Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.

“Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.” Thus spoke Barbara Jordan, the voice of reason and dignity in an age torn by division. Her words shine like a torch in the long night of struggle—measured, wise, and fiercely hopeful. In this command, she called her people, and indeed all humanity, to rise not by anger or color, nor by wealth or privilege, but by the power of intellect, understanding, and wisdom. For Jordan, who rose from the segregated soil of the American South to become one of the most respected voices in the United States Congress, knew that the truest power is not in the fist that strikes, but in the mind that builds.

In the storm of the 1960s and 1970s, when cries for racial justice and economic equality echoed across the land, many sought salvation through confrontation—through identity, color, or force. But Barbara Jordan, ever the philosopher of democracy, looked deeper. She saw that the movements of the moment, while righteous in spirit, would falter if they did not root themselves in education and intellectual strength. “Black power” and “green power” were calls for pride and prosperity—but Jordan knew that such power, without brain power, would crumble like a house built upon sand. For pride without wisdom breeds arrogance, and wealth without understanding breeds greed.

Barbara Jordan’s life was itself the living embodiment of her quote. Born in 1936 in Houston, Texas, in a world that told her she could never rise, she climbed through sheer brilliance and discipline. Through education and eloquence, she broke the walls of prejudice not with her hands, but with her voice and intellect. When she spoke before the nation during the Watergate hearings, her words carried the weight of moral clarity and reason. She did not shout; she reasoned. She did not rage; she persuaded. And in that moment, America saw not a symbol of race, but a beacon of conscience. Her life proved that brain power transcends all divisions—it is the purest form of human strength.

In the ancient days, the philosophers of Greece taught that the highest virtue of man is reason, the divine flame that separates us from beasts and tyrants. Power gained through rage may burn brightly for a moment, but it consumes itself in the same fire. Only the power of thought—the discipline of the mind—builds empires that endure. Jordan’s wisdom flows from that same eternal spring. She knew that the true revolution is not of the streets, but of the mind and spirit. When people learn to think critically, to reason deeply, to speak truth with clarity, then no tyrant, no injustice, can long withstand them.

Consider the story of Frederick Douglass, who, though born in chains, freed himself through knowledge. He said, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” Like Jordan after him, Douglass understood that freedom begins not in rebellion but in education. The enslaved man who learned to read became mightier than his master, for he could no longer be deceived. His liberation began the moment his mind awakened. So it is in every age—the oppressed do not need vengeance to triumph; they need vision. This is the truth at the heart of Barbara Jordan’s call: that intellectual empowerment is the only power that cannot be taken away.

Jordan’s message, though born of a particular struggle, belongs to all people. Whether one fights poverty, injustice, or ignorance, the weapon that endures is knowledge. Nations rise when their citizens learn; they fall when their citizens forget how to think. The cry for “brain power” is a cry for awakening—for the courage to educate oneself, to question, to innovate, to lead with the light of reason rather than the darkness of rage. For emotion may ignite movements, but it is intelligence that sustains them. The torch of progress burns not with anger, but with understanding.

The lesson, then, is eternal: seek knowledge, not dominance. Cultivate your mind as a sacred temple, and let your thoughts be guided by truth, not by tribe. Let your power come not from the color of your skin, the size of your purse, or the might of your following, but from the sharpness of your intellect and the purity of your purpose. Read deeply, think freely, and speak bravely. Use your words not to wound, but to enlighten; your education not to escape the world, but to improve it.

So remember, children of tomorrow: the call of Barbara Jordan is not to abandon passion, but to temper it with wisdom. The world will always have noise—cries for power, for wealth, for control—but the mind that can think clearly will rise above it all. Do not seek to conquer others; seek to understand them. Do not shout for supremacy; build through intellect and empathy. For in the end, brain power is the truest power—the force that can shape nations, heal divisions, and lead humanity toward the light of justice and peace.