Happy Holidays, Germs! I hope the holiday season brings you a lot of joy and that you’re surrounded by the ones you love. December’s edition of Belle Lettres stars June Jordan. Jordan was an activist, journalist, essayist, and poet. She is the author of the poetry books Who Look at Me and Some of Us Did Not Die.
Jordan was born in Harlem, New York, on July 9, 1936. Her parents, Granville Ivanhoe and Mildred Maud Jordan, immigrated from Jamaica. Her mother worked as a part-time nurse, and her father was a postal worker for USPS.
Jordan had a rather turbulent relationship with her father, who was often times abusive, and her mother committed suicide when Jordan was a teenager. After graduating from Northfield School for Girls, Jordan attended Barnard College. She left Barnard before graduating after finding herself at odds with the predominately white, male student population.
In 1955, Jordan married Michael Meyer, an Anthropology student at Columbia University. They had a son named Christopher, but they unfortunately divorced in 1965.
While teaching at City College of the City University of New York, Jordan published her first poetry book, Who Look at Me, in 1969. Who Look at Me, a project that belonged to Langston Hughes, used Black English to describe paintings by Black Americans. Jordan felt it was important to use Black English in order to keep a sense of community and culture among Black Americans alive.
In 1971, Jordan published His Own Where, a young adult novel that was also written in Black English. It was nominated for a National Book Award. It was also during this time that Jordan was an editor for Soulscript, a poetry anthology based on African-American writers.
Jordan released a few novels aimed at young people after His Own Where, such as Dry Victories in 1972, New Life: New Room in 1975, and Kimako’s Story in 1981. The latter was inspired by the daughter of Alice Walker, with whom Jordan was good friends. Jordan’s novels, as well as her poetry, were written with the goal of creating solidarity and a sense of unity — although her writings were viewed as being radical.
Throughout her career, Jordan was involved in the Civil Rights Movement as well as the feminist, gay, and lesbian rights and antiwar movement. Jordan’s writings are said to be conversational, addressing topics such as African-American identity, family, bisexuality, and racial inequality.
In 2000, Jordan released her memoir, Soldier: A Poet’s Childhood. Told through a child’s perspective, Jordan reflects on how her complex relationship with her father influenced her opinions growing up. In an interview with Essence Magazine, Jordan said, “My father was very intense, passionate, and over the top. He was my hero and my tyrant.”
Soldier, titled after Jordan’s nickname, gives the reader insight into the shaping of Jordan’s personality; she’s strong and smart as well as creative, which are traits that her father passed onto her. Jordan wanted to pay homage to him and also to address how we can be afraid of expressing the complexities in our own personal relationships.
June Jordan has been the recipient of many awards throughout her lifetime. She received the National Endowment for the Arts fellow in poetry in 1982, the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in poetry in 1985, and the Writers for Writers Award from Barnes and Noble in 2001.
Jordan was also praised for establishing an organization called Poetry for the People. The organization offers free poetry workshops in community centers, high schools, prisons, and churches in underprivileged communities. This reflects Jordan’s attitude of improving the lives and communities of African Americans and other groups that are marginalized by society.
On June 14, 2002, Jordan passed away at the age of 65 from breast cancer. Two works by Jordan were published posthumously: Some of Us Did Not Die: New and Selected Essays of June Jordan (2002) and Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan (2005). Some of Us Did Not Die contains 32 essays that were previously published along with eight new essays. It covered topics such as 9/11, the decline of the educational system, and Black English. Jordan didn’t shy away from writing about human sexuality, desire, and her own feelings about being bisexual in an essay from the same book called “A Couple of Words on Behalf of Sex (Itself).” Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan was published in 2005. The poems featured in the book were published between 1969 and 2001, and it includes discussions about Jordan’s battle with cancer.
Whether it was writing in Black English, being unashamed of one’s sexuality, or starting an organization, June Jordan was a leader through her words and actions. Her writings continue her legacy as a voice for the oppressed.