My French lesson on Josephine Baker

According to Joni Mitchell, “In France they kiss on Main Street.” Oui and non. Some kissing, mostly smoking. Sorry Joni. Actually, while in France, I asked for the location of Main Street. The confused look I received told me that “Main Street” is not really a thing in France or, more likely, they had no idea what I was trying to say. My French language skills are more like a dog with a large vocabulary. And that’s before I try acting it out, which I think is endearingly annoying. My wife says I’m half right — annoying.

Three things you can always count on when visiting France: fabulous food, great wine, and a labor strike. We hit the trifecta. And with good weather to boot. As usual, I waged a losing battle trying to take a shower without flooding the bathroom. Is a proper shower door too much to ask? Before getting on a nationalist high horse and piling on the French about mundane cultural differences I must acknowledge that France put us to shame in the treatment of one of our own: Josephine Baker.

A visit to her home in the Dordogne region, Chateau des Milandes, now a national historical monument, was an eye-opener. We mostly know Josephine Baker as the Black Jazz Age cabaret entertainer scantily clad in a banana skirt. But she is so much more than that. Growing up dirt poor in St. Louis, uneducated and subject to virulent and violent racism, she witnessed Black families being burned out of their homes. Despite many obstacles, she made her way to Broadway and achieved modest success. Moving to France changed everything. She became one of the most successful entertainers in the world. France loved her and she loved France. Josephine Baker was an American original who was never truly embraced by her country. Returning to the United States at the height of her popularity, the Stork Club in Manhattan refused to serve her. Hotels remained strictly segregated and off limits and when she fought back, famed columnist Walter Winchell accused her of Communist sympathies.

Patriot, civil rights activist, humanitarian, Josephine Baker led by example. She joined the French Resistance and served in the French military during World War II. We’re not talking about celebrity public service messages. We’re talking about espionage. She risked her career and her life spying for French counterintelligence. After the war, in addition to being awarded a French Resistance medal, and the Croix de Guerre, she received the ultimate accolade, the Legion of Honor from President Charles de Gaulle.

In the United States she refused to perform for segregated audiences despite threatening phone calls from the Ku Klux Klan. In 1963, at the March on Washington, proudly wearing her French Resistance uniform, she spoke out against discrimination before Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. Back home in France, she adopted 12 children from around the world, her “rainbow tribe,” to show that children with different religions and different cultures could live and thrive together.

In 2021, she was posthumously given France’s highest honor: induction into the French Pantheon. She was the only Black woman and only American to receive that honor.

As I mopped up the latest shower monsoon in my hotel bathroom I felt a little foolish criticizing the French over an inconvenience. France welcomed and honored Josephine Baker. America disapproved and ignored her. Despite the delicious meals we had enjoyed, learning of our indifference left a bitter taste.

M.A. Duca is a resident of Twin Lakes, narrowly focused on everyday life.

The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Lakeville Journal and The Journal does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Latest News

Legal Notices - May 7, 2026

Legal Notices - May 7, 2026

CANAAN FIRE DISTRICT

WARNING

Keep ReadingShow less

Classifieds - May 7, 2026

Classifieds - May 7, 2026

Automobiles For Sale

2012 Audi Q5: Original owner, 88,500 miles, no accidents, everything works! always garaged, $7500, OBO! 860-435-2065.

Help Wanted

PART-TIME CARE-GIVER NEEDED: possibly LIVE-IN. Bright private STUDIO on 10 acres. Queen Bed, En-Suite Bathroom, Kitchenette & Garage. SHARON 407-620-7777.

Keep ReadingShow less

Region One voters approve $19.5M budget

Region one

A sign outside Sharon Town Hall encourages residents to vote for Region One's proposed $19.5M 2026–27 school budget, which passed Tuesday, May 5, by a vote of 333-120.

Aly Morrissey

FALLS VILLAGE – Voters in Region One towns approved the district’s proposed $19.5 million 2026–2027 school budget Tuesday, May 5, by a vote of 333-120.

From noon to 8 p.m., 453 total voters turned out from Cornwall, Falls Village, Kent, North Canaan, Salisbury and Sharon.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

‘Vulnerable Earth’ opens at the Tremaine Gallery

Tremaine Gallery exhibit ‘Vulnerable Earth’ explores climate change in the High Arctic.

Photo by Greg Lock

“Vulnerable Earth,” on view through June 14 at the Tremaine Gallery at Hotchkiss, brings together artists who have traveled to one of the most remote regions on Earth and returned with work shaped by first-hand experience of a fragile, rapidly shifting planet, inviting viewers to sit with the tension between awe and loss, beauty and vulnerability.

Curated by Greg Lock, director of the Photography, Film and Related Media program at The Hotchkiss School, the exhibition centers on participants in The Arctic Circle, an expeditionary residency that sends artists and scientists into the High Arctic aboard a research vessel twice a year. The result is a show documenting their lived experience and what it means to stand in a place where climate change is not theoretical but visible, immediate and accelerating.

Keep ReadingShow less
Beyond Hammertown: Joan Osofsky designs what comes next

Joan Osofsky and Sharon Marston

Provided

Joan Osofsky is closing the doors on Hammertown, one of the region’s most beloved home furnishings and lifestyle destinations, after 40 years, but she is not calling it an ending.

“I put my baby to bed,” she said, describing the decision with clarity and calm. “It felt like the right time.”

Keep ReadingShow less
A celebratory season of American classics and new works at Barrington Stage Company
Playwright Keelay Gipson’s “Estate Sale” will have its world premier this summer at Barrington Stage Company.
Provided

Amid the many cultural attractions in the region, the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, stands out for its award-winning productions and comprehensive educational and community-based programming. The theater’s 2026 season is one of its most ambitious; it includes two Pulitzer Prize-winning modern classics, one of the greatest theatrical farces ever written, and new works that speak directly to who we are right now as a society.

“Our 2026 season is a celebration of extraordinary storytelling in all its forms — timeless, uproarious and boldly new,” said Artistic Director Alan Paul. “This season features works that have shaped the American theater, as well as world premieres that reflect the company’s deep commitment to developing new voices and new stories. Together, these productions embody what BSC does best: entertain, challenge and connect our audiences through theater that feels both essential and alive.”

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.