“Fearless And Free” is Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker, Fearless and Free, A Memoir was originally published in 1949.

“No Jews, no dogs, no niggers . . . ”
It was upon arriving in New York that the trouble began.
You can stay, but . . .”
No sooner had we settled in than the hotel management asked to speak to my husband:
“Do you intend to stay for long, Mr. Bouillon?”
“I have reserved the apartment for a month.”
“Very sorry . . . We’ve made a mistake. You apartment is only available today . . . Tomorrow it’s reserved . . .”
Jo understood immediately.
“Is this because my wife is a colored woman?”,

p. 231

The above is Josephine Baker telling what is like for her—famous in France, rich, and married to a white Frenchman—revisiting New York in 1948. Keep reading:

“Those who gravitated around Josephine were infected with an unconditional affection for her; a magnetic force, a star, she was mystifying yet so real, familiar yet enigmatic. Even those most resistant to effusive outpourings succumbed to her effortless, natural charms right up until her last moments on earth. On the day when no one could really believe she was dead, an English historian left these few words in the book of condolences in Monaco: “She was adorable, mystical, magical, unpredictable, idealistic, mad, generous and warm . . .”

p. 274.

Now one last quote and my comment that I found Josephine Baker’s Fearless And Free, amazing and inspiring. At the time of this quote she’s rich and famous:

“Do you know where I was Christmas? In bed, with a kind of typhoid fever.
In the end, what can you do?
Give up?
Let yourself die?
Oh! No.
As soon as my fever had reduced a little, I went to Is Menebhi’s. I mulled over all this in his palace—in a pretty guesthouse just for me. I wasn’t feeling very happy. When you’re not happy, you should be anyway. You should sing—there’s no better remedy—even if you’re shaking like leaf, even if your belly is cut open.

Mine wasn’t healed, but my belly wasn’t running the show. And even though people tried to stop me . . . even the doctor—by February I was in Casablanca. I was inaugurating the club for colored American Soldiers,”

p. 194.

Josephine Baker, Fearless and Free, Translated from the French by Adam Zafar and Sophie Lewis, Tiny Reparations Books, 1945, First English Penguin, 2025.

           Thank You for reading, JoAnnLordahl.com    

[My apologies: Reading, Writing currently consumes most of my dwindling energy.]