Words matter. These are the best Josephine Baker Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
I remember when Lindbergh arrived in Paris, I was one of the first persons to know about his landing, because as the French people know that I was born in St. Louis, thinking I would be very proud to announce it to the public, they gave me the news first. I was then starring in the ‘Folies Bergere.’
All my life, I have maintained that the people of the world can learn to live together in peace if they are not brought up in prejudice.
The hate directed against the colored people here in St. Louis has always given me a sad feeling because when I was a little girl I remember the horror of the East St. Louis race riot.
The hate directed against the colored people here in St. Louis has always given me a sad feeling… How can you expect the world to believe in you and respect your preaching of democracy when you yourself treat your colored brothers as you do?
I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents. And much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad.
Friends, to me for years St. Louis represented a city of fear… humiliation… misery and terror… A city where in the eyes of the white man a Negro should know his place and had better stay in it.
I like Frenchmen very much, because even when they insult you they do it so nicely.
God dislikes evil, and no happiness can be built on hate. Love one another as brothers.
Beautiful? It’s all a question of luck. I was born with good legs. As for the rest… beautiful, no. Amusing, yes.
I ran away from home. I ran away from St. Louis, and then I ran away from the United States of America, because of that terror of discrimination, that horrible beast which paralyzes one’s very soul and body.
I wanted to get far away from those who believed in cruelty, so then I went to France, a land of true freedom, democracy, equality and fraternity.
I believe in prayer. It’s the best way we have to draw strength from heaven.
Americans, the eyes of the world are upon you. How can you expect the world to believe in you and respect your preaching of democracy when you yourself treat your colored brothers as you do?
You must get an education. You must go to school, and you must learn to protect yourself. And you must learn to protect yourself with the pen, and not the gun.
