Josephine Baker

All hail Josephine Baker, the pioneering Black, bisexual, outrageously beautiful singer and dancer who captured hearts during the Roaring Twenties with her sunshine smile! Not just a success on stage, Josephine was also a multiple adoptive parent, civil-rights activist and war-time resistance agent. Talk about multi-tasking.

Born in St. Louis in 1906, Josephine made her name in the City of Lights at the age of nineteen when she traveled to Paris to perform with her all-Black vaudeville show. She became an overnight sensation, shimmying on stage wearing only a skirt made of artificial bananas and a cascade of beads. Ooh la la!

The erotic exotic was all the rage in 1920s Paris (known in French as “The Crazy Years”) and she was welcomed with open arms. Josephine later said: “I had been suffocating in the United States… I felt liberated in Paris.” She tout de suite became one of the highest earning performers in Europe, with audiences lining up to see her dance as if the music had bewitched her – shaking every part of her body, sticking her tongue out, crossing her eyes and grinning with mischief. Chiquita the pet cheetah was also part of the attraction, fierce in her diamond collar.

Jo was not just an entertainer; she was also a French spy during World War Two. She charmed senior military leaders out of secrets at parties then smuggled this information (written in invisible ink and hidden in her knickers) back to French intelligence. Sacré bleu! Not content to simply help defeat the Nazis, Josephine Baker also fought against racism in all its forms throughout her life. She was an outspoken activist, speaking at the March on Washington in 1963. When Dr. MLK Jr. was assassinated, his wife Coretta Scott asked her to take over as leader of the civil rights movement. She refused (to protect her children) but her political activism still managed to earn her a place on the FBI watch list.

Josephine was a mother to twelve children, whom she adopted from all over the world. She wanted her “Rainbow Tribe” to prove that different religions and ethnicities can still be family. Even though Josephine was four-times divorced, she also had many a dalliance with equally renowned and powerful women, with Blues singer Clara Smith, fellow dancer Mildred Smallwood, politician Bessie Buchanan, writer Colette, vaudevillian Ada “Bricktop” Smith and (possibly) Frida Kahlo all significant notches on her bedpost.

Vive Josephine Baker!