Josephine Baker
Some call her the “Créole Goddess.” Some call her the “Bronze Venus.” But the “Black Pearl” American expatriate entertainer and song-and-dance actress Josephine Baker is one of the most influential household names on both sides of the Atlantic.
The first African American was indeed a trailblazer: one of the first to star in a major motion picture, one of the first to become a world-famous singer (eat your heart our Beyoncé), one of the first black women to integrate an American concert hall, and she was the first American-born woman to receive the Croix de guerre, a high ranking French military honor of prestige.
Among her many feats as an entertainer, she made contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, lent a hand to the French Resistance in the second World War, and inspired a legion of pop artists across the world.
Text from News One – The Top 10 Black Gay and Lesbian Figures Of All Time
Josephine Baker – Clearest Close-Up Footage of her Famous Banana Dance
The following video from the ‘London Palladium Story’ demonstrates just how kind Josephine was.
For more videos of Josephine Baker visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/JosephineBakerTube
They are all free and open to staff, students and the general public – BUT, unless otherwise noted, they are NOT suitable for people under 16 due to graphic imagery and subject matter.