Barbara Jordan was a Democratic member of the U.S. House Representatives from the state of Texas and the first African-American elected to her state’s senate.
Rep. Barbara Jordan was not only a trailblazer but a great American and a great advocate for both small d and big D Democratic principles.
Speeches can contain words to live by, words that call us to action for an important cause and words that connect to our deepest feelings about fairness and compassion.
The words of women are harder to find because women did not have much of a voice in politics and were not allowed to vote until 1920.
When I wanted to include women’s voices in this series, I immediately thought of Barbara Jordan and it turns out that two of her speeches have been ranked on the list of Top 100 American Speeches of the 20th century.
The one she is most famous for is the Keynote Address at the 1976 Democratic National Convention.
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