June Jordan

June Jordan – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

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Explore the life and legacy of June Jordan (1936–2002), the American poet, essayist, teacher, and activist. Learn about her early life, creative work, political engagement, and memorable quotes that continue to inspire.

Introduction

June Millicent Jordan (July 9, 1936 – June 14, 2002) was a multifaceted American writer, teacher, and social justice activist. She wrote with urgency and moral conviction about race, gender, sexuality, identity, and belonging. Her work—poetry, essays, libretti, children’s books—serves as both art and advocacy. She championed marginalized voices, asserted Black English as a valid form of expression, and created educational programs to empower students to “write their truth.”

Often called the “Poet of the People,” Jordan insisted that writing must be accessible, grounded, and accountable to real lives. Her legacy continues in movements for racial justice, queer visibility, and educational equity.

Early Life and Family

June Jordan was born on July 9, 1936, in Harlem, New York City.

Her father, a postal worker, nurtured her love of literature. Jordan began writing poetry at age seven. Soldier: A Poet’s Childhood, she recounts complex emotional and disciplinary dynamics with her father, including both encouragement and harshness.

Jordan attended Brooklyn’s Midwood High School briefly, then transferred to Northfield Mount Hermon School in New England.

Youth, Education, and Intellectual Formation

At Barnard College (1953–55; 1956–57) she met Michael Meyer, whom she married in 1955, and later moved with him to pursue graduate studies in anthropology at the University of Chicago.

Her early academic years exposed her to dominant White, male curricula that rarely included Black or female thinkers. Jordan later reflected how this absence deepened her commitment to reshaping education to include marginalized voices.

Career and Achievements

Literary Work & Genres

Jordan published prolifically. Her first book, Who Look at Me (1969), was a poetry collection for children.

Some of her key works include:

• Civil Wars (1981) — essays that combine personal and political reflection.

• I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky (1995) — a libretto for a musical/opera composed by John Adams.

• Some of Us Did Not Die: New and Selected Essays — published posthumously, collecting her important essays.

• Directed by Desire: The Complete Poems of June Jordan — a posthumous comprehensive collection.

Jordan was also an editor (e.g. SoulScript: Afro-American Poetry) and contributor to anthologies of Black literature.

Teaching & “Poetry for the People”

Jordan believed in bridging writing and activism through education. She held academic appointments at SUNY Stony Brook (1978–1989) and later at the University of California, Berkeley (1989–2002), where she taught across English, Women’s Studies, and African American Studies.

At Berkeley, she founded the Poetry for the People program (in 1991). This initiative encouraged students—especially those whose voices were marginalized—to write, publish, and see their writing as part of public life. “the art of telling the truth is a necessary … way to create powerful, and positive, connections among truly different men and women.”

Jordan’s approach rejected the idea of a detached, “ivory tower” writer. She urged writers to engage directly with their communities, speak to real readers, and take responsibility for the effects of their words.

Political & Social Activism

Jordan’s writing was deeply political. She addressed civil rights, feminism, sexuality, immigration, and linguistic justice (notably championing Black English as legitimate and expressive).

She also consciously embraced her bisexual identity in her writing, arguing against simplistic binaries and for complexity in sexual and social life.

Her essays and cultural commentary challenged mainstream media, exclusionary narratives, and the silencing of voices deemed “other.”

Historical Milestones & Context

June Jordan’s life and work intersected with key social transformations in 20th-century America:

• The Civil Rights Movement, Black Power and post–1960s struggle for racial equity

• The rise of Black feminist thought and intersectional critiques

• The LGBTQ rights movement and the struggle for queer visibility

• Debates over language, cultural inclusion, and decolonizing education

• Debates over representation, narrative authority, and who gets to tell American histories

In these contexts, Jordan was not merely a witness—she was an actor. Her insistence that poetry and prose could be weapons for justice challenged the conventional separation between art and politics.

Legacy and Influence

June Jordan’s legacy is both broad and deep:

1. Voice for the marginalized
   She championed those pushed to the margins—Black people, queer people, immigrants, women—and gave them visibility in her work.

2. Educational innovation
   Her “Poetry for the People” model influenced community writing programs and pedagogies that center marginalized voices.

3. Language justice
   By validating Black English and other vernaculars, she pushed against linguistic prejudice and expanded the boundaries of American literary language.

4. Enduring work
   Her essays, poems, and pedagogical models continue to be taught in universities, especially in African American studies, women’s studies, creative writing, and social justice curricula.

5. Honors & memorials

   • She was posthumously inducted onto the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the Stonewall National Monument (2019).

   • The June Jordan School for Equity (San Francisco) is named in her honor.

   • Her work is preserved in archives (e.g. Harvard’s Schlesinger Library).

Her life shows how one can merge artistry and activism, and how poetry can be intimately entangled with justice.

Personality, Strengths, and Approach

Jordan was fiercely principled, intellectually bold, authentic, and unafraid. She resisted compartmentalizing herself—poet, activist, teacher, public intellectual were all facets she inhabited simultaneously.

Her writing has been characterized as urgent, lyrical, and uncompromising. She demanded truthfulness—not just in content, but in voice, tone, and relation to the reader.

She believed in collaborative authorship in some sense: connecting writer and reader, bridging divides, and drawing readers into mutual responsibility.

Famous Quotes of June Jordan

Here are several memorable quotations that reflect Jordan’s voice, values, and vision:

“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” “As an adult I have learned that not to tell the truth is more painful, and that the fear of telling the truth … that fear is the most painful sensation of a moral life.” “Like running trying to live a good life has to hurt a little bit, or we’re not running hard enough, not really trying.” “Freedom is indivisible or it is nothing at all besides sloganeering and temporary, short-sighted, and short-lived advancement for a few.” “I am a woman. And I am seeking an attitude. I am trying to find reasons for pride.” “Poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth.” “Bisexuality means I am free … I am as likely to want to love a woman as I am likely to want to love a man.”

These quotes show how she wove personal identity, political conviction, and aesthetic expression into unified statements.

Lessons from June Jordan

• Write with purpose
  Jordan embodies how writing can be a tool for justice, not just a private act.

• Bridge the personal and political
  Her work shows that our inner lives and outer structures shape one another.

• Honor languages of identity
  By affirming marginalized linguistic modes, she urged inclusive literacies.

• Teach to expand voices
  Her pedagogy sought to democratize authorship, not gatekeep it.

• Embrace complexity
  Jordan refused simple categories (race/gender/sexuality) and insisted on layered understandings.

Conclusion

June Jordan’s life is a testament to the power of truthful, engaged, and courageous writing. She refused silence, refused to be safe, and talked across boundaries—between poetry and politics, individual and collective, voice and community. Her insights into identity, power, and expression remain vital today.