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She entertained Allied troops with performances that boosted the soldiers’ morale throughout North Africa. the soldiers’ morale throughout North Africa. In 1944, she received the French Resistance Medal, and later the Legion of Honor— with the War Cross, Palms, and Rosette. She was the only woman to receive full military honors for her service in the Resistance.
Flashmag! Issue 172 May 2026
THE RAINBOW TRIBE · 1954 – 1969 Making the world a family In 1947, Josephine Baker married the conductor Jo Bouillon in the chapel of her Château des Milandes. Unable to have children after an emergency hysterectomy, she conceived a plan that astonished even her closest friends and family: to adopt twelve children of different nationalities, religions, and skin colors, and raise them together as brothers and sisters under one roof, in the name of a simple yet revolutionary ideal— universal brotherhood. From 1954 to 1965, the Rainbow Tribe took shape through their travels: Akio and Janot came from Japan, Jari from Finland, Luis from Colombia, Moïse and Jean-Claude from France, Brian and Marianne from war-torn Algeria, Koffi from Ivory Coast, Mara from Venezuela, Noël from a Parisian street, and Stellina from Morocco. Twelve children, twelve worlds, one family.
Josephine Baker
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I came up with this idea because I saw so much misunderstanding among human beings— so-called adults. And I was certain that with innocent little children, they could set a perfect example of global brotherhood. Only in France could such an example be set, with children from all corners of the world living here as true brothers and sisters.. She transformed Les Milandes into a tourist attraction open to the public, dubbed the“ Village of the World” and the“ Capital of Fraternity.” By the late 1950s, the estate was welcoming 300,000 visitors a year. Joséphine took on more and more performances to support her family— and this dual life as both mother and artist became, in itself, her most accomplished work. Her project was not a naive fantasy. It was thoughtful, structured, and political. Each child was raised in the religion and traditions assigned to them at birth: Buddhist, Protestant, animist, Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Shinto. Diversity is not denied— it is celebrated, cultivated, and experienced as a source of richness. Josephine Baker does not want to erase differences.