June Jordan (1936-2002) was an iconic writer, poet and activist. Known for her autobiographical poetry and essays on civil rights, women’s rights, and sexual freedom, her radical art continues to be both greatly inspiring and deeply relevant.
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Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I’m Tranna Wintour, host of the podcast Chosen Family, and guest host for today’s episode of Encyclopedia Womannica.
Today’s queer legend was an iconic writer, poet and activist. Known for her autobiographical poetry and essays on civil rights, women’s rights, and sexual freedom, her radical art continues to be both greatly inspiring and deeply relevant.
It’s time to talk about the acclaimed Jamaican-American writer, June Jordan.
June was born on July 9th 1936 in Harlem, New York. Both of her parents were Jamaican immigrants. They worked long hours to provide for June, their only child. But her childhood was marked by violence. Life as a Black immigrant family was far from easy, and June’s father often took out his frustration on her.
Yet he also fostered a love of literature and education. As a teenager, June was sent to prep schools where she was the only Black student. It was around this time her mother Mildred died by suicide. After her mother’s passing, June recalls her father telling her that there was “a war against colored people” and that she had to become a “soldier”.
Though being a poet “did not compute” for her family, June was encouraged by teachers to pursue writing. In 1953, June graduated high school and enrolled at Barnard College in New York City. She enjoyed her classes, but felt alienated from the prevailing white male curricula. June would later write that she was never introduced to any Black poets, writers, or even thinkers at Barnard.
In 1955, while still at Barnard, June married Columbia University student Michael Meyer. Michael was white, and their interracial relationship experienced significant prejudice. That same year, fed up with Barnard’s lack of Black representation, June left to study at the University of Chicago.
Three years later, in 1958, June had her only child, Christopher David Meyer.
By that time, her relationship with Michael was disintegrating. In 1965, they ended their marriage, and June became a single mother
After her divorce, June took up different teaching gigs to support herself and son. She taught English and literature at CUNY, Connecticut College, Sarah Lawrence, and Stony Brook.
In 1969, June published her first book of poetry. Called “Who Look at Me,” the book was written for young readers, dedicated to fostering literacy -- and pride -- in the Black English language. In 1977, June published her major collection of poetry “Things I Do in the Dark,” edited by Toni Morrison. From political oppression to bisexuality, June explored her identities confidently and proudly, despite stigmatization.
It was in this collection of poetry that June wrote: “I am a stranger / learning to worship the strangers on earth / around me / whoever you are / whoever I may become.”
June would ultimately publish 28 books in her lifetime. She was never scared to express anger, rage, and solidarity of all peoples under oppression.
In the 1980s, June grew increasingly critical of Israeli policy concerning both Lebanon and Palestine. She visited refugee camps, and wrote several poems condemning American interference. For June, it was a matter of transnational feminism. She saw direct parallels between anti-Black and anti-Arab practices..
For the last 13 years of her life, June taught Afro-American and women’s studies at the University of California Berkeley. Known on campus as the “Poet of the People,” June taught poetry and solidarity side-by-side.
Throughout her life, June had a fierce commitment to the art of solidarity and self-realization. Growing up in a world that was deeply prejudiced, she frequently imagined possibilities of radical love, unions, and futurities. Her work illustrated how politics was always personal.
As she once said, to be a poet one must: “always be as honest as possible and to be as careful about the trust invested in you.”
In 2002, June passed away in her Berkeley home from breast cancer.
In 2019, she was memorialized and inducted into the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor, where her memory lives on today.
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