#josephine baker quote

[artdecoandmodernist]

Madame d’Ora (Dora Kallmus), Entertainer Josephine Baker, 1928.

Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg. "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. And when I get mad, you know that I open my big mouth. And then look out, 'cause when Josephine opens her mouth, they hear it all over the world ..." – Josephine Baker

[sarahtorribio-blog]

That cool quote by Josephine Baker

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[armands-cuck-chair]

"'Exceptional negro.' 'Thank you, sir.' It was the call and response of my entire life. I had let them talk to me like that so long I stopped hearing it. 'Yes sir', 'of course, sir', 'subject, verb, agreement, sir', smile, nod, 'yes, sir.' They all came from the same organ inside me, an organ unknown to science at the time, because what scientist would look for an organ found only in black men who use their weakness to rise? But I wasn't a man anymore. I was something else. I had powers now, and decades of rage to process, and it was both random and unfortunate the man picked that night to dabble in fuckery."

One of my favorite Louis quotes of all time. And it makes me so happy when I'm watching black reactors watch this scene because it's obviously so cathartic for them. I like watching black reaction content for this show in particular, because it helps me as a white person appreciate the show on a whole other level that I would be incapable of on my own. It was actually a black acter that made me interested in watching the show in the first place!

I had seen gifs on tumblr and I wanted to get a feel for the show before I bought it. I was a fan of the 1994 movie and had read some of the book, but it did always bother me that Louis in both of those versions of the story was a slave owner. And especially in the movie, which adds that whole gross slave master/enslaved black woman romance racist trope that always made me uncomfortable, even before I could articulate why. (At least the slaves get freed and then they burn down the plantation? Seriously, don't get me started on that aspect of the 1994 movie.) I was really intrigued by the fact that the show chose to make Louis a black creole man, instead of a white creole man, and also the switching of the time period. But because some aspects of the source material were...not great, I was worried that that change might not have been handled the best. Vampire media oftentimes don't treat their black characters very well. So when I decided to watch reaction content of it to get a feel for the show, I wanted to hear a black perspective on it.

So I watched ShalayaHomebody TV's reaction first (also her Sandman reactions are so good, she is so funny, you should absolutely subscribe), and I was pleasantly surprised because, you know, the bar is in Hell. I immediately bought the first season and I have been obsessed with the show and have had The Vampire Chronicles brainrot ever since.

A while ago, I watched Syntell's reactions with Mikel Claire on his channel and I was sort of blown away by him saying this about the scene when Sam takes Louis's tickets to the Theatre des Vampires show in the fake fangs and white vampire makeup: "I wonder if that's like blackface to them?" Like, as a white person, my mind just straight up didn't go there, but as soon as he said it I totally got it. It made me think of how Josephine Baker had performed in blackface as a black woman, because she could get more money performing to white audiences and that's the only way white audiences at the time would watch anything having to do with black people. It made me look at the whole Theatre des Vampires differently.

After Claudia proclaimed that the trial was a stoning, Alex of Jessa and Alex Watch said: "No, it's a lynching!" And...yeah! It basically was.

I could keep giving examples, but I'm stoned and rambling and this post is already going to be incredibly long as it is. I just have a lot to say!

The show might not handle every single thing exactly right 100% of the time in regards to race, nothing does, but I really appreciate the show taking pains to accurately cover the typical attitudes regarding race in the time periods it's set in, including the present. That's not to say that any scrutiny or criticism isn't warranted, there will always be blind spots. And like I said, the bar is in Hell, but I think it's really cool and good that they took the time to sit back and say, "okay, how does changing this character's race change their history and how they navigate the world?" Especially when there are white supremacists in the US government who think teaching about the history and the structural nature of racism not be taught because it will "make white kids grow up hating themselves". 🙄

I don't know, man. I just saw people criticizing some of the Devil's Minion fandom for their treatment of Louis when I was browsing the tag and like...I don't want to contribute to making black fans of the show feel shut out and like they don't have a space in the fandom. It's like that meme: "I got so caught up in the euphoria of shipping Devil's Minion that for a moment I forgot racism exists."

I don't say it enough, but I love this incarnation of Louis and Claudia. I love that there are so many black fans who feel seen and represented. I love that the show isn't just a sea of 99% white characters like the books are, but keeping everything that makes the books compelling and great and then elevating it by making it more inclusive.

Don't sideline the black fans in the IWTV community. Watch black reacters. Engage with them. Listen to them. You might not agree with every take they have, but I promise you that it will make you enjoy the show from a whole new perspective.

[libraryleopard]

decided to revisit the bingo that @kazz-brekker and i made in advance of s2 of interview with the vampire before i watch episode five tomorrow.

thoughts on things i have crossed off:

multilingual armand: speaks french and mentions he speaks other languages (french, italian, hindi?, english). still curious about him speaking kazakh in season 1! i wonder if that's a language he picked up during his time enslaved? i started going down an internet rabbit hole of researching stuff like the khivan slave trade but that is perhaps something better suited for examining after the season finishes airing.

lestat hallucination: actually didn't expect there would be that much but it's been interesting! however now i am ready for louis and armand to develop their own special hellish issues without lestat literally hovering over their shoulders.

lestat backstory flashback: more of an armand flashback but i'm counting it.

arson: they burnt down the mansion during the first group hun + foreshadowing for the theater burning has been heavily dropped already.

human rashid turns up: and he looks very fed-up with his bosses tbh.

african american expat communities: some discussion of being african american in midcentury france in episode 2.

daniel challenges armand's narrative: "disregard" had me screaming at the tv

armand quotes shakespeare: simply did not think they would let a season pass without having shakespearean actor assad zaman quote shakespeare and i was right!

lestat's wolfkiller cloak: wearing it during his confrontation with armand in the street.

nicki flashback: and he did not have a good time. rip.

biased armand flashback: and HOW!

french colonialism: mention of france colonizing algeria and also quang + tuan pham being from vietnam when it was a french colony.

some of these are probably not happening (james baldwin namedrop, josephine baker cameo), two are almost definitely not but i don't regret wishing for them (armand ate marius, bricktop williams comes back) and some i think will play out during the rest of the season so i'm just waiting to see how that shakes out (bi/gay daniel, claudia is queer)

[cleverclove-arts]

[Image ID: Digital art of a bookmark featuring African-American French actress, Josephine Baker. There are two versions of Baker drawn from the bust up. The top is of Baker as an actress. She is wearing a fur boa and wears her hair cropped and curled in a 1920s fashion. The bottom is of Baker in a French Resistance spy suit and cap. Her hair is tied back. The text in the middle features a quote, which reads the following: “no happiness can be built on hate.” -josephine baker, black french actress and WWII spy. The very bottom has a red, yellow, and green flag, a recognized symbol of Black History Month. The text beside it reads “happy black history month ♡.” /End ID.]

[childeproof]

big word dump abt everything related to my clone high s/i..

her clone mother is josephine baker! she’s a modern clone but i want her to be. less. than the modern clones in the show they have such bright designs (minus topher he looks like a shit stain I like that) I think she’d be rlly chill design wise, still with clear homages to her clone mother.

anyways, I think she’d be middle crowd in terms of popularity. sort of like background character that reoccurs every now & then (for tv reference) … she has her own crowd she runs with but she wld have classes with the more popular clones leading to them being friends. i think she wld be the type of person to easily float between friend groups but she has 1 main friend group if that makes sense?

she is bisexual like her clone mother & had a down low relationship with frida at one point (they’re still friends after the break up and do once a month ex dates for fun)

loves cheetah print!!! never rlly wears it tho lol

she owns a cat named chiquita.. wld like more pets but can’t have more. she’s also pretty good w kids :) she wants one of her own but sort of only imagines it as a baby so it’s complicated (but it’s ok she has her whole life to figure it out)

more of a comedienne & singer or dancer, she’s very clever but can NOT dance. she can act but she enjoys singing more…

relationship wise.. exes w frida, thinks abe & toph r both odd /neu, thinks cleo is cool & eventually befriends her, silly billies with confucius (they fllw each other everywhere on socials n hype each other’s posts), met frida through harriet & has barely talked to her since the break up lol, joan & her share classes so I think they’d meet through that & joan wld develop a crush… meanwhile jfk is also crushing. love triangle ish where jfk & joan like each other but also separately like josephine so they’re figuring it out. josephine likes joan first btw so at first it’s josephine likes joan & jfk likes josephine & jfk + joan r dating but it morphs into joan liking josephine & josephine liking jfk (lots of like pining & stuff if that makes sense also jfk & joan eventually talk out their feelings abt it)

current joanfk selfship Pinterest board (ignore the fact I’m on the website) (black & white photos r josephine & jfk) Also. The Dostoyevsky quote is Joan vs jfk “ur mad hot” ughhh

RAHHH this is so long and incoherent I feel

[sharmonjarmon]

Josephine Baker was described as "The most sensational woman anybody ever saw. Or ever will."

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1906, Josephine experienced poverty in childhood, living in cardboard shelters in the slums and dancing on the street to make money. However, the street dancing turned into performing in a vaudeville act, as she pestered a show manager for a role. For that show, she traveled to New York, and her career had begun.

While performing in New York was a good start, her big break came in Paris, where she moved in her late teens to leave the racism of America. In Paris, she thrived. Her dancing life found much success. And it was also while living in Europe that Josephine evolved her artistic career into singing and acting.

Josephine continued to live in Europe. Even as World War II involved France, she chose to stay, joining the French Military Intelligence Agency. In her role with the agency, she used her entertainer status to travel around Europe. And with charm, she engaged others, collecting valuable information, often keeping notes in invisible ink on sheet music.

After the war, Josephine took a more active role in the U.S. Civil Rights movement. She wrote articles about segregation, worked closely with NAACP, spoke at the 1963 March on Washington, and refused to perform in segregated venues - a stance that helped drive integration. It was also during her years of working in the Civil Rights movement that Josephine began adopting children, calling her family the "Rainbow Tribe," as her children were of different races and ethnicities.

Josephine passed away in Paris in 1975. France honored her with a state funeral; she is the only American-born woman to receive this honor.

—

Sources: "The most sensational woman anybody ever saw. Or ever will." - quote from Ernest Hemingway / Portrait of Josephine Baker taken in 1940 / Studio Harcourt / Wikimedia Commons

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