I ran away from St. Louis, and then I ran away from the United States, because of that terror of discrimination.
Josephine BakerEach time I leaped I seemed to touch the sky and when I regained earth it seemed to be mine alone.
Josephine BakerOne 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 BakerIs that what they call a vocation, what you do with joy as if you had fire in your heart, the devil in your body?
Josephine BakerMy 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.
Josephine Baker