June Jordan, born on this day in 1936, was a queer Jamaican-American author, feminist, and educator whose works include Some of Us Did Not Die and Report From the Bahamas. "Poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth."

In her writing, Jordan explores issues of gender, race, capitalism, privilege, immigration, and representation. Jordan was passionate about using Black English in both her writing and her classroom, teaching her students to treat Black English as its own language and as an important outlet for expressing Black culture.

As a professor at Berkeley, Jordan founded the "Poetry for the People" program in 1991. Its aim was to inspire and empower students to use poetry as a means of artistic expression.

Although not widely recognized when first published in 1982, Jordan's essay "Report from the Bahamas", has since become an important work in gender studies, sociology, and anthropology.

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

  • June Jordan

June Jordan - Poetry foundation

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  • FunkyStuff [he/him]
    ·
    6 months ago

    Sure, that's a little different though. Doomerism can be misanthropic, but it can also not be misanthropic. Here's a question: can one take part in building a better society for future generations while believing that all the people around them don't deserve one?

    • Balefirex [he/him]
      ·
      6 months ago

      By recognising that the parts of people you dislike are structurally incentivized and working to change that part of society. I think most people who say they "hate people" would be service workers who are just tired of getting shit on. They're not typically wishing pain and suffering on everyone.

      • FunkyStuff [he/him]
        ·
        6 months ago

        Yeah that's understandable, but I think in that case if someone says they "hate people" they don't mean hate hate, when I say misanthropy I'm talking about the ecofascist kind of misanthropy.