Preconceptions can blur what you see firsthand on the road (with Eddy Harris)

Deviate with Rolf Potts

“I didn’t go to Africa to “feel African,” or become African. What I wanted to do was put myself in the shoes of the person I was traveling next to.” –Eddy L. Harris

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Eddy discuss why Eddy’s Africa travel book Native Stranger was not always well-received by America’s cultural gatekeepers in 1992 (3:30); what is was like for Eddy to travel as a Black American in Africa in the 1990s, and how his experiences there became a book (12:30); how Africa has changed, and is changing (24:00); observations of Native Stranger that Rolf quoted in The Vagabond’s Way, such as how to deal with beggars on the road (30:00); and Eddy’s experiences being a Black American in France, and his core motivation for travel (37:00).

Eddy Harris (@EddyLHarris) is a writer, filmmaker, and author of several books, including Mississippi Solo, Native Stranger, and Still Life in Harlem.

Notable Links:

• Luxembourg Garden (park in Paris)
• South of Haunted Dreams, by Eddy L. Harris (travel book)
• Malcolm X (American activist)
• Alex Haley (American author)
• Jufureh (town in the Gambia)
• Taxi Brousse (share taxi common in Africa)
• Soho Square (garden square in London)
• Cape Coast Castle (“slave pen” fort in Ghana)
• Mobutu Sese Seko (ruler of Zaire from 1965 to 1997)
• Robert Mugabe (ruler of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2017)
• Albert Pujols (baseball player)
• Central African Republic (nation)
• Josephine Baker (American dancer who moved to France)
• Normandy (region in France)

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

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