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Soul Train Dancers for Right On! Magazine circa 1970
Dance is such a beautiful art form — one that has been a huge part of my life ever since I was little. The combination of hard work and graceful artistry really make it something special to me.
I wanted to capture the ethereal quality of ballet and create something that dancers could use to show off their love of their craft. With this design specifically, I wanted to spotlight the talented ballerinas of the Black community who so often are overlooked, underappreciated, and underrepresented.
This design is available as stickers, magnets, shirts, art prints, and much more over on my Threadless store, and they make the perfect gift for any ballerina!
Shop designs here!
Josephine Baker
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Stay cozy.
@soft-homestyle
She told the First Lady the truth about Vietnam at lunch. The CIA opened a file. Her career ended overnight.
January 18, 1968. The White House.
Eartha Kitt sits at a luncheon table with 50 women. She's 41 years old. One of the most famous entertainers in the world.
Singer. Actress. Broadway star. Catwoman on television.
First Lady Lady Bird Johnson is hosting a "Women Doers" luncheon. They're discussing America's youth. Rising crime rates. Why young people are rebelling.
Lady Bird turns to Eartha.
"Miss Kitt, what do you think is causing our young people to rebel?"
Eartha doesn't hesitate.
"You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed," she says. "They rebel in the street. They don't want to go to school because they're going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam."
The room goes silent.
Lady Bird Johnson's face turns white.
Eartha continues: "No wonder the kids rebel and take pot. And Mrs. Johnson, in case you don't understand the lingo, that's marijuana."
Women at the table gasp. Some start crying.
Lady Bird tries to respond. Can't finish her sentences.
The luncheon ends early.
Eartha leaves the White House.
By the time she gets home, her career is over.
The File
Within hours, the FBI opens a file on Eartha Kitt.
The CIA adds her to their watchlist.
President Lyndon Johnson personally orders an investigation.
They want to know: Who is this woman who dared to criticize the war in the First Lady's face?
The file grows. Pages and pages. Eventually 260 pages.
They investigate her lovers. Her finances. Her politics. Her past.
They label her a communist sympathizer.
Put her on a blacklist.
The Blacklist
Within weeks, Eartha's phone stops ringing.
No bookings. No auditions. No performances.
Her nightclub act at the Plaza Hotel in New York? Cancelled.
Television appearances? Cancelled.
Recording contracts? Terminated.
She's erased from American entertainment.
The official reason: "Security risk."
The real reason: She embarrassed the President's wife.
The Star
Born in 1927 on a cotton plantation in South Carolina, Eartha Kitt had clawed her way to stardom.
Mixed race. Abandoned by her mother. Abused as a child.
She learned to dance. To sing. To perform.
At 19, she joined Katherine Dunham's dance troupe and toured the world.
By the 1950s, she was a sensation.
Her voice—distinctive, sultry, impossible to forget.
"Santa Baby" became a Christmas classic.
She performed for presidents. Royalty. Sold-out crowds everywhere.
In 1967, she played Catwoman on Batman. Became a household name.
Then she spoke six sentences at the White House.
And lost everything.
The Exile
For 10 years, Eartha can't work in America.
She moves to Europe. Performs in Paris. London. Berlin.
Audiences love her abroad. But she wants to come home.
She applies for work visas to return to the U.S.
Denied. Again and again.
The FBI file keeps growing. They track her movements. Her relationships. Her statements.
She's treated like an enemy of the state.
For telling the truth about Vietnam.
What She Said
Here's what makes it unbearable: Eartha was right.
In 1968, 16,899 American soldiers died in Vietnam.
Young men. Drafted. Sent to die in a war most Americans didn't understand.
By 1973, over 58,000 Americans were dead. 300,000 wounded.
For nothing.
The war ended in defeat. Everyone eventually admitted it was a mistake.
But in 1968, you weren't allowed to say that.
Especially not to the First Lady.
The Return
1978. Ten years after the White House luncheon.
Eartha Kitt finally gets permission to work in America again.
She's 51 years old.
A decade of her career stolen.
She performs on Broadway. Gets a Tony nomination. Slowly rebuilds what was taken.
But the damage is permanent.
She lost her prime years. Her momentum. Her place in American culture.
The Apology That Never Came
Lady Bird Johnson never apologized.
President Johnson never acknowledged what they did to Eartha.
The CIA file stayed classified until 1998—thirty years after the luncheon.
When it was finally released, Americans saw the truth: pages of surveillance, investigations, character assassination.
All because she told the truth about Vietnam.
The 2000s
In her 70s, Eartha Kitt experiences a career renaissance.
Younger generations discover her. Fall in love with her voice.
She records new albums. Performs on Broadway again. Wins two Emmy nominations for voice work.
But she never forgets what they did to her.
In interviews, she says: "I was blacklisted for 10 years. For telling the truth."
"They tried to destroy me. But I survived."
The Vindication
In 2006, President George W. Bush acknowledges the Vietnam War was based on "intelligence failures."
By 2008, historians call it "America's greatest foreign policy disaster."
Everything Eartha said in 1968 was correct.
Young men were dying for nothing.
The war was wrong.
But she was punished for saying it 40 years too early.
December 25, 2008
Eartha Kitt dies at age 81 from cancer.
Her obituaries finally tell the truth about the White House incident.
The New York Times: "She spoke truth to power and paid the price."
The Washington Post: "Blacklisted for a decade for opposing the Vietnam War."
The recognition came.
But it came too late.
What She Lost
Eartha Kitt was 41 in 1968.
The next 10 years should have been the peak of her career—her highest earning years, her greatest influence.
Instead, she was exiled. Banned. Investigated like a criminal.
All because she answered a question honestly.
At a luncheon.
About why young people were rebelling.
What She Proved
Eartha Kitt proved that speaking truth to power has consequences.
Even when you're right.
Especially when you're right too early.
She told Lady Bird Johnson that young men were dying for nothing in Vietnam.
The government opened a 260-page file on her. Blacklisted her for 10 years. Destroyed the prime decade of her career.
Decades later, everyone admitted the war was wrong.
But Eartha never got those 10 years back.
Today
Every history class teaches that Vietnam was a mistake.
That the war was wrong.
That thousands died for nothing.
Eartha Kitt said that in 1968.
And was destroyed for it.
The lesson isn't that she should have stayed silent.
The lesson is that courage costs something.
And sometimes the bill comes due immediately—while vindication takes 40 years.
Eartha Kitt spoke six sentences at a White House luncheon.
The CIA opened a 260-page file.
Her career ended overnight.
She was right about everything.
But being right didn't save her.
Because the people who speak truth first always pay the highest price.
🦢
"Ballerina " by Sorcha McGlinchey on INPRNT
