by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)
We celebrate the iconic, internationally famous entertainer Josephine Baker in today’s GBN Daily Drop podcast with some history along with her humorously clever quote regarding her ticket to fame, fortune and freedom in her adopted homeland of France, and around the world.
It’s based on the Wednesday, March 23 entry in “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day®️ Calendar for 2022:
You can follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.com or create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out every day here on the main website (transcript below):
SHOW TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, this Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Wednesday, March 23rd, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing. Today we offer a quote from internationally famous singer and dancer Josephine Baker:
“My face and my rump were famous! I could honestly say that I’d been blessed with an intelligent derriere. Most people’s were only good to sit on.”
Born in 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri, after stints in vaudeville and musical revues like Eubie Blake’s Shuffle Along, Josephine Baker immigrated to France in the 1920s to find freedom and grow her talents into the pinnacle of singing, dancing, acting and comedic entertainment that brought her fortune and fame.
Known for her iconic “Banana Dance” in the Folies Bergere, Baker became a global sensation.
She was a member of the French Resistance during World War Two, spied on the Nazis for her adopted homeland, spoke out for civil rights, worked with the NAACP, spoke at the March on Washington, and adopted 12 children from all races, countries and religions, calling them her Rainbow Tribe.
Baker passed in 1975 and in 2021, she became the first Black woman inducted into France’s National Panthéon.
The main documentary I found on her is 2018’s Josephine Baker: The Story of An Awakening, produced by Terranoa, which can currently be found in some PBS local listings.
There’s also the BBC Wales’ 2006 documentary Josephine Baker: The 1st Black Superstar, currently posted on YouTube.
Links to these and other sources are provided in today’s show notes and in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.
This has been a daily drop of Good Black News, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022,” published by Workman Publishing.
Beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot. Additional music includes “J’ai Deux Amours” performed by Josephine Baker and employed under fair use.
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Sources:
- https://nmaahc.si.edu/josephine-baker
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggb_wGTvZoU
- https://www.biography.com/performer/josephine-baker
- https://historicmissourians.shsmo.org/josephine-baker
- https://www.kmbc.com/article/josephine-baker-jazz-age-harlem-renaissance-icon/36751476
- https://historyofyesterday.com/the-glorious-and-passionate-life-of-josephine-baker-48d6d51e3e3a
(paid links)
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