Joséphine Baker (1906-75) was an American born, French entertainer of the Jazz Age. When France fell to the Nazis she became a spy for the French Resistance. When the war was over she fought for civil rights in America. Here is a thread of Joséphine Baker quotes.

“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.”

“I'm not intimidated by anyone. Everyone is made with two arms, two legs, a stomach and a head. Just think about that.”

“Beautiful? It's all a question of luck. I was born with good legs. As for the rest... beautiful, no. Amusing, yes.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“I was a devil in other countries, and I was a little devil in America, too.”

“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?”

“Let us stop saying 'white Americans' and 'colored Americans,' let us try once and for all saying... Americans. Let human beings be equal on Earth as in Heaven.”

“A violinist had a violin, a painter his palette. All I had was myself. I was the instrument that I must care for.”

“I like Frenchmen very much, because even when they insult you they do it so nicely.”

“Since I personified the savage on the stage, I tried to be as civilized as possible in daily life.”

“It [the Eiffel Tower] looked very different from the Statue of Liberty, but what did that matter? What was the good of having the statue without the liberty?”

“The white imagination is sure something when it comes to blacks.”

“One day I realized I was living in a country where I was afraid to be black. It was only a country for white people. Not black. So I left. I had been suffocating in the United States… A lot of us left, not because we wanted to leave, but because we couldn’t stand it anymore.”

“We must change the system of education and instruction. Unfortunately, history has shown us that brotherhood must be learned, when it should be natural.”

“I wasn't really naked. I simply didn't have any clothes on.”

“We’ve got to show that blacks and whites are treated equally in the army. Otherwise, what’s the point of waging war on Hitler?”

“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.”

“When I was a child & they burned me out of my home, I was frightened & I ran away. Eventually I ran far away. It was to a place called France. Many of you have been there, & many have not. But I must tell you... in that country I never feared. It was like a fairyland place”

“You are on the eve of a complete victory. You can't go wrong. The world is behind you.”