VOA慢速英语--传奇艺术家约瑟芬·贝克入葬法国先贤祠

（单词翻译）

American Singer, Activist¹ Josephine Baker² Honored in France

American-born singer and activist Josephine Baker became the first American and first Black woman to receive France's highest honor on Tuesday.

Baker became a French citizen in 1937 after marrying a French man.

Baker was honored at a ceremony outside the Pantheon in France.

The Pantheon is a building that has the remains³ of famous French people, including Marie Curie, Victor Hugo and Voltaire.

Baker was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906. She moved to Paris in 1925 to get away from racism⁴ and segregation⁵ in the United States.

She was famous around the world as a singer in the 1930s. But she also became known for joining the resistance to Nazi⁶ Germany in France during World War II.

Later, she supported the American civil rights movement in the 1960s. She spoke⁷ at the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Earlier in 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron decided⁸ to honor Baker because she was an "exceptional figure" who "embodies⁹ the French spirit."

Baker's remains will stay in Monaco where she lived at the end of her life. However, a burial container containing soil from the U.S., France and Monaco will be placed at the Pantheon.

Baker was honored Monday in a ceremony at the place where she is buried in Monaco.

Rosemary Phillips is a performer and the co-owner of the park Baker created in southwestern France. She said Baker was a "superstar," and the "Rihanna of the 1920s." Rihanna is one of today's most famous female singers.

Pap Ndiaye is a French scholar who studies minority rights movements in the U.S. He said: "the simple fact to have a Black woman entering the pantheon is historic."

Baker was famous for dancing in short skirts and was popular in Paris theaters. But Ndiaye said people disagreed over her performances. He said, at the time she was singing in Paris, France had colonies in Africa.

Baker was one of many famous Black Americans who lived in France during the years after the World Wars. Ndiaye said they had "a better life overall" than if they had stayed in the U.S. French racism, he said, was "more subtle."

Words in This Story

segregation – n. the policy of keeping people of different races, religions or ethnic¹⁰ groups separate from each other

exceptional – adj. not usual : unusual or uncommon¹¹

figure –n. a person who has a specified¹² status or who is regarded in a specified way

subtle – adj. hard to notice or see