Barbara Jordan: Politician and Civil Rights Leader
CHAPTER ONE
A LEGEND IN PROGRESS On July 12 1976 a crowd of people Garden The large New York City gathered in Madison Square arena could fit approximately 20,000 people It was at full capacity The US Democratic Party was holding a convention Democratic candidates for president and vice president would be chosen at this event Barbara Jordan was an important speaker at the convention Jordan was a member of the US House of Representatives for the state of Texas She would give the keynote address This speech would set the tone for the event Jordan walked up to the stage amid loud Jordan waves at the audience in Madison Square Garden at the 1976 Democratic National Convention
Jordan right appeared on a television news program at Madison Square Garden the day before the 1976 Democratic National Convention applause She was the first African American woman to make a keynote address at the convention Jordan had a long list of firsts in her life Among other things she had been Texas’s first female African American state senator She came from a poor
background But she had built a powerful legacy for herself In her speech Jordan talked about issues of equality She said that no group of people should have power over others Securing equal rights for people was important to Jordan Jordan had advocated for laws that improved the lives of poor people and minorities She had pushed to give low-wage workers better payment Her activism made her a leader in the American civil rights movement Jordan’s vision was to help people have equal opportunities She believed that everyone had a right to take part in government Jordan would spend her career working to protect that right EARLY YEARS Barbara was born in 1936 in Houston Texas She grew up during the Jim Crow era Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation in the South Black people were kept separate from white people in public places
