Josephine Baker: Ahead of her time. Women's History Month Global Icon

Click the screen below for the full dynamic episode on the incredible inspiring woman

It is with great pride and humility that we share the amazing story of Josephine baker, one of the world's greatest entertainers at a time when the world was in a precarious position.

There are few if any stories about the journey to success Fame, fortune, and icon status like that of the legendary Josephine baker. And the video episode we're sharing in this project is a reflection of the amazing path Baker took from extreme poverty, segregation and racism to international Fame and france, Europe and around the globe. She was a trailblazer, trendsetter, and war hero so watch and enjoy but first just a little background that may stimulate your interest in the video.

Josephine Baker 101

Freda Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalised as Joséphine Baker, was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted France. She was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent film Siren of the Tropics, directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri Étiévant.

She was 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 her early career, Baker was among the most celebrated performers to headline the revues of the Folies Bergère in Paris. Her performance in the revue Un vent de folie in 1927 caused a sensation in the city. Her costume, consisting of only a short skirt of artificial bananas and a beaded necklace, became an iconic image and a symbol both of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties.

Baker was celebrated by artists and intellectuals of the era, who variously dubbed her the "Black Venus", the "Black Pearl", the "Bronze Venus", and the "Creole Goddess". Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she renounced her U.S. citizenship and became a French national after her marriage to French industrialist Jean Lion in 1937. She raised her children in France.She aided the French Resistance during World War II.

After the war, she was awarded the Resistance Medal by the French Committee of National Liberation, the Croix de Guerre by the French military, and was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle. Baker sang: "I have two loves, my country and Paris." Baker refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States and is noted for her contributions to the civil rights movement.