List of Josephine Baker Quotes

I Was A Devil In Other Countries, And I Was A Little Devil In America, Too.

The Old Catholic Parties Hounded Me With A Christian Hatred From Station To Station, City To City, One Stage To Another.

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.'

Is That What They Call A Vocation, What You Do With Joy As If You Had Fire In Your Heart, The Devil In Your Body?

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 Love Performing. I Shall Perform Until The Day I Die.

I Ran Away From St. Louis, And Then I Ran Away From The United States, Because Of That Terror Of Discrimination.

I Spent 30 Minutes Each Morning Rubbing My Body With Half A Lemon To Lighten My Skin.

I Have Two Loves: My Country And Paris.

I Think They Must Mix Blood, Otherwise The Human Race Is Bound To Degenerate. Mixing Blood Is Marvelous. It Makes Strong And Intelligent Men. It Takes Away Tired Spirits.

My People Have A Country Of Their Own To Go To If They Choose... Africa... But, This America Belongs To Them Just As Much As It Does To Any Of The White Race... In Some Ways Even More So, Because They Gave The Sweat Of Their Brow And Their Blood In Slavery So That Many Parts Of America Could Become Prosperous And Recognized In The World.

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?