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June Jordan

June Jordan Quotes

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Famous June Jordan Quotes

“There is a man who exists as one of the most popular objects of leadership, legislation, and quasi-literature in the history of all men. . . . This man, that object of attention, attack, and vast activity, cannot make himself be heard, let alone understood. He has never been listened to. . . . That man is Black and alive in white America where the media of communication do not allow the delivery of his own voice, his own desires, his own rage.”

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Author:June Jordan
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“When that devil's bullet lodged itself inside the body of Martin Luther King, he had already begun an astonishing mobilization of poor, Black, white, latino Americans who had nothing to lose. They would challenge our government to eliminate exploitative, merciless, and war-mongering policies, nationwide, or else "tie up the country" through "means of civil disobedience." Dr. King intended to organize those legions into "coercive direct actions" that would make of Babylon a dysfunctional behemoth begging for relief. Is it any wonder he was killed?”

MeanWarCountryBodyGovernmentActionBlackLosesChallengesWhitePoorWonderPolicyKingsDevilDirectTiesReliefBulletsDrsOrganizeLutherAstonishingLatinoDisobedienceBeggingCivil DisobedienceNothing To LoseLegionBlack WhiteBabylonDirect ActionMobilizationBehemoth
Author:June Jordan
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“In America, you can segregate the people, but the problems will travel. From slavery to equal rights, from state suppression of dissent to crime, drugs and unemployment, I can't think of a supposedly Black issue that hasn't wasted the original Black target group and then spread like measles to outlying white experience.”

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Book:On call: political essays
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“I am a feminist, and what that means to me is much the same as the meaning of the fact that I am Black: it means that I must undertake to love myself and to respect myself as though my very life depends upon self-love and self-respect.”

LifeMeanSelfFactsHappinessSuccessFearBlackFeminismDependsSelf LovePerseveranceFeministSelf ConfidenceSelf RespectLove YourselfLove MyselfI Love MyselfAfrican American WomenLove My SelfSelf LovingLove Yourself MoreLoving MyselfBlack MotivationalSelf Respect In LoveSelf Respect And LoveWomen Self RespectBlack FeministI Respect Myself
Author:June Jordan
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“As a poet and writer, I deeply love and I deeply hate words. I love the infinite evidence and change and requirements and possibilities of language; every human use of words that is joyful, or honest or new, because experience is new... But as a Black poet and writer, I hate words that cancel my name and my history and the freedom of my future: I hate the words that condemn and refuse the language of my people in America.”

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Author:June Jordan
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“We are the ones we've been waiting for.”

StatesWaitingBlackPresidentChangeUnited StatesChangedAfrican AmericanPresidentialLife ChangingChanging The WorldTransitionSuccessful PeopleAmerican HistoryWorld HistoryBlack HistoryPeace On EarthSuccessful BusinessChange For The BetterAmerican PresidentBlack History MonthUs PresidentBetter NowPresidents DayInspirational ChangeBlack History Month InspirationalTime For A ChangeBlack AmericaAfrican American HistoryTimes Have ChangedPeople ChangingTime And ChangeBlack History InspirationalOne Person Can Make A DifferenceYes We CanMotivation And ChangeUs PresidentialInspirational PresidentialAfrican American InspirationalInspiring PresidentialAfrican American History MonthBlack InspirationalInspiring ChangeWilling To WaitChanges In SocietyPresidential LeadershipAudacity Of HopeTimes Are ChangingLeadership And ChangeWhy Change
Author:June Jordan
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“Lately... Americans have begun to understand that trouble does not start somewhere on the other side of town. It seems to originate inside the absolute middle of the homemade cherry pie. In our history, the state has failed to respond to the weak. You could be white, male, Presbyterian and heterosexual besides, but if you get fired or if you get sick tomorrow, you might as well be Black, for all the state will want to hear from you.”

IfsWantWellsDoeStatesSeemsMightAmericaSidesBlackWhiteTroubleMiddleTomorrowWeakSickAbsolutesTownsMalesPieCherriesHomemadePresbyteriansCherry Pie
Book:On call: political essays
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