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The Eye of INA: Dare Joséphine Baker!

2021-11-20T09:15:53.063Z


Singer, dancer, actress, magazine leader and resistance fighter, she will make her debut on November 30 at 5.30 p.m. at the Pantheon. Before this historic event, find Jacques Rutman's documentary on this woman who has always been ahead of her time.


On November 30 at 5.30 p.m., Joséphine Baker will make her entrance to the Pantheon. While waiting for this historic event, Madelen offers

The Joséphine Baker show

, signed Jacques Rutman. This anthology of most of her appearances on stage was made in 1964, that is to say when, for lack of money to support the twelve children of her Arc-en-Ciel family, she gave up her farewells and returns to the Olympia. She was then threatened with eviction from her domain of Milandes, her castle in the Dordogne, despite a call, during the 8 pm newspaper, from Brigitte Bardot, begging that we come to the aid of a

" exceptional woman ”

.

A call for help that will go unanswered.

In the 1960s, no one could measure the dimension of her courage and the reality of the selfless actions that she never ceased to carry out.

She is so far ahead of her time that they are only recognized today.

Read alsoDiscover here the documentary

The Josephine Baker show

on Madelen, the INA platform

In 1940, when war broke out, she was contacted by an officer from the French intelligence services. He knows Joséphine's love for France and wonders if she could not, discreetly, render some services to her adopted country. She accepts without a moment's hesitation. With the unofficial title of

"honorable correspondent"

, she will take advantage of official receptions of which she is the guest of honor, to gather information on German positions. Pinned under her dress or transcribed in sympathetic ink on scores, they are transmitted to the Resistance during tours in Portugal, after crossing borders where it is never checked by customs officers who are content to ask for autographs. .

She then devotes boundless admiration to General de Gaulle. In his eyes, he is the only one capable of saving France and raising her up. She met him in 1943, during a gala intended to raise funds for Free France. As she prepares to take the stage, an orderly officer asks her if she would agree to go to the lodge of the June 18 man. The few minutes spent with him during which he offered her a small Cross of Lorraine will remain, in his memory, one of the strongest moments of his existence. Now a second lieutenant of the auxiliary female troops of the French Air Force, she will conclude this period in 1946, receiving the Medal of the Resistance.

In the 1950s, she continued her crusade by stepping up actions to defend her sisters and brothers. From Cuba to New York, she never hesitates to appeal to a bailiff, but also to the press when she is refused a room or a dish in a restaurant because she is black. The impact was such that on May 20, 1951, an

"association for the defense of people of color"

organized

"Baker Day"

in the heart of Harlem. That day, dressed all in white, she paraded through the streets in an uncovered car. Parades, parades, receptions greet his presence. She does not fail to wipe away a tear when during a speech, one of the organizers declares:

“The future black generations will have to remember that if their path has become smoother, it is to Josephine that they owe it.

"

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-11-20

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