Barbara Jordan

by sal

"My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution."

-Barbara Jordan, Testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, July 25, 1974.

All I have to do is think about Barbara Jordan and I am overcome with emotion. The tears just form. Here was a woman who embodied strength, independence, humanity, ethics and truth. I never had the chance to meet Barbara Jordan, but on one night in January, 1996, I stood in line for more than an hour to pay my respects to this great woman who made a profound impression on me. One of the things I admired most about her was her undying passion to make this world a better place and her dedication to public service while maintaining a very private personal life.

She was born in Houston, Texas, on 21 February, 1936. A product of the public schools and the city’s predominantly black fifth ward, her career took her all the way to the U.S. House of Representatives where she made her mark serving on the Judiciary Committee during the Nixon impeachment hearings. "It is reason and not passion which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision," she admonished, words that would resurface and resound during the recent Senate Trial and Impeachment of President Clinton.

Many may remember Barbara Jordan’s keynote addresses at the 1976 Democratic Convention. Here is an excerpt from that speech:

"We are a people trying not only to solve the problems of the present: unemployment, inflation...but we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of America. We are attempting to fulfill our national purpose; to create and sustain a society in which all of us are equal."

That same year she was selected as one of the "Ten Women of the Year" by Time Magazine. She received 31 honorary degrees to add to her Law Degree from Boston University (the first African-American student –- male or female -- do so) and her Bachelors Degree from Texas Southern University where she won many debate trophies while studying government and history.

Barbara Jordan retired from Congress at the age of 43 and returned home to her home state, where she taught Public Policy at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin. A year later she was voted by the readers of People Magazine as the nation’s top choice for the first woman president. In 1992 Jordan’s oratory skills were once again called upon for the keynote speech at the Democratic Convention. This time she focusing on racism, human rights and intolerance. Among her many other honors, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994. Just over a month before her 60th birthday, she would succumb to multiple sclerosis.