June Jordan (July 9, 1936-June 14, 2002) was an African-American bisexual political activist, writer, poet, and teacher, born in Harlem, New York, to Jamaican immigrants. July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... June 14 is the 165th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (166th in leap years), with 200 days remaining. ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Bisexuality in human sexual behavior refers to the aesthetic, romantic, and/or sexual desire for people of either gender and/or for people of either sexes. ... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as involvement in action to bring about change, be it social, political, environmental, or other change. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... A poet exists within a cultural and intellectual tradition and usually writes in a specific language, but the qualities of good poetry are to some extent timeless and address issues common to all humanity. ... A teachers room in a Japanese middle school, 2005. ... View of Harlem from Morningside Heights overlooking Morningside Park Lenox Avenue looking south from the corner of 124th Street. ...

Life

Jordan' father Granville Ivanhoe Jordan was a postal clerk, and her mother, Mildred, a nurse. When Jordan was five, the family moved to Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. She was the only black student in her high school. In 1953, Jordan enrolled at Barnard College. There she met a white Columbia University student, Michael Meyer. They married in 1955, and had a son, Christopher. The couple divorced in 1966. Bedford Stuyvesant (aka Bed-Stuy) is a neighborhood in central Brooklyn, New York City. ... Main article: New York City A map of New York City, highlighting Brooklyn. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1953 calendar). ... Barnard College, founded in 1889, is an independent college of liberal arts and sciences for women, located in the borough of Manhattan, in New York, New York, United States. ... Columbia University is a private university in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City and a member of the Ivy League. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ...

Career

Jordan's first published book, Who Look at Me, appeared in 1969, was a collection of poems for children. Twenty-seven more books followed in her lifetime, one (Some of Us Did Not Die, Collected and New Essays) was in press when she died. One more has been published posthumously (a re-issue of the 1970 poetry collection "SoulScript", edited by Jordan). Publication of her Complete Poems is scheduled for Fall, 2005. Her autobiographical Soldier: A Poet's Childhood came out in 2000. She was also an essayist, columnist for The Progressive, novelist, biographer, and librettist for the musical/opera I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky, composed by John Adams and produced by Peter Sellars. 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... This article is about the year 2000. ... An essayist is an author who writes compositions which can be about any particular subject. ... The Progressive is an American monthly magazine of politics and culture with a pronounced left-of-center perspective. ... I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky is a 1995 musical/opera written by John Adams, with a libretto by June Jordan. ... John Coolidge Adams (b. ... Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born 1957) is a leading American theater director, renowned for his modern stagings of classical operas and plays. ...

Jordan's teaching career began in 1967 at the City College of New York. She founded Poetry for the People at the University of California, Berkeley. She was a full professor in the departments of English, Women Studies, and African American Studies. She also taught at Yale University. Jordan died of breast cancer, at her home in Berkeley, California. The June Jordan School for Equity, formerly Small School for Equity, in San Francisco was named after her by the founding group of students who chose her among two other activists (Phillip Vera Cruz and Cesar Chavez). 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... The City College of The City University of New York (known more commonly as City College of New York or simply City College, CCNY, or colloquially as City) is a senior college of the City University of New York, in New York City. ... It has been suggested that UC Mens Chorale be merged into this article or section. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Yale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. ... Breast cancer is cancer of breast tissue. ... Berkeley as seen from the Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...

Bibliography

• Who Look at Me
• Soulscript (editor)
• The Voice of the Children (co-editor)
• Some Changes
• His Own Where
• Dry Victories
• Fannie Lou Hamer
• New Days
• New Life
• Things That I Do in the Dark
• Passion
• Kimako's Story
• Things That I Do in the Dark: Selected Poems, 1954-1977
• Civil Wars
• Living Room
• On Call
• Lyrical Campaigns
• Moving Towards Home
• Naming Our Destiny
• Technical Difficulties: African-American Notes on the State of the Union
• Technical Difficulties: New Political Essays
• Haruko Love Poems
• I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky
• June Jordan's Poetry for the People: A Revolutionary Blueprint
• Civil Wars (new edition)
• Kissing God Goodbye
• Affirmative Acts
• Soldier
• Some of Us Did Not Die
• Soulscript: A Collection of Classic African American Poetry (editor, reprint)
• Directed by Desire: The Complete Poems of June Jordan (due out in Fall, 2005)

External links

• "June Jordan." The Guardian. Busby, Margaret., June 20, 2002.
• June Jordan. Accessed on February 6, 2005.
• Review of Jordan's April 10, 1999
• "June Jordan, 65, Poet and Political Activist, Dies." Smith, Dinitia, New York Times. June 18, 2002.
• Audio Interview with Jordan
• PBS New York Writers Link