By Edgar (200.46.13.130) on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 02:06 am:

I think they have nothing to do with Detroit, but these two women had wonderful voices. I was listening tonight to CDs by them and they were incredible. Baker must have been 100 years old when she recorded "Josephine Baker in Havana", but her voice was awesome, especially in "April in Paris", which she sang in French and English. Eartha is great and also very funny, in songs like "Mademoiselle Kitt" and "My Heart Belongs To Daddy". Long ago, I read an interview of Eartha in "Interview" magazine and she seemed to be a beautiful soul, a wonderful woman who has gone through so much that nobody can fool her.

By BankHouseDave (195.93.34.12) on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 11:02 am:

Josephine Baker arrived in Paris as an exotic dancer and she is still revered there. She tried to return to the US when she was famous in Europe but came up against discrimination. Returning to France, she earned the Legion D'Honneur for her work with the French Resistance. After the war, she adopted children of all colours and races, whom she called her 'Rainbow Tribe'. Their identities were protected, though some of them still return to the chateau at Milandes where she brought them all up.

Eartha Kitt was a top act in England when I was a kid. Another great hit was 'Old fashioned Millionaire. She was very funny and took no prisoners. Nobody was going to treat her as any kind of second class citizen. When she played Rhodesia, she was disgusted to find she was booked to play only white audiences and made sure they all knew it.

Both these ladies are heroines whose stories are an example to us all.

By dvdmike (65.208.234.61) on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 01:33 pm:

Eartha cussed out Lady Bird Johnson in the '60s and was blacklisted for years.

By BankHouseDave (195.93.34.12) on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 04:09 pm:

Is Ladybird still working, DVD? I think Eartha is.