deaf ears of past.

I don’t think the French government knows what to do. First of all, with elections drawing near, all interested parties have reacted slowly and with caution. No one wanted to take a bold or controversial step, potentially jeopardizing their platform. Also, there are so many impoverished, highly ethnic suburbs that I believe they are afraid for what could happen next. It is hard to believe how this whole thing has been allowed to escalate. The people committing these acts constitute, relatively, a very small number… we are talking a few hundred people here and there in densely populated communities (of tens of thousands). It is baffling that the police can’t get it under control. This, in a country which regularly prepares itself for mass protests of hundreds of thousands of people!!! No disrespect but, from the video footage I’ve seen, I don’t think the police have any clue how to handle it.

Lastly, these events do hit very close to home. I work in Seine-Saint-Denis, where everything erupted. I know these neighborhoods well. No need to worry though, I am in no danger. By and large, the attacks are against the French institutions; post offices, commercial sites, public busses, metros. To date, there have been no fatalities. It is all very sad to me. Again, I don’t even know what to think. One of the most difficult problems the immigrants of the banlieus face is stigmatization and discrimination. Now, it is all the worse… leaving these communities, these struggling families, with the destruction, both physical and psychological, left behind.