Vorrei farvi conoscere un personaggio molto particolare di cui si trova tanto su Youtube
Dopo averlo letto scrivetemi
Josephine Baker is an American legend from St Luis, Missouri. Many people called her Black Venus. Her real name was Frida Josephine MacDonald. She was born on June 3rd 1916 and she was the daughter of a black laundress and of a white musician. She began working when she was eight years old and the white woman burnt her hands when she put too much soap in the laundry. At 12 she was a street child in the black slums and scavenged for food in garbage cans. At 15 she became famous for street corner dancing and moved to New York. She was very creative and loved sequins and feathers and when she became rich she often performed with her pet Chiquita, a cheetah who was adorned with a diamond collar.
She was only 19 when she left the United States to perform in a musical in Paris. When she saw the Eiffel Tower she said "It looked very different from the Statue of Liberty, but what did that matter? What was the good of having the statue without the liberty?" Her performance was an instant success. In 1931 her most successful song was "J'ai deux amours" so she became a muse for contemporary authors, painters, designers, and sculptors including Langston Hughes, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, and Christian Dior. Six years later she became a French citizen. She was a World War II hero. She used to send presents to French soldiers but she was also a spy. She is famous for her undercover work for the French Resistance. She also performed in Buchenwald for the frail liberated inmates. Josephine was the first American-born woman to receive the French military honor, the Croix de Guerre. General Charles De Gaulle gave her the medal of the Légion d'honneur. Josephine was a great Jazz singer and entertainer who didn’t like racial discrimination. Once she said: “Surely the day will come when colour means nothing more than the skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one's soul; when birth places have the weight of a throw of the dice and all men are born free, when understanding breeds love and brotherhood. “ In 1963, she was the only woman to speak at the March on Washington at the side of Martin Luther King, Jr. She married four times and adopted twelve children from around the world. She called them "MY Rainbow Tribe” since the orphans came from different countries.
One of her best friends was actress Grace Kelly who was also known as Princess Grace Ranieri. In 1951 at the Stork Club in New York Josephine was refused service and Grace supported the Black Venus leaving the place with her party. When Josephine was near bankruptcy the Princess helped her financially.
The famous journalist Janet Flanner, a "New Yorker" correspondent once said that Josephine had a magnificent dark body proving for the first time that black was beautiful." Another good friend of hers was the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso. When speaking of her, he would say: "Tall, coffee skin, ebony eyes, legs of paradise, a smile to end all smiles." According to the American writer Ernest Hemingway, Josephine Baker was the most sensational woman anyone ever saw" In 1966 Fidel Castro invited her to perform in Cuba and her spectacular show led to record breaking attendance. Josephine died on April 12th 1975 in her sleep after a big party in her honour. The party sponsored by Princess Grace took place to celebrate her fifty years in show business and guests included Sophia Loren and Liza Minelli. She received a State funeral in Paris but she was buried in Monaco.
A restaurant in New York Chez Josephine on Theatre Row, 42nd Street, celebrates Baker's life and works.
