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Books
about Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker: The Hungry Heart /
Josephine Baker in Art and Life /
Josephine Baker: Image and Icon /
Josephine
Josephine Baker
(1906-1975)
Actress, Dancer, Freedom Fighter
Josephine Baker (1906-1975)—born Freda Josephine Carson in St. Louis, Missouri,
on June 3, 1906 Carrie McDonald and vaudeville
drummer Eddie Carson—became
probably the most famous woman in France, if not in the
entire world, for her performances on stage as a
dancer as well as her fight against the Nazis to
liberate France and her love of orphan children.
In the 1920s her comic yet sensual stage presence
took Europe by storm. Known as the "Black
Venus," she was lavished with gifts.
She maintained her celebrity status until her death in 1975.
American racism however prevented her from being fully
appreciated in the United States, the place of her birth. Her mother Carrie, abandoned shortly after Josephine's
birth, was reduced to a washerwoman in order to care for
herself and her daughter. Josephine also grew up cleaning the
houses of and caring for the children of wealthy white families.
And independent woman, Josephine married four times first to
Willie Wells (very brief), them to American Willie Baker in 192, Frenchman Jean Lion in 1937
(through whom she became a French citizen) and French orchestra leader Jo
Bouillon in 1947 (who was with her when she adopted 12 children).
In 1919, Josephine toured the US with The Jones Family Band
and The Dixie Steppers. She also eventually appeared in Eubie
Blake's Shuffle Along. Her comic antics in this
production gained her a reputation. As a member of La Revue
Nègre, Josephine captivated the Parisian audience with her
dance partner Joe Alex with the Danse Sauvage; boldly
dressed in a feather skirt with uninhibited movements, she
worked the audience into a frenzy and became a Parisian
sensation.
Josephine later starred in La Folie du Jour at
the Follies-Bergère Theater, draped in a costume of 16 bananas strung into a
skirt. In the early 30s she starred in two movies Zou-Zou and
Princess Tam-Tam. Josephine baker was probably the most
photographed woman of her times, probably more so than Gloria Swanson and Mary
Pickford.
Her returned to the US in the Ziegfield
Follies was an emotional downturn. One editorialist of the NY
Times referred to her as a "Negro wench." Josephine
returned to Paris and those who loved her.
During World War II, Josephine performed for French troops
and worked uncover smuggling secret documents. She was also a
sub-lieutenant in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and was
thereafter awarded the Medal of the Resistance with Rosette and named a
Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the French government for
hard work and dedication.
Her returns to the US in the 50s and 60s were not fully the
disaster of twenty years earlier. She renewed her vigor in
fighting American racism and engaged pro-segregationist Walter
Winchell. In 1951, the NAACP named May 20, Josephine Baker
Day.
Josephine also participated in the 1963 March on Washington,
and later that year gave a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall for
the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC),
and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). She received a
standing ovation before her performance began
At a performance April 8, 1975 at the Bobino Theater in
Paris, celebrities such as Princess Grace of Monaco and Sophia
Loren came to see the 68-year-old Josephine perform a
medley of routines from her 50 year career. Days later, however, Josephine slipped into
a coma and died from a cerebral hemorrhage at 5 a.m. on April
12.
With more than 20,000 people crowding the streets of Paris,
the French government honored Josephine Baker with a 21-gun
salute, making Josephine Baker the first American woman buried
in France with military honors. Her gravesite is in the
Cimetiére de Monaco, Monaco.
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Power in Words The Stories behind Barack
Obama's Speeches from the State House to the White House
By Mary Frances Berry and Josh Gottheimer
Whatever his policies and actions, President Obama is widely regarded as a powerful speaker. Berry and Gottheimer offer a collection of 18 of Obama’s most important speeches, illustrating his ascent as a politician and subtle changes in style and consistency of message—one of unity, responsibility, and change. The editors include historical context for changes in style, delivery, use of speechwriters, and media for presidential speeches since George Washington and how Obama fits into the tradition. The collection begins with Obama’s speech against the war in Iraq in 2002 when he was still a state senator; it also includes his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention that launched him into the national spotlight; his presidential campaign announcement in Springfield, Illinois, in 2007; his speech on race in Philadelphia; and concludes with his election night speech in Grant Park in Chicago. The editors precede each speech with commentary from speechwriters, journalists, and political analysts on the behind-the-scenes context for the speech and how it illustrates Obama’s development as a candidate. A revealing look at the power of words.—Booklist
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Millennial Momentum
How a New Generation Is Remaking America
By Morley Winograd and Mr. Michael D. Hais
About every eight decades, coincident with the most stressful and perilous events in U.S. history—the Revolutionary and Civil Wars and the Great Depression and World War II—a new, positive, accomplished, and group-oriented “civic generation” emerges to change the course of history and remake America. The Millennial Generation (born 1982–2003) is America’s newest civic generation. In their 2008 book, Millennial Makeover, Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais made a prescient argument that the Millennial Generation would change American politics for good. Later that year, a huge surge of participation from young voters helped to launch Barack Obama into the White House. Now, in Millennial Momentum, Winograd and Hais investigate how the beliefs and practices of the Millennials are transforming other areas of American culture, from education to entertainment, from the workplace to the home, and from business to politics and government. The Millennials’ cooperative ethic and can-do spirit have only just begun to make their mark, and are likely to continue to reshape American values for decades to come. Drawing from an impressive array of demographic data, popular texts, and personal interviews, the authors show how the ethnically diverse, socially tolerant, and technologically fluent Millennials can help guide the United States to retain its leadership of the world community and the global marketplace. They also illustrate why this generation’s unique blend of civic idealism and savvy pragmatism will enable us to overcome the internal culture wars and institutional malaise currently plaguing the country. Millennial Momentum offers a message of hope for a deeply divided nation.—Rutgers University Press |
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
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Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
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The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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update 30 September
2011
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