Happy Birthday, Josephine!

Josephine Baker deserves a wider audience today.  An American-born French singer, dancer, and actress, she was described by Ernest Hemingway as “the most sensational woman anyone ever saw.”  Josephine became a French citizen in 1937, in part due to American racism:  she could perform wherever she desired in France, and they loved her.  She adopted twelve children (so the Jolie-Pitts still have a way to go there) and worked as an “honorable correspondent,” i.e. spy,  for France during World War II.  Josephine was also known for her contributions to the Civil Rights movement here in the States.  What couldn’t she do?

Happy Birthday, Josephine!  I raise my banana daiquiri to you!