{"id":173,"date":"2017-10-27T14:40:55","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T18:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/?p=173"},"modified":"2020-02-25T16:16:19","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T21:16:19","slug":"josephine-baker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/2017\/10\/27\/josephine-baker\/","title":{"rendered":"Josephine Baker"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/064f5455d288e9ba26006a88cb85f29d.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/064f5455d288e9ba26006a88cb85f29d-135x210.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"135\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-175\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/064f5455d288e9ba26006a88cb85f29d-135x210.jpg 135w, https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/064f5455d288e9ba26006a88cb85f29d.jpg 236w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 135px) 100vw, 135px\" \/><\/a>At the height of her success in interwar Paris, Josephine Baker was a millionaire at the age of just twenty-four. Dubbed in the French press as La Bakaire, her roles on stage in <em>La Revue n\u00e8gre\/The Negro Revue<\/em> (1925) and <em>La Folie du jour\/The Day\u2019s Madness<\/em> (1926) and in film in <em>La Sir\u00e8ne des tropiques\/The Siren of the Tropics<\/em> (Nalpas\/Eti\u00e9vant, 1927), <em>Zou Zou<\/em> (Marc All\u00e9gret, 1934), and <em>Princesse Tam Tam<\/em> (Gr\u00e9ville, 1935) made Baker one of the most publicly visible figures in French cultural life until her death in Paris in 1975, where she was given a full state funeral. Baker was variously figured as the incarnation of Charles Baudelaire\u2019s Jeanne Duval, the danseuse de bananes\/the banana dancer and la petite Tonkinoise\/the Tonkin girl who brought the Charleston and the Blackbottom to France, all performed against the backdrop of interwar France that was just entering its colonial golden age.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Josephine Baker - Paris...Paris, 1949\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/c419ZQ9rbkc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UNSEnQNfk9k<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/BUyxJCsCIAA2mXl.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-1\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/BUyxJCsCIAA2mXl-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-176\" \/><\/a>Born in 1906 to an impoverished family in the racially troubled city of Saint Louis, Baker received little formal education and was married at thirteen. She seemed destined for a life of poverty and drudgery in common with other African American women of her social class and education. However, a talent for performance at an early age took Baker into the potentially more lucrative world of the black musical revue, where she quickly recognized that she could use the performative value of the black female body to escape from domestic service and menial labor. Considered too dark for the traditional sexual appeal of the \u201chigh yallers\u201d and the \u201csepia lovelies\u201d in the chorus line, Baker attracted attention with her comic talent in a series of blackface comedy roles and soon became well known for her traditional \u201cpickanniny\u201d routines <em>Shuffle Along<\/em> (1923) and <em>Chocolate Dandies<\/em> (1924) in Harlem and on Broadway.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-173 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-medium'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker4.jpg' title=\"\" data-rl_title=\"\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"133\" height=\"210\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker4-133x210.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker4-133x210.jpg 133w, https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker4.jpg 179w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 133px) 100vw, 133px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker3.jpg' title=\"\" data-rl_title=\"\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"158\" height=\"210\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker3-158x210.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker3-158x210.jpg 158w, https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker3-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker3-375x500.jpg 375w, https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker3.jpg 829w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 158px) 100vw, 158px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker2.jpg' title=\"\" data-rl_title=\"\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"273\" height=\"185\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker2.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker1.jpg' title=\"\" data-rl_title=\"\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"212\" height=\"210\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker1-212x210.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker1-212x210.jpg 212w, https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker1-768x759.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker1-506x500.jpg 506w, https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker1.jpg 1583w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 212px) 100vw, 212px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker5.jpg' title=\"\" data-rl_title=\"\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"95\" height=\"210\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker5-95x210.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker5-95x210.jpg 95w, https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker5-227x500.jpg 227w, https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/JBaker5.jpg 290w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 95px) 100vw, 95px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/c11765d025b7488f619d9dee1f287931_h.jpg' title=\"\" data-rl_title=\"\" class=\"rl-gallery-link\" data-rl_caption=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"137\" height=\"210\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/c11765d025b7488f619d9dee1f287931_h-137x210.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/c11765d025b7488f619d9dee1f287931_h-137x210.jpg 137w, https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/c11765d025b7488f619d9dee1f287931_h.jpg 245w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 137px) 100vw, 137px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<div  class=\"pods-ui-notice pods-ui-notice-notice pods-ui-notice-notice-error pods-ui-notice-is-dismissible pods-ui-notice-front\"><p><strong>Pods Embed Error:<\/strong> Pod not found.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/064f5455d288e9ba26006a88cb85f29d-135x210.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"135\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-175\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/064f5455d288e9ba26006a88cb85f29d-135x210.jpg 135w, https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/files\/2017\/10\/064f5455d288e9ba26006a88cb85f29d.jpg 236w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 135px) 100vw, 135px\" \/>At the height of her success in interwar Paris, Josephine Baker was a millionaire at the age of just twenty-four. Dubbed in the French press as La Bakaire, her roles on stage and in film, Baker was one of the most publicly visible figures in French cultural life.<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/2017\/10\/27\/josephine-baker\/\">Continue Reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Josephine Baker<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,14,17,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-france","category-jazz-and-nightlife-in-paris","category-musician","category-paris","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions\/261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/blacksineurope\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}