This post starts off Black History Month with the incredible Josephine Baker, whose life deserves so much more attention than it’s usually given in the educational curriculum in the United States. Born in St Louis, Missouri, in 1906, Josephine (originally first named Freda) was raised in poverty, so she struck out for France in 1925 to try to break into show business. Bright and talented, she meshed wit, comedy, and beauty onstage and became the popular dancer and singer readers might be familiar with. In the USA, black Americans were subject to extreme racism (young Josephine witnessed racist violence against blacks in St Louis in 1917, which had a profound affect on her), but in France, she was able to use her blackness to co-opt African exoticism. She became the coolest performer in France, and her style set the trends for fashion. This picture shows her with her cheetah “Chiquita” who went everywhere with her, including the orchestra pit during performances. This was frightening to the musicians but dazzled the spectators.
But the later years of Baker deserve even more attention, because she then became a spy and a resistance fighter against fascism. Using her wit and beauty, she charmed the Nazis she aimed to get information from, risking her life to transport messages across enemy lines. She wore disguises and used invisible ink — this woman embodied resourcefulness and talent. After the fascists took over France (by then she had fallen in love with the country, and her most popular song “I have two loves”/”J’ai deux amours” speaks to her love of her home and adopted countries), she created a resistance base in the Dordogne region and used her own wealth to shelter Jewish and other refugees escaping the fascists.
After the war, Josephine Baker returned to the States and took up the arduous task of fighting for racial justice. She protested when white people treated her with racism, and she believed in a world that could successfully integrate people of all nationalities with equality. In fact, she was the warm-up act for Martin Luther King for his famous “I have a dream” speech.
Josephine Baker’s life is one of America’s most impactful.
