6 iconic African Americans who left the U.S. for Europe to escape racism and segregation

Josephine Baker

She was a world-renowned singer, dancer, and civil rights activist born in America. She was pulled out of school by her mother at the age of 8 to work as a domestic servant, cleaning houses and babysitting for rich white families. During her free time, the lover of music and dance started dancing on the streets of St Loius to raise money for a home. When she was about 17 years old, she began performing with an African American theatre group and she performed so well as a dancer in many Vaudeville shows, a popular theatre genre in the 20th century. Josephine decided to move to Paris, France where her entertainment career soared. Baker also helped the French Resistance during World War II against Nazi Germany. She did this by passing on secrets she heard while performing in front of the enemy. During the 1950s, Baker returned to the United States and joined the first all-black Broadway musical. In spite of her successes, Baker faced racial abuse from the press and refused to perform in the USA. She performed mostly in Europe and joined several civil rights movement in the USA to help fight against racism and segregation; but lived in Paris until she died.