Paris unveils mural of Josephine Baker to honor her legacy

PARIS (AP) — Paris is reviving the spirit of U.S.-French entertainer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker with a new mural.

Fifty years after her death, Baker now gazes out over a diverse neighborhood of northeast Paris, thanks to urban artist FKDL and a street art festival aimed at promoting community spirit.

Born in St. Louis, Baker became a megastar in the 1930s, especially in France, where she moved in 1925 as she sought to flee racism and segregation in the United States.

In addition to her stage fame, Baker also spied on the Nazis for the French Resistance and marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington. She died in Paris in 1975.

‘’I feel moved and I feel happy, because this is part of a memory of my mother,” her son Brian Baker told the Associated Press at the unveiling of the mural Saturday. He was one of 12 children Josephine Baker adopted from around the world that she called her ″rainbow tribe″ and what her son called ’’a little United Nations.″

The mural of Baker, meant to symbolize freedom and resistance, is among several painted in recent days in the neighborhood and organized by the association Paris Colors Ourq.

The artist FKDL said he focuses on ‘’bringing women back into the urban landscape.”

“Josephine Baker has always been, for me, a somewhat iconic figure of that era. Both wild and free-spirited, but also deeply connected to music, musicals, and dance,″ he said. ’’She was an extraordinary character, an incredible woman.“

Baker was the first Black woman inducted into France’s Pantheon, joining such luminaries as philosopher Voltaire, scientist Marie Curie and writer Victor Hugo.

’’My mother wouldn’t have liked words like iconic, star, or celebrity. She would have said, no, no let’s keep it simple,″ her son said.

Artist Franck Duval, aka FKDL, works on a mural of U.S.-French entertainer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker in Paris, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

Brian Baker, son of U.S.-French entertainer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker, stands in front of a new mural of his mother painted by artist Franck Duval, aka FKDL, in Paris, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

Artist Franck Duval, aka FKDL, works on a mural of U.S.-French entertainer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker in Paris, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

Artist Franck Duval, aka FKDL, works on a mural of U.S.-French entertainer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker in Paris, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

Artist Franck Duval, aka FKDL, works on a mural of U.S.-French entertainer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker in Paris, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)