Day fifteen of African American nonfiction features JOSEPHINE BAKER: THE HUNGRY HEAR by Jean-Claude Baker. Josephine Baker is one of my all time favorite women in history. She was intelligent, strong, talented, and a beautiful woman both physically and on the inside where it counts the most. Baker parlayed her talent and unusual beauty into a career in entertainment and then used her fame for her platform of social activism. Baker exuded what was the epitome of courage during her time. If you aren't familiar with her story, I highly recommend this read. THE HUNGRY HEART is a compelling biography of a woman that defied the odds and created her own destiny. If you don't completely fangirl after reading her story, I don't know what to say...
Happy Reading!
Monica
Based on twenty years of research and thousands of interviews, this authoritative biography of performer Josephine Baker (1906-1975) provides a candid look at her tempestuous life. Born into poverty in St. Louis, the uninhibited chorus girl became the sensation of Europe and the last century's first black sex symbol. A heroine of the French Resistance in World War II, she entranced figures as diverse as de Gaulle, Tito, Castro, Princess Grace, two popes, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Yet Josephine was also, as one critic put it, "a monster who made Joan Crawford look like the Virgin Mary." Jean-Claude Baker's book also reveals her outbursts that resulted in lasting feuds, her imperious treatment of family and entourage members, and her ambivalent attitudes concerning her ethnic background.
Reconciling Josephine's many personas—Jazz-age icon, national hero of France, proponent of Civil Rights, mother of children from across the globe—Josephine: The Hungry Heart gives readers the inside story on a star unlike any other before or since.
There was also a movie made by HBO in 1991 starring Lynn Whitfield that was excellent! It will my you cover your mouth, shed a tear, but most of all rejoice in her triumph through all that life threw at her. I can't recommend this highly enough. I found that you can order the DVD on Amazon for only $5! This is an amazing bargain for a film that touched me the way that it did the first time that I viewed it. Needless to say I grabbed a copy for myself. You can see the DVD here. (There is a bit of nudity in the movie so it's really not child friendly.)
Here's a sneak peek of the goodness that is THE JOSEPHINE BAKER STORY.
Here's a sneak peek of the goodness that is THE JOSEPHINE BAKER STORY.
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