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. Josephine Baker More Quotes by Josephine Baker More Quotes From Josephine Baker Surely the day will come when color means nothing more than the skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one's soul; when birth places have the weight of a throw of the dice and all men are born free, when understanding breeds love and brotherhood. Josephine Baker equality men mean To realise our dreams we must decide to wake up. Josephine Baker realising wake-up dream I'm not intimidated by anyone. Everyone is made with two arms, two legs, a stomach and a head. Just think about that. Josephine Baker courage two thinking I shall dance all my life. . . . I would like to die, breathless, spent, at the end of a dance. Josephine Baker breathless dies ends 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... I felt liberated in Paris. Josephine Baker paris white country You are on the eve of a complete victory. You can't go wrong. The world is behind you. Josephine Baker success happiness inspirational 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. Josephine Baker inspiration white heaven 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. Josephine Baker powerful gun school The things we truly love stay with us always, locked in our hearts as long as life remains. Josephine Baker heart love long I wasn't really naked. I simply didn't have any clothes on. Josephine Baker naked clothes witty We must change the system of education and instruction. Unfortunately, history has shown us that brotherhood must be learned, when it should be natural. Josephine Baker brotherhood natural education 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. Josephine Baker coffee queens kings Each time I leaped I seemed to touch the sky and when I regained earth it seemed to be mine alone. Josephine Baker music earth sky I have never really been a great artist. I have been a human being that has loved art, which is not the same thing. But I have loved and believed in art and the idea of universal brotherhood so much, that I have put everything I have into them, and I have been blessed. Josephine Baker blessed ideas art Art is an elastic sort of love. Josephine Baker art-is art I spent 30 minutes each morning rubbing my body with half a lemon to lighten my skin. Josephine Baker skins half morning 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. Josephine Baker prejudice together people A violinist had a violin, a painter his palette. All I had was myself. I was the instrument that I must care for. Josephine Baker african-american care dance I like Frenchmen very much, because even when they insult you they do it so nicely. Josephine Baker comeback insults-you paris ...It 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 freedom to go where one chose if one was held back by one's color? No, I preferred the Eiffel Tower, which made no promises." ~ Josephine Baker, once she had seen the Eiffel Tower Josephine Baker liberty color promise
