She was not cute
She was not attractive at all
She wanted to be loved
She wanted to be cared for
She was the voice of God
Yet loneliness was her Kashmere robe
Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American lawyer, educator, AND politician who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. A Democrat, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first Southern African-American woman elected to the United States House of Representatives. Jordan was known for her eloquent opening statement at the House Judiciary Committee hearings during the impeachment process against Richard Nixon. In 1976, she became the first African-American, and the first woman, to ever deliver a keynote address at a Democratic National Convention. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous other honors. She was the first African-American woman to be buried in the Texas State Cemetery. Jordan is also known for her work as chair of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform.
Did you know that when Jim Crow became law all Black politicians were thrown out of their positions and never reinstated? Did you know that?
Barbara Charline Jordan was born in Houston, Texas’s Fifth Ward. Jordan’s childhood was centered on church life. Her mother was Arlyne Patten Jordan, a teacher in the church,[1][6] and her father was Benjamin Jordan, a Baptist preacher. Through her mother, Jordan was the great-granddaughter of Edward Patton, who was one of the last African American members of the Texas House of Representatives prior to the disenfranchisement of Black Texans under Jim Crow. Barbara Jordan was the youngest of three children,[1] with siblings Rose Mary Jordan McGowan and Bennie Jordan Creswell (1933–2000). Jordan attended Roberson Elementary School.[6] She graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School in 1952 with honors.
Personally, a family member of mine tried to “charm” Ms. Jordan and she let him have it with “both barrels”. LOL! He was spitting mad! He relayed what happened to me. I just listened saying nothing. This man had lived his whole life being guided by his crotch. SMH. He was afraid to die but he did. He was greeted by a huge group of people…Death wasn’t what he thought it would be after all.
The U.S. National Archives described Barbara Jordan as the first LGBTQ+ woman in Congress. Jordan’s partner of approximately twenty years was Nancy Earl, an educational psychologist who met Jordan on a camping trip in the late 1960s. Earl was an occasional speechwriter for Jordan, and later cared for her when she developed multiple sclerosis in 1973. While the Houston Chronicle obituary of Jordan identified Earl as her “longtime companion”, and while other sources have stated that Earl was Jordan’s same-sex partner, neither woman is known to have publicly stated that the two had a romantic relationship.
In the KUT-FM radio documentary Rediscovering Barbara Jordan, President Bill Clinton said that he had wanted to nominate Jordan for the United States Supreme Court, but by the time he could do so, Jordan’s health problems prevented him from nominating her. Jordan also had leukemia.
On July 31, 1988, Jordan nearly drowned in her backyard swimming pool while doing physical therapy, but she was saved by Earl, who found her floating in the pool and revived her. +++
Jordan died at the age of 59 of complications from pneumonia on January 17, 1996, in Austin, Texas. She was afterwards buried in the Texas State Cemetery. She was the first African American to receive this honor, and previously advocated African Americans to be buried in the state cemetery when she served in the Texas State Senate.[39] Jordan’s grave rests near that of the “Father of Texas” Stephen F. Austin. ++++
Today, I am remembering Barbara Jordan…do you think she is back yet?
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