The 100th anniversary of Josephine Baker's birth was earlier this year and I remember reading that she was not only a celebrity, but a civil rights activist and the mother of many adopted children. Born in Missouri, Baker was part Native American, part African American. She moved to Paris and eventually became a French citizen. See biography here. During her life, she adopted 12 children-- her "rainbow tribe" as she called them. They came from Korea, Colombia, Japan, Finland, Canada, Ivory Coast, Morocco and France, among other places. She raised them in France, but had them learn their native languages.
2 comments:
Was Baker a singer? The name sounds familiar, and the history of adopting the children but I can't recall Baker's occupation.
Hey Junebee. Josephine Baker was a dancer/entertainer. She became a big star in Paris in the 1920s performing in nothing but a few bananas dangling from her belt. She was really successful in Europe but not in the U.S. (she wouldn't play Jim Crow and would insist on mixed audiences when she played in the U.S.).
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