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Catwoman takes no shit. Eartha Kitt was a singer, dancer, and acted in numerous roles, including a Batman villain. But during the Vietnam War she was on the right side; while visiting the White House she told the first lady the war was fucking stupid, and it almost ruined Kitt’s career.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: January 18, 1968--
Born on a cotton plantation in 1927 in South Carolina, Kitt did not have a happy childhood. It is believed she was conceived by a white man raping her mother. Eventually, she was sent to live with an aunt, where she was abused. When that aunt died, Eartha went to live with another relative in Harlem and attended a performing arts school. That led to an impressive career. Her look and voice inspired Diana Ross of The Supremes. She became so famous and beloved that she was invited to a White House luncheon with First Lady Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson.
Many believe that another First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, said “Well behaved women seldom make history,” but it was actually Pulitzer-prize winning American history professor Laurel Ulrich authoring a 1976 academic paper. Kitt, who also was a dedicated social activist, would not behave during the luncheon.
It was the day after Eartha’s 41st birthday, January 18, 1968. It was called the Women Doers Luncheon to discuss what could be done to address juvenile delinquency. Fifty women were in attendance and First Lady Johnson, who had been talking about flowers to “beautify America,” asked for comments. Kitt, who was at the height of her fame and didn’t even want to attend the stupid luncheon in the first place because she knew it would be “a lot of nonsense,” didn’t hold back. The Vietnam War was raging; this is part of what Kitt said:
“I think we have missed the main point of this luncheon. We have forgotten the main reason we have juvenile delinquency.” Then she fucking unloaded. “You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. They rebel in the street … they will get high. They don’t want to go to school because they’re going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam.”
Johnson went pale. “Just because there is a war going on,” the First Lady said, “I see no reason to be uncivilized.” JFC. War is uncivilized! Other women in the room leapt to Johnson’s defense and berated Eartha. Petty fucks they were, when Kitt left the White House there was no limousine awaiting her. Then it got worse. The president had her blacklisted. All her bookings were cancelled. One of the most famous Black performers of the era couldn’t find work.
So she worked in Europe. In 1975 the New York Times reported that immediately following the luncheon President Johnson had the CIA investigate Kitt, removing any doubt he’d personally tried to end her career. That article aided her return to the U.S., and in 1978 she performed in the Broadway hit musical Timbuktu, earning a Tony nomination.
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The more I read of Ms Kitt the more I adore her.
It happened on my watch and I didn't even realize it happened. :-0