New York’s Empire State Building lit up in the French national colors on Monday evening to honor Josephine Baker, on the eve of the US-born singer, dancer and rights activist’s entrance to the Pantheon in Paris. Baker will become the first Black woman to be honored in the mausoleum, the final resting place of leading … Read more
In December 1950, Josephine Baker received a telegram from Copa City, a posh nightclub in Miami Beach, inviting her to give a series of concerts. But with segregation rife in the United States, the Black French singer refused to perform in a venue where African-Americans were not accepted, a decision that became a turning point … Read more
As Josephine Baker becomes the first Black woman to enter the Pantheon — the mausoleum dedicated to France’s “great men” — later this month, we look back on her wild and wonderful life: June 3, 1906: Born into extreme poverty in St Louis, Missouri. Left school at 13, later moving to New York City to … Read more
