(ONLINE) Book Club Meeting: "Fearless and Free: A Memoir" by Josephine Baker

Greetings Mocha Girls,

I hope this message finds everyone well.

Please join us on Google Meet where we will have our discussion virtually.

Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/tyi-vyfn-adh
Or dial: ‪(US) +1 434-362-0922‬ PIN: ‪448 371 185‬#
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Warmly,
Mocha Girl Leanna

Our September 2025 monthly book selection is "Fearless and Free: A Memoir" by Josephine Baker.

Remember, if you don't finish the book, you are still welcome, so come anyway!

REMEMBER:
Support a Black-owned Bookstore called RESIST BOOKSELLERS and get 15% off when you use the code MGR22.

About the Book:
After stealing the spotlight as a teenaged Broadway performer during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, Josephine then took Paris by storm, dazzling audiences across the Roaring Twenties. In her famous banana skirt, she enraptured royalty and countless fans—Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso among them. She strolled the streets of Paris with her pet cheetah wearing a diamond collar. With her signature flapper bob and enthralling dance moves, she was one of the most recognizable women in the world.

When World War II broke out, Josephine became a decorated spy for the French Résistance. Her celebrity worked as her cover, as she hid spies in her entourage and secret messages in her costumes as she traveled. She later joined the Civil Rights movement in the US, boycotting segregated concert venues, and speaking at the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King Jr.

First published in France in 1949, her memoir will now finally be published in English. At last we can hear Josephine in her own voice: charming, passionate, and brave. Her words are thrilling and intimate, like she’s talking with her friends over after-show drinks in her dressing room. Through her own telling, we come to know a woman who danced to the top of the world and left her unforgettable mark on it.

About the Author:
Josephine Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, to a washerwoman and vaudeville performer. Having experienced the horrors of the East St. Louis riots in 1917, she embraced her talents as a way out of discrimination and poverty. Baker began her career by performing in vaudeville showcases around the country and was soon offered a chance to perform in Paris in La Revue Nègre. Once the Revue closed, Baker was given her own show and from there her career skyrocketed. She was the first African American woman to star in a motion picture, to perform with an integrated cast at the American concert hall, and one of the first African American entertainers who achieved acclaim both in movies and on the stage.

During World War II, Baker performed for integrated audiences of French and American troops. She also served as a member of the French Resistance forces and smuggled messages in her lyrics that were sent back to France from opposing forces. She received the Croix de Guerre for her efforts. Baker later returned to America to take part in the Civil Rights Movement. She was the only female speaker at the March on Washington in 1968, where she honored women civil rights activists.

Modern biographies and interviews with her son have explored Baker’s sexuality and found that she had relationships with both men and women throughout her lifetime. After taking some time away from entertainment to raise her “Rainbow Tribe,” Baker returned to the stage in a series of concerts at the famous Bobino Theater in Paris. After a triumphant show and late-night dancing with celebrities, Baker slipped into a coma while asleep and passed away on April 12, 1975, at age 68.
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