Even though she later found fame as an artist, her early life was far from easy. Born into a poor family in Saint Louis, Missouri, on the 3rd of June 1906 with the name Freda Josephine McDonald, she had to start working at the young age of eight, and she left home and married her first husband while working as a waitress when she was 13.
Her luck changed in 1920, when she joined a group of street artists named the “Jones family Band”. Five years later, she flew to Paris to take advantage of the obsession of the decade for American jazz and became a reference for dance. As she embodied a new model of liberty for women, she abandoned her American citizenship to obtain a French passport, arguing that she was afraid to be black in the United States and that because of this segregation, she felt better in France. After a few years, she became the highest paid entertainer in Europe while participating the revolt against the Nazis during the Second World War.
When the war began in 1939, she was approached to take part in the missions of counterespionage within the French intelligence and joined them later on. Her notable fame was seen as an asset by the Allies, as she would be less suspected and could still travel without drawing attention to her. Her role was also valuable as French services of intelligence were also heavily counting on amateurs and unpaid sources driven by deep loyalty.
Her involvement in the French resistance is even more admirable than initially perceived. Her main mission was to gain information and pass it on. This was achieved through various methods, such as sneaking information to the former president of France, Charles de Gaulle, attending diplomatic parties and performing nightly shows, all aimed at uncovering the Nazis’ plans. In fact, the French intelligence called “le Deuxième Bureau” asked Josephine to hide the information within her songs.
While the Nazis did not carry her in their hearts, they could not forbid her from dancing. They thought that she was a perfect example of what the Aryans should not be the Austrian headline once described her as the “Black devil”. The fact that she was successful black woman openly bisexual got her to be called this way by the Nazi propaganda.
Until 1941, she was responsible of giving messages and microfilms to contacts all over Europe. Then she moved to Morocco, where she fell ill and was forced to stay in bed for at least a year. When she recovered from peritonitis, she resumed performing, enabling the Allies to organise a fund-raising event where she was the centre of attention.
As this chapter of her life concludes, Josephine Baker remained deeply engaged in various social causes. One significant issue close to her heart was the segregation faced by black people in the United States. Josephine’s departure from her birth country was initially prompted by the racial discrimination she endured, and this personal experience propelled her to actively participate in the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s in the United States.
Furthermore, Josephine continued her fight against racial injustice in the 1970s, once again using her songs as a powerful tool. She also stood alongside Martin Luther King, delivering a speech during the iconic March on Washington in 1963, advocating for the rights of black people.