Mother Baltimore: J’ai deux amours
Josephine Baker, the St. Louis-bred singer, actress and dancer, made history this week. She became the first Black woman and first American-born person to be buried in the Panthéon.
As I learned about the momentous honor, I thought about what brought Baker to Paris, France, and how she would go on to consider that, instead of St. Louis, her home (she received French citizenship in 1937). Her 1952 speech during her first performance at the Kiel Auditorium (now Stifel Theatre) in her hometown in nearly 30 years explains that. Baker simply didn’t want to be where her people weren’t treated with respect. And, due to segregation, Black people during Baker’s prime as an entertainer were met with racial violence when demanding that respect.
Baker had firsthand experience of the brunt of that violence. During her speech, she recalled what it was like to witness the 1917 East St. Louis Race Massacre as a child:
When I was a little girl I remember the horror of the East St. Louis race riot. I was very tiny but the horror of the whole thing impressed me so that here today at the age of forty five years I can still see myself standing on the west bank of the Mississippi looking over into East St. Louis and watching the glow of the burning of Negro homes lighting the sky. We children stood huddled together in bewilderment, not being able to understand the horrible madness of mob violence but here we were hiding behind the skirts of grown ups frightened to death with the screams of the Negro families running across this bridge with nothing but what they had on their backs as their worldly belongings. 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.
Baker was eager to distance herself from that horrific imagery, so much so that she eventually sought citizenship in another country while laying the foundation for future entertainers. I wonder how different her career trajectory would’ve been had she stayed in St. Louis. Maybe it would’ve been the same or maybe it wouldn’t have. But, this week, the place she deemed the most comfortable to live gave her the respect that she probably didn’t even think was possible in 1917.
Now, here’s the latest news in southwestern Illinois:
Former southwest Illinois mayor dies after lengthy illness
Randy McCallum, a former mayor of Alorton, passed away on Tuesday. He had been sick for a while and was waiting for a kidney donor, according to his wife, Gwen McCallum. BND reporter Carolyn Smith talked to Gwen and politicians in the area about Randy’s passing.
More on government in Alorton:
FBI seizes boxes of information from Alorton City Hall and police department
Amid declining revenue and political pull, mayors of Alorton, Centreville favor merger
SIUE makes historic choice in filling open chancellor’s seat
Dr. James Minor was appointed to be the new chancellor of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, making him the first Black chancellor in the school’s 63-year history. Minor previously served as the assistant vice chancellor and senior strategist for California State University. He’ll start his tenure as the 10th chancellor of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville on March 3.
More on SIUE:
Vandalism at SIUE shows ‘bigotry and cowardice’ toward trans people, lawmaker says
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville chancellor announces he will retire in 2022
East St. Louis is honoring late football phenom with parade and special day on Monday
Monday, Nov. 29, was Jaylon McKenzie Day in East St. Louis. The 14-year-old athlete was killed by a stray bullet while attending a house party in 2019. Since last year, family, friends and community members have honored Jaylon’s legacy with a parade throughout the city on Nov. 29, Jaylon’s birthday. Jaylon would’ve turned 17 this year. BND reporter DeAsia Paige talked to Jaylon’s mom and others about what he meant to them.
More on Jaylon McKenzie:
Two more charged in death of East St. Louis football star, but none for murder
Promising Belleville athlete, 14, killed by stray bullet after eighth grade dance
What to do
This is a new section of Mother Baltimore that’ll highlight upcoming events in the metro-east that’s relevant to Black communities. If you have tips for events, send them to dsutgrey@bnd.com
Tree Lighting Ceremony
4 p.m. on December 3 at 363 E. Broadway in East St. Louis
The first-ever tree lighting ceremony in East St. Louis will feature vendors, raffles and a performance from the East St. Louis Senior High School Choir.
What to watch
Harlem
Created by Tracy Oliver (“Girls Trip,” “First Wives Club”), “Harlem” is a new comedy series that follows a group of 30-something-year-old girlfriends living in the titular city who are trying to balance being successful in both their personal and professional lives. The series, which stars Meagan Good, debuts on Amazon Prime TODAY.
What to read
‘There is no greater French woman’
For the St. Louis American, D. Michael Cheers covered the enshrinement of Josephine Baker into the French Pantheon. Born in St. Louis, Baker, a legendary singer and dancer who passed away in 1975, spent most of her career in Paris, France. She’s the first Black woman to be inducted into the French Pantheon. In their piece, D. Michael Cheers talked to Kathleen Dameron, an East St. Louis native who has been living in Paris since 1976, about the historic honor.
Black women tend to get written out of history. They disappear. They don’t exist. It’s important right now to do this honor. Josephine Baker was [much more] than an entertainer in a banana skirt.
That’s all she wrote!
Talk to y’all in two weeks!
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This story was originally published December 3, 2021 at 11:12 AM.
