Kévi Donat on Le Paris Noir: Telling the Stories of Black Figures Written Out of Paris's History

Kévi Donat, the founder of Le Paris Noir, has spoken about his mission to place the stories of Black men and women back at the centre of the French capital's history, arguing that Paris is far more diverse than many people expect.

Le Paris Noir is an agency that runs guided tours following the historical footsteps of major Black figures connected to Paris, aiming to tell what Donat describes as their real stories, often overlooked in mainstream accounts of the city's history and heritage.

Donat's project responds to what he sees as a gap in how Paris presents itself to visitors and residents alike: a city whose historical narrative, as commonly told, tends to underplay the presence and contributions of Black individuals across different eras, from writers and artists to political and cultural figures who lived in or passed through the city.

By organising tours around specific figures and locations tied to Black history, Le Paris Noir seeks to make that history visible and accessible, offering an alternative lens on neighbourhoods and landmarks that visitors might otherwise associate only with more familiar narratives of French history and culture.

Donat's comments reflect a broader, ongoing conversation in France and elsewhere about how cities represent the full range of communities that have shaped them, and about the role that guided tours, museums and public history projects can play in surfacing stories that have not always received prominent recognition.