Ricki Stevenson

Ricki Stevenson, known as the Bay Area's Ambassador to Paris, was born in Oakland, CA. Her mother, raised in Denver, was a former professional dancer, who at one time danced with Louis Armstrong's Band, while her Father, from Oklahoma, was a singer before joining the Navy and meeting his wife in San Francisco during the Korean War.

At age 3 Ricki's Mom took her to see Josephine Baker perform in Los Angeles. 7 years later her parents took her to hear James Baldwin read from his book, THE FIRE NEXT TIME on Stanford campus.

From then on, there were two things Ricki dreamed of:

1. Becoming a broadcast journalist to tell "our side of the story.

2. To one day live and work in Paris

Ricki has lived those dreams, starting with a 25 year career in radio and television that began with her working with Oprah Winfrey in Nashville, TN, then to NYC where she anchored rationally broadcast radio news for National Black Network, while serving as a United Nations correspondent and the producer of "Black Issues and the Black Press." After 7 years in NYC, Ricki returned to the Bay Area anchoring news at KCBS radio in San Francisco. Then the switch to television as a Silicon Valley business reporter with "Business Today" nationally seen on Business News Network.

With marriage and a child, she lived the fascinating life of a trailing wife in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, before returning to the US and becoming the first Black woman hired as an international travel reporter by the San Francisco based News Travel Network. For 6 years her travel reports were seen on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, SkyNews and Northwest Airlines. After 3 years at KRON TV as an anchor-talk show host that Ricki decided to make Paris a reality!

In 1997 she and daughter Dedie moved to Paris. She admits what was to have been a one year stay turned into 26 years, following the launch of her company BLACK PARIS TOURS! Over the last 25 years Her tours have introduced 100,000 travelers to the rich legacy of African, Caribbean and African American history in the City of Light.

Black Paris Tour received Trip Advisor's 2023 TRAVELERS CHOICE AWARD and was inducted into their Hall of Fame after being honored for excellence for seven consecutive years.

Ricki and Black Paris Tours were also inducted into "Black Legends of Silicon Valley" class of 2022.

Black Paris Tours received US Congressional recognition for telling the stories of Black soldiers who fought and died in France during WWI and WWII and has been recognized by the French government for keeping Josephine Baker's story alive...invited to attend formal ceremonies inducting "the Black Venus" into the Pantheon in November, 2021.

Black Paris Tours has been profiled in dozens of newspaper articles, magazines and books and has created private tours for a long list of famed celebrities...among them Questlove, Smokey Robinson, Steve Harvey, Iyanla Van Zant, Brian McKnight, Michael Eric Dyson, Colin Kaepernick, Tramaine Hawkins and Cornell Belcher of MSNBC.

Black Paris Tours is now ranked among the top "Must See" things to do and experience in Paris.