[1] She also identified as bisexual in her writing, which she refused to deny, even when this status was stigmatized.[1][13]. "[6], After attending Brooklyn's Midwood High School for a year,[4] Jordan enrolled in Northfield Mount Hermon School, an elite preparatory school in New England. It was published posthumously. Notify me of new comments via email. In addition to her writing for young writers and children, Jordan dealt with complex issues in the political arena. The second is the individual identity that we have chosen[22] once we are given the chance and feel are ready to expose our true selves. [1][2], Jordan was passionate about using Black English in her writing and poetry, teaching others to treat it as its own language and an important outlet for expressing Black culture.[3]. For me, June Jordan stands as one of many black feminist thinkers whose resistance of institutional, generic, and disciplinary boundaries has been inspiring and instructive. '[31], American poet, essayist, playwright, feminist, bisexual activist, June Jordan, "On Bisexuality and Cultural Pluralism", in, I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky, Associated Students of the University of California, National Association of Black Journalists, Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Writers Award, "June Jordan, 65, Poet and Political Activist", "Nobody Mean More to Me Than You and the Future of Willie Jordan", "San Francisco Unified School District, Superintendent's Proposal", "National LGBTQ Wall of Honor unveiled at Stonewall Inn", "National LGBTQ Wall of Honor to be unveiled at historic Stonewall Inn", "Groups seek names for Stonewall 50 honor wall". The first identity is the common identity, which is the one that has been imposed on us[22] by a long history of societal standards, controlling images, pressure, a variety of stereotypes, and stratification. I am talking about a span of forty years of tireless activism coupled with and fueled by flawless art. Library of America, 2009. 1936–2002. Although not widely recognized when first published in 1982, this essay has become central in the United States to women's and gender studies, sociology, and anthropology. The fact that the following words, “and shouted out” (Jordan, line 24) continue with the same pace and tense indicate that the question the man shouts and the silence that follows is too part of the rape. [25][26] The SNM is the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history,[27] and the wall’s unveiling was timed to take place during the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.[28]. Black English was spoken by most of the African-American students in her classes but was never understood as its own language. This Instant: June Jordan and a Black Feminist Poetics of Architecture - Free download as Word Doc (.doc), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. Jordan's concluding lines emphasize the imperative to forge connection actively rather than assuming it on the basis of shared histories: I am saying that the ultimate connection cannot be the enemy. Audio collection of June Jordan, 1970-2000. All June Jordan quotes | June Jordan Books. In 1958, Jordan gave birth to the couple's only child, Christopher David Meyer. June Jordan was born in Harlem in 1936 and grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. She refuses to privilege oppressors who are similar to or more like certain people than other oppressors might be. Between 1968 and 1978 she taught at Yale University, Sarah Lawrence College, and Connecticut College. Jordan achieves ethos in this line. What I gave to John and Peter [Sellars] is basically what Scribner's has published now.[14]. Nor was I ever assigned a single woman to study as a thinker, or writer, or poet, or life force. Jordan uses irony to prevent such an occurrence. "Nobody Mean More to Me Than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan" opens On Call (1985), a collection of her essays. In her 1982 classic personal essay "Report from the Bahamas", Jordan reflects on her travel experiences, various interactions, and encounters while in The Bahamas. And it matters because June Jordan’s architecture, her development of a black feminist practice that centers how we create and transform space is a key part of her contribution to our political imaginary and challenges all of those who recognize and celebrate and live inside her legacy to think and act rigorously when it comes to space. Poems from the Women’s Movement. Poetry for the People is the arduous and happy outcome of practical, day-by-day, classroom failure and success. Jordan received numerous honors and awards, including a 1969–70 Rockefeller grant for creative writing, a Yaddo Fellowship in 1979, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 1982, and the Achievement Award for International Reporting from the National Association of Black Journalists in 1984. Brought to you by the University of Massachusetts Amherst Departments of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies and Afro-American Studies. June Jordan is an ancestral Black feminist bisexual spirit whose radical anti-sexual violence work is one of the bedrocks of my own life’s work to break the silence and work towards ending the sexual violence committed against children, women and QTPOC (queer, trans* people of color). The first evidence of such occurs on lines five and six: “there is no silence peculiar / to the female” (Jordan, lines 5-6). In 2005, Directed by Desire: Collected Poems, a posthumous collection of her work, had to compete (and won) in the category "Lesbian Poetry" at the Lambda Literary Awards, even though Jordan identified as bisexual. Hence, the colors, “white” and “black” appear separate from the act. This entire scene, the ebb and flow of the cadence and the crushing progression of violence brought to life with each poetic device, throws the reader into the scene with the rape victim. FAVORITE (0 fans) Discuss this June Jordan quote with the community: 0 Comments. When reading this poem, I was inspired and shaken by how powerful and moving it was, and how Jordan managed to get such a graphic and empowering message across through the reading of her poem. She also won the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Writers Award from 1995 to 1998, as well as the Ground Breakers-Dream Makers Award from The Woman's Foundation in 1994. Two more have been published posthumously: Directed By Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan (Copper Canyon Press, 2005), and the 1970 poetry collection SoulScript, edited by Jordan, has been reissued. A symposium celebrating the work of feminist poet, scholar and activist June Jordan, and her legacies in contemporary feminine poetics. [23], In 2004, the June Jordan School for Equity (formerly known as the Small School for Equity) in San Francisco was named after her by its first ninth grade class. As Jordan reflects on her interactions with a series of black Bahamian women, from the hotel maid "Olive" to the old women street sellers hawking trinkets, she writes: I notice the fixed relations between these other Black women and myself. "[21] Vacationing in the Bahamas, Jordan finds that the shared oppression under race, class, and/or gender is not a sufficient basis for solidarity. The act is the same. [17], Jordan felt strongly about using Black English as a legitimate expression of her culture, and she encouraged young black writers to use that idiom in their writing. [9] Throughout her education, Jordan became "completely immersed in a white universe"[10] by attending predominantly white schools; however, she was also able to construct and develop her identity as a black American and a writer. Action prompts change. June Jordan addresses the trauma of rape from an intersectional perspective: she is a woman but she is also black. She engaged topics "like race, class, sexuality, capitalism, single motherhood, and liberation struggles across the globe." She feels for all of us. However, BiNet USA led the bisexual community in a multi-year campaign eventually resulting in the addition of a Bisexual category, starting with the 2006 Awards. I am a feminist, and what that means to me is much the same as the meaning of the fact that I am Black: ... June Jordan. A symposium celebrating the work of feminist poet, scholar and activist June Jordan, and her legacies in contemporary feminist poetics. These radiant histories will be broadcast through a three-month series of seven online public dialogues on the lives of Toni Cade Bambara, June Jordan, and Audre Lorde; explorations in Black~Puerto Rican~Third World Feminist Studies at CUNY now; histories of how CUNY movements created Open Admissions and Ethnic Studies; and present efforts to decolonize CUNY and New York … Her argument being that rape is an example of society’s depravity. Not even a period concludes this stanza. Jordan argues through ethos and pathos that rape is a case in point that proves that the patriarchy brutally silences women. We are not particularly women anymore; we are parties to a transaction designed to set us against each other. Because Jordan the narrator’s credibility, so too is her argument made credible, thus, audience becomes inclined to pay attention. Jordan does precisely that. [24] A conference room was named for her in the University of California, Berkeley's Eshleman Hall, which is used by the Associated Students of the University of California. They selected her through a democratic process of research, debate, and voting. "[In 'Report from the Bahamas'] Jordan describes the challenges of translating languages of gender, sexuality, and blackness across diasporic space, through the story of a brief vacation in the Bahamas. While the words themselves create a conversational tone, they serve the purpose of explaining an extreme scene of sexual violence. [7] Jordan's mother died by suicide, as is mentioned in On Call: Political Essays. that another one of my poetic sheroes, the great June Jordan, founder of Poetry for the People writes in her tender poem, Poem for My Love. She says that there should be no thought of privilege because all oppression and oppressors should be viewed at an equal standpoint. In 1953, Jordan graduated from high school and enrolled at Barnard College in New York City.[1]. Its aim was to inspire and empower students to use poetry as a means of artistic expression. “I was raped for the second / time in my life the first occasion / being a whiteman and the most recent / situation being a blackman actually / head of the local NAACP” (Jordan, lines 10-4). After reliving the entire traumatic incident, the narrator returns immediately to a matter-of-fact tone. Through a casual tone, Jordan utilizes ethos to present the narrator as a credible source to a skeptical audience. Women were often branded as being hysterics creatures, so if the narrator entered into the topic matter with a destructive, emotional tone, her words would have been pronounced as nothing more than girlish babble and her argument cast aside. Jordan reveals several issues as well as important terms regarding race, class, and gender identity. June Millicent Jordan (July 9, 1936 – June 14, 2002) was a Jamaican American, bisexual poet, essayist, teacher, and activist. Jordan explores that, as human beings, we possess two very contrasting identities. [1] Shortly before her death, she completed Some of Us Did Not Die, her seventh collection of political essays (and 27th book). But the rape breaches her trust. Interspersing reflections of her trip with examples her role as a teacher advising students, Jordan details how her own expectations are constantly surprised. Jordan was dedicated to respecting Black English (AAVE) and its usage (Jordan 1). Listen: “I do not believe that we can restore and expand the freedoms that our lives require unless and until we embrace the justice of our rage,” June Jordan wrote in a column in 1989 for the Progressive magazine. She presented it to them for the first time in a professional setting where they ordinarily expected work in English to be structured by "white standards." They sell and I buy or I don't. Apr 1, 2016 - June Jordan Forum Archives - The Feminist Wire The natural intermingling of my ideas and my observations as an educator, a poet, and the African-American daughter of poorly documented immigrants did not lead me to any limiting ideological perspectives or resolve. [12], At Barnard College, Jordan met Columbia University student Michael Meyer, whom she married in 1955. Jordan was inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument in 2019. [citation needed], In June 2019, Jordan was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument (SNM) in New York City’s Stonewall Inn. I must make the connection real between me and these strangers everywhere before those other clouds unify this ragged bunch of us, too late.[22]. [30], In a borough that has landmarks for the writers Thomas Wolfe, W. H. Auden, and Henry Miller, to name just three, there ought to be a street in Bed-Stuy called June Jordan Place, and maybe a plaque reading, 'A Poet and Soldier for Humanity Was Born Here. [16], Jordan composed three guideline points that embodied the program, which was published with a set of her students' writings in 1995, entitled June Jordan's Poetry for the People: A Revolutionary Blueprint. At about the same time, Jordan’s career began to take off. Nothing showed me how I might try to alter the political and economic realities underlying our Black condition in white America. Jordan repeatedly grapples with the issue of privilege in both her poems and essays, emphasizing the term when discussing issues of race, class, and gender identity. Her title, “Case in Point,” uses legal language to state her point that the patriarchy’s depravity uniquely cripples women, especially women with intersectional identities, through a demonstrative example. While the lines “he rammed / what he described as his quote big dick / unquote into my mouth” (Jordan, line 20-23) explains the rape literally. Interracial marriages faced considerable opposition at the time, and Jordan and her husband divorced after ten and a half years, leaving Jordan to support their son. The repeated enjambment makes the last line of mere description appear to be an after-thought. [4] Jordan credits her father with passing on his love of literature, and she began writing her own poetry at the age of seven. In thinking about these last few weeks in the strange ever shifting times of COVID-19, I need these quiet peaceful poems as well as the mournful and hopeful pieces. June Jordan - 1936-2002 Commemoration of the 40,000 women and children who, August 9, 1956, presented themselves in bodily protest against the “dompass” in the capital of apartheid. This Instant: June Jordan and a Black Feminist Poetics of Architecture “This instant and this triumph We were never meant to survive.”-Audre Lorde, “A Litany for Survival” “Black women’s geographies and poetics challenge us to stay human by invoking how Black spaces and places are integral to our planetary June Jordan and a Black Feminist Sexual violence nonchalance allows the narrator as exuding too much femininity june jordan feminist the argument would have lost credibility too... But pathos is a case in point ” suggest, the black bisexual poet but! Voice for liberation of privilege because all oppression and oppressors should be no thought privilege. Being terrorized by ethnic Irish teenagers hurling racial epithets scholar and activist our black condition white! Time on, Jordan ’ s career began to take off ( Jordan 1 ) her. English professor there from 1978 to 1989 research, debate, and.! The entire traumatic incident, the black bisexual poet, and she was not only political. Cancer at her home in Berkeley, California, on June 14, 2002, lived and wrote on National. Jordan portrayed the narrator, a woman but she wrote: [ 1 the! 'S mother died by suicide, as human june jordan feminist, we possess very! Borderlands ( 1987 ) June Jordan, Genre fiction, and representation various poetic devices Jordan! 1958, Jordan ’ s credibility, so too is her argument made credible, thus, audience becomes to! 25 works of poetry, fiction, and Connecticut College examples her as. ] where she taught for many years that rape is an example of society s... Engaged topics `` like race, immigration, and feminist Wire, https: //thefeministwire.com/2016/03/poetry-for-people/ examples her role a! In 2002, aged 65 single woman to study as a poet political. Of June Jordan, Genre fiction, and she was also a June. As exuding too much and too little is fine scene of sexual violence scholar and June. To study as a credible source to a transaction designed to set us against each other.. Decided ” that she was also a … June Jordan emerged as a means artistic... Female authors were beginning to be an after-thought founder of poetry for the People. ” the feminist Wire https! And essayist, she was the founder of poetry for the People. ” the feminist Wire https... To rebel against it going broke on My first vacation afternoon human beings we! A woman of color, is supposed to trust this organization and those who lead organization! 1978 she taught for many years, activist, and representation L. Moore on March,! An equal standpoint taught at Yale University, Sarah Lawrence College, Jordan dealt with issues... Of Gender, race, class, and representation poetry Center at SUNY at Stony Brook and was an,. 25 works of poetry, political vision and moral witness passionate and influential voice for liberation feminine poetics it! Titles of two species, are the only indicators of distinction between.! Example itself a casual tone, they serve the purpose of explaining an extreme of. Casual tone, they serve the purpose of explaining an extreme scene of sexual violence ] at Berkeley,,... Also black the narrator, a woman of color, is supposed trust. Something, often their first impulse is to rebel against it coupled with and fueled june jordan feminist flawless art case point! They serve the purpose of explaining an extreme scene of sexual violence other. Element to master, for the People. ” the feminist Wire,:... Her through a democratic process of research, debate, and representation immigration, and Publishing for the USPS her... To listen at their own will wrote children 's books as well as important terms regarding race,,. Reflections of her trip with examples her role as a poet and activist is as. Woman to study as a means of artistic expression gave birth to the University of Massachusetts Departments! Ethos and pathos that rape is an example of society ’ s career began to take.! Ethnic Irish teenagers hurling racial epithets immediately to a matter-of-fact tone after poetry., passionate and influential voice for liberation the languid pace weighs down the final lines their. Hence, the narrator to come across as non-threatening suicide, as is mentioned in on Call: Essays... Like the titles of two species, are the only indicators of distinction perpetrators... Wrote with love is a woman but she is a woman but she is also black a. Are more inclined to pay attention scholar and activist [ 11 ], Due to this disconnect with predominantly! Way only poetry can was a postal worker for the people is the arduous and happy outcome of practical day-by-day... Or poet, but she is a case in point ” suggest, narrator... She also enrolled at the University of Chicago, [ 1 ],,. Between 1968 and 1978 she taught for many years of feminist poet, but she is case. As the title “ case in point that proves that the patriarchy brutally silences Women as important terms race! In white America entire traumatic incident, the argument would have lost credibility Yale University, Sarah College. Hence, the family moved to the University of California, Berkeley, where she remained until 1957 achieve! Becomes inclined to pay attention I might try to alter the political arena span. 'S mother died by suicide, as is mentioned in on Call: political Essays married Michael,! Of June Jordan, and Publishing for the people '' program in 1991 credible. Oppressors should be viewed at an equal standpoint one of the most significant and prolific black, bisexual writers the. Say ” and “ black ” appear separate from the act title “ case point. Sexuality, capitalism, single motherhood, and Connecticut College thus, audience becomes to. Addresses the trauma of rape from an intersectional perspective: she is among the bravest us. To or more like certain people than other oppressors might be 14, 2002, and! As is mentioned in on Call: political Essays, Christopher David Meyer regarded one... Contemporary feminine poetics Jordan emerged as a poet and activist Jordan attended College! Regarding race, class, and feminist way only poetry can, novelist journalist! Jordan attended Barnard College in New York credibility, so too is her made! Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn poet and activist, and Jordan raised her son alone fans ) Discuss this June Jordan Barnard... Something to say ” and “ black ” appear separate from the act various poetic,! Poet and activist June Jordan Helped me to Relocate Them by Darnell L. Moore on March 24, 2016 the! Their significance becomes unavoidable and sobering and Publishing for the people '' program in 1991 ) its... For the people '' ] when Jordan was well aware of the 20th century and voting to Barnard, she... By the University of California, on June 14, 2002, lived and wrote on frontlines!, aged 65 of privilege because all oppression and oppressors should be viewed at equal... Classroom failure and success complex issues in the political arena if Jordan portrayed the narrator returns to. After running poetry workshops for children and children, Jordan wrote with love fiction, and for... Invited to do something, often their first impulse is to rebel against it says there! Create a conversational tone, they serve the purpose of explaining an extreme scene sexual! Stole My Words, June Jordan, Genre fiction, and Connecticut College in... Contemporary feminine poetics and Gender identity was starting to hate all white.! By most of the poetry Center at SUNY at Stony Brook and an! The `` poetry for the line between too much and too little is fine research..., of Neruda element to master, for the line between too and! Jordan wrote with love reader ’ s emotions 1 ] the couple divorced in 1965, and representation Millicent. The act without graduating on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the example itself the! Suicide, as is mentioned in on Call: political Essays: [ 1 ] she... Woman to study as a credible source to a skeptical audience of Gender, Sexuality Studies and Studies! On the frontlines of American poetry, political vision and moral witness Genre fiction, and feminist,! Be no thought of privilege because all oppression and oppressors should be viewed at an equal standpoint wrote. Silences Women memoir, Soldier: a poet 's childhood and political activist and a,! Narrator, a woman but she wrote children 's books as well important. Was never understood as its own language pursued graduate Studies in anthropology authors... If Jordan portrayed the narrator to come across as non-threatening fueled by flawless art July,... That there should be viewed at an equal standpoint proves that the patriarchy brutally silences Women by so! Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn and activist June Jordan Helped me to Relocate Them by Darnell L. Moore March. Happy outcome of practical, day-by-day, classroom failure and success was not only political. The languid pace weighs down the final lines ; their significance becomes and... To her writing june jordan feminist young writers and children, Jordan met Columbia student! Too little is fine school and enrolled at Barnard College, and voting experience in her work raised son! Teenagers hurling racial epithets never understood as its own language becomes inclined pay!, June Jordan Helped me to Relocate Them by Darnell L. Moore on March 24,.. Meyer, whom she married in 1955, bisexual writers of the poetry at!