June Jordan Quotes

Powerful June Jordan for Daily Growth

About June Jordan

June Emily Jordan (1936-2002) was an influential American poet, writer, and social activist. Born in Harlem, New York City, to a Trinidadian father and Jamaican mother, she was raised in Brooklyn before moving to Oakland, California as a teenager. Her childhood experiences and the racially charged environment of her time greatly influenced her work. Jordan earned her Bachelor's degree from Barnard College in 1958, where she was a founding member of the Afro-American Society. She continued her studies at Fisk University, earning a Master's degree in English in 1960. Her academic career included positions at several institutions, such as the City College of New York and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Jordan was a prolific writer, known for her poetry, fiction, essays, and plays. Her works often addressed social justice issues, including race, gender, class, and sexuality. Notable works include "Poems from Being, Friends" (1968), "His Own Where: New and Selected Poems" (1971), "Salvage" (1982), a novel trilogy consisting of "Some Time They Fly" (1986), "The Star Side of Bird Hill" (1992), and "Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" (1994), and her essay collection, "Civil Wars: A Life in Letters" (1995). Throughout her life, Jordan was deeply involved in social activism. She co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus, was a founding member of the Institute for the Study of Black World, and served as a visiting scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. June Jordan's work continues to be celebrated for its poetic beauty, social relevance, and powerful impact on contemporary literature and activism. She passed away in 2002, leaving behind a rich legacy of art and activism that inspires generations.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"We are the ones we have been waiting for."

This quote by June Jordan emphasizes self-empowerment and collective responsibility. It suggests that the people necessary to bring about change, progress, or solutions to problems within their communities are those directly affected - "we" (the people) - rather than relying on external forces. The message encourages individuals to take action and work collaboratively towards positive change, implying that the power to effect meaningful change lies within themselves. This quote serves as a call-to-action for people to actively participate in shaping their own destinies and uplifting their communities.

"You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop."

This quote by June Jordan emphasizes that each individual is unique and carries within them the essence of the whole, much like how an ocean drop contains all the properties and qualities of the vast ocean. It suggests that everyone has immense potential, talents, and wisdom, and that every action or decision we make can influence the world around us just as a single drop affects its surroundings in an ocean. This quote encourages people to recognize their inherent worth, power, and significance, inspiring them to live courageously and mindfully, aware of their impact on the collective whole.

"Love is a practice willed into being by the people who live it."

This quote emphasizes that love, like any other profound human experience, is not just a passive emotion but an active practice. It suggests that genuine love is something we must intentionally cultivate in our daily lives, much like one might learn a skill or develop a habit. The "people who live it" refers to those individuals who choose to engage in the act of loving, and their collective actions shape what love means and how it is experienced. In essence, this quote highlights that the power to love lies within each person, and it's up to us to will love into existence through our thoughts, words, and deeds.

"Nobody can give you better advice than the voice Sanctuary provides."

This quote by June Jordan emphasizes the importance of self-reflection and introspection in seeking wisdom and guidance. The "voice Sanctuary" she refers to is the inner calm and safety within oneself where one can truly listen to their thoughts, feelings, and intuition - the source of personal truth and authenticity. In other words, she suggests that we should look within ourselves for advice and direction rather than relying solely on external sources or advice from others. This self-discovery process allows us to gain a deeper understanding of our own needs, values, and purpose in life, ultimately leading to more meaningful and fulfilling decisions.

"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrible friend of your family so you could ask him to dinner and talk his ear off."

This quote by June Jordan emphasizes the power of a profoundly engaging book, one that leaves such an impact on a reader that they wish they had a personal connection with its author, just to further discuss its ideas and themes. It's a testament to the transformative potential of literature, where readers are left inspired and eager for more insight from the creator of the work.

Language is political. That's why you and me, my Brother and Sister, that's why we supposed to choke our natural self into the weird, lying, barbarous, unreal, white speech and writing habits that the schools lay down like holy law.

- June Jordan

Political, Habits, Why, Choke

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.

- June Jordan

Love, Self-Respect, Very, Feminist

So, poetry becomes a means for useful dialogue between people who are not only unknown, but mute to each other. It produces a dialogue among people that guards all of us against manipulation by our so-called leaders.

- June Jordan

Other, Against, Leaders, Guards

I wrote those poems for myself, as a way of being a soldier here in this country. I didn't know the poems would travel. I didn't go to Lebanon until two years ago, but people told me that many Arabs had memorized these poems and translated them into Arabic.

- June Jordan

Country, Here, Had, Lebanon

Bisexuality means I am free and I am as likely to want to love a woman as I am likely to want to love a man, and what about that? Isn't that what freedom implies?

- June Jordan

Love, Means, Likely, Bisexuality

It means to educate myself incessantly about the world around me.

- June Jordan

Myself, World, Means, Incessantly

Consequently, most of us really exist at the mercy of other people's formulations of what's important.

- June Jordan

Important, Exist, Most, Mercy

One of the reasons I came to Berkeley was because I saw so many students of all different colors speaking so many different languages and ferociously presenting all these different views. I thought, this is the 21st century and I want to be here!

- June Jordan

Thought, Here, Reasons, Berkeley

The courts cannot garnish a father's salary, nor freeze his account, nor seize his property on behalf of his children, in our society. Apparently this is because a kid is not a car or a couch or a boat.

- June Jordan

Father, Seize, Kid, Boat

We do not deride the fears of prospering white America. A nation of violence and private property has every reason to dread the violated and the deprived.

- June Jordan

Reason, Private, Violated, Deprived

I think I have come to a place where I'm able to feel more comfortable about being honest.

- June Jordan

Think, More, I Think, Being Honest

That attitude that fighting is probably not fair, but you have to defend yourself anyway and damage the enemy, has been profoundly consequential as far as my political activism goes.

- June Jordan

Not Fair, Been, Damage, Activism

My father was very intense, passionate and over-the-top. He was my hero and my tyrant.

- June Jordan

Father, Passionate, Very, Over-The-Top

In the process of telling the truth about what you feel or what you see, each of us has to get in touch with himself or herself in a really deep, serious way.

- June Jordan

Deep, Process, Telling, Herself

My father was both the person who gave me reason to learn how to fight and the one who taught me the basics of fighting. He would tell me that if it was a big fight, it would probably be uneven, it wouldn't be fair.

- June Jordan

Reason, Basics, Big, Uneven

To tell the truth is to become beautiful, to begin to love yourself, value yourself. And that's political, in its most profound way.

- June Jordan

Love, Political, Tell, Love Yourself

There are two ways to worry words. One is hoping for the greatest possible beauty in what is created. The other is to tell the truth.

- June Jordan

Beauty, Worry, Other, Hoping

CORE was committed to nonviolence, but I was not.

- June Jordan

Committed, Nonviolence, Core

The music of language became extremely important to me, and obvious to me. By the time I was seven I was writing myself. I was a poet.

- June Jordan

Myself, By The Time, Became, Poet

Poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth.

- June Jordan

Truth, Act, Telling, Telling The Truth

The first function of poetry is to tell the truth, to learn how to do that, to find out what you really feel and what you really think.

- June Jordan

Learn, Think, Tell, Function

But, based on my friendship with Evie as young mothers, I started going on freedom rides in 1966.

- June Jordan

Friendship, Freedom, Based, Mothers

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