Baker wanted to provide an example for the rest of the world to follow to fight racism. So in the 1950s started adopting orphans from all over the world and continued to do so until she had assembled a family of 12 children from a variety of countries and ethnicities, “the Rainbow Tribe.”What she did was truly remarkable especially considering the times. No one had ever seen a black woman adopt a white child before or a black woman adopts 12 children. Even less raise them in a castle in southwest France. Instead, she raised the children like brothers whilst respecting their individual culture. In an interview with Le Monde, she said: “I will make every effort so that each shows the utmost respect for the opinions and beliefs of the other,” Baker claimed. “I want to show people of colour that not all whites are cruel and mean. I will prove that human beings can respect each other if given a chance.”

In 1963, after avoiding the United States for years, Baker returned to attend the civil rights march in Washington, D.C. In the same year, she performed in Manhattan to sing, dance, and “fight bias”.When she died in 1975,  she received full French military honours at her funeral at l’église de la Madeleine in Paris, the only American-born woman ever.

Make no mistake, Josephine Baker was not a saint by any standards. I’m not glossing over this; she started her career as a highly sexualised celebrity and partly used her race and people’s fascination with it to lure white audiences to get rich fast and become a superstar.
Some accused her of using the children as “walking, talking and sometimes costumed icons of racial typecasting”, an instrument in her war against racism and prejudice.

For me, Josephine Baker is an example of making the most of your circumstances with the tools you have available, with the knowledge you have. And grabbing the opportunities that life presents without using excuses of why you can’t. She is an example that the only thing standing between you and your goals is the stories you tell yourself about why you can’t achieve them.

“You have to be open to using your gift/s, to embrace the opportunities and change your life” – Steve Harvey – Act Like A Success, Think Like A Success.

What are the excuses you tell yourself of why you have not/are not achieving your dreams?
STOP IT – NO EXCUSES.