It Takes A Village: VNV 2-8-17

February 8, 2017 MomentaryGrace History, It Takes a Village 74

In honor of the original post by Lysis that started it all, the Hillary News & Views, I offer

The Village New & Views
Wednesday Get Over the Hump Free for All

persist!

This Just In:

https://twitter.com/Shakestweetz/status/829189048606527488

And now in the spirit of women who persist…

Black History Month – The First Woman I Wanted to be President

Lately I have been thinking about a person who is incredibly significant in American political history, a personal touchstone for me: Barbara Charline Jordan, described in her Wikipedia entry as a lawyer, educator, American politician and leader of the Civil Rights Movement.

I’m not going to give more than a thumbnail sketch of biographical material – you can read her Wikipedia entry for yourself to refresh your memory, or better, read Denise Oliver Velez’s wonderful essay on DKos, Barbara Jordan: ‘She always did sound like God’. Denise writes like an archangel so it makes sense to point you to her writing, it’s certainly better than mine.

What I have to offer is only perspective, and a personal connection, albeit closer in my mind than in ‘real life’. The first thread of connection is her name, Barbara. That is my given name also, and I think there are other Barbaras in our Village group that we know well. It might seem like an insignificant coincidence, but words have power, and names have amazing resonance for some. Names we are born with, names that we choose, can define us, can connect us.

The second thread – Barbara was a native of Houston, my town. Different neighborhoods – I grew up in the suburbs northeast of town outside (then) the city limits and just before the next place up the road, Aldine. Barbara grew up in Fourth Ward. Different, but I could imagine we saw some of the same streets, felt the same rhythm, since city rhythms are unique and defy duplication.

I probably only became aware of her when she became the US Representative from Texas’s 18th Congressional District, a seat held today by Shirley Jackson Lee. The 18th District looks kind of like a fat G and winds from north of town down through the northwest, through the middle of downtown Houston and finally back up to the northeast. It’s one of those funny looking shapes for a district that was probably drawn along racial lines that have subsequently blurred but never completely faded.

Two years after the Watergate break-in scandal the country, including me and my grandmother, found themselves in the summer of 1974 watching the Congressional Impeachment Hearings on live television. It was in a period of personal upheaval and the last summer I was able to spend time just hanging out with my grandmother, who had been an oasis for me for a significant number of years. Together, we watched the hearings and shook our heads, marveling at the utter strangeness of the times – a presidential impeachment, after the scandals, the Vietnam War, the unrest, the turmoil, some of which even reach our Houston suburb.

That’s probably where I heard Barbara Jordan speak for the first time. A member of the House Judiciary Committee, she gave a fifteen minute speech on live television on July 25th which is credited by many as being one of the reasons Richard Nixon finally bowed to the inevitable and resigned. Like every speech this woman gave, it was powerful, smart, clear and rang with an unparalleled understanding and love for the principles embodied in the Constitution. It was, quite frankly, far over my head, as a high school teenager, but her amazing voice and the clarity with which she communicated were more than enough to reach out and ensnare my mind and heart.

I could barely have understood how incredibly unique she was, how groundbreaking and earthshaking. I had lived through race riots in my junior high school years over desegregation and I knew that the promise of our Founding Fathers that all men were created equal was not a realized reality in our land.

But I grew up with Lieutenant Uhura, and Nurse Julia and Barney Collier and while I knew the struggle was real, I thought everyone understood that bigotry and prejudice were the past and had no place in our future.

I graduated high school in 1976, the Bicentennial year. Our class song was Philadelphia Freedom. Our colors were red white and blue, even though the school colors were black and gold. And there was a presidential election coming up that year that we would be old enough to vote in.

There was some talk about Barbara Jordan as a possible running mate for Jimmy Carter and I really wanted that to happen. Instead, she became the first African American woman to be a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention. Though she was not a candidate, she actually got one delegate vote for president!

That year I was positive that I would live to see Barbara Jordan as President of the United States, some day.

We were never so fortunate.

If you already know her, and have heard her speak, I hope this small recollection does not seem too shabby a tribute.

If you haven’t heard her, do yourself a favor.

Keynote speech, part one. Listen to them cheer her… Listen to how carefully she says, “a Barbara Jordan”.

Part two. Accountability.

Part three. “Whatever differs from this…”

The impeachment speech. Listen to the unerring precision of her fire.

Thank you for your patience. Love and peace, Village! Enjoy your Wednesday gathering.

We are — Stronger Together!

#TheResistance

All are welcome!

About MomentaryGrace 41 Articles
I voted for the Democrat in every election since 1976. I appreciate honesty, kindness and courage. I loathe cruelty and indifference. I am Discordian. I mean you no harm. But if you are cruel, or indifferent, I may point and laugh. #stillwithher.

74 Comments

  1. Good morning.

    28 and gloomy in Chicago.

    When are R old men going to understand they can’t shut women up? Sad!

    We need to stay pissed and vote them out of office.

      • Can you check for an email from “wordpress at motleymoose.net” in about 30 minutes? I will have the moose explain what is happening.

          • Okay, I will send something to bfitz to kosmail to you.

            You were logged in once!! We just have to get you back in.

          • I will most certainly keep an eye on my email and copy it into a kosmail for broths as soon as I get it. {{{broths}}} and doubly {{{JanF}}}

    • broths, I think the answer to your question unfortunately is never. Let’s just put them out of work. ;)

  2. Thank you, MomentaryGrace!!! {{{MG}}}

    And thank you for sharing about Barbara Jordan. I think someone had one of her quotes about the constitution as their signature.

    I actually have been in Houston :o and might have been in Aldine (as well as Humble).

    That cat… ❤

    • Morning, basket! Aldine & Humble were a bit north of where we lived during my kidhood. At the time it was “off the freeway and in the piney woods” but all that area is developed now, right past and far beyond where the outlying towns used to be little islands. What brought you out that way, if I may be so bold as to ask? (It’s quite alright to take the 5th, though. ;))

      A lot of things about Barbara Jordan resonate for me these days. If one person who hasn’t heard her speak watches one of those videos and hears that amazing voice, I’ve done what I could.

      Glad you liked the banner. Orinially the text was “#RESIST” but I changed it after the crap McConnell pulled.


      Onward!

      • A person I know from the ragtime community lives in Humble, and he often has house concerts as well as concerts at the Houston Piano Company.

        I also have a good friend from Seattle who lives there now, and I’ve had brunch with her one or twice. :)

        • If you wander back into town and have some time, give us a holler (as we say in the south) and we’ll do Greek at Niko Niko’s, or empanadas at Marini’s!

  3. The sun isn’t even up yet and I am INSPIRED! Thank you MonemntaryGrace, for your fine tribute to Barbara Jordan. I remember how I was absolutely awed by the power and clarity of her magnificent speech during the Nixon impeachment proceedings. And because you reminded we Meese, I just watched it again. This speech speaks with a burning immediacy and appropriateness for our situation today.

    BTW: you’re right “Denise writes like an archangel.” :)

    • Yes, Barbara’s impeachment speech has oodles of relevance for now, and has been on my mind a lot of late. Thank you for your kind comment and I am grateful to be able to inject some inspiration in your day. <3

    • Opps! Sorry for the name butchery. “Monemntary” sounds like a cross between monastery and mammogram.

  4. What a lovely diary, MomentaryGrace!

    You’ve just given us a moment of grace. Barbara Jordan was a truly remarkable woman, and yours is an inspiring tribute to her.

    Once I applied for a job that would have involved writing potted histories of famous African-Americans. I chose Barbara Jordan as the subject for the writing sample I submitted. That’s when I found out what a towering figure she was.

    Alas, I didn’t get the job. It might even have been a “vapor job,” but if it had been real and I’d been hired, it would have made going to work a pleasure.

    Have a good day, Villagers!

    • Thank you, Diana in NoVa. The grace was Barbara’s but she was generous with it to everyone who was privileged to hear her and know of her life and work. Fact is I miss her, lately more than ever. What would she have thought of these times?

      Any chance you might share your audition piece with us sometime?

        • How nice you are, fellow Villagers! Unfortunately this was pre-Internet, so that piece has long been lost. Sigh. I wish I had all the writing I did before the Internet and computers and hard drives (and now backup disks and the Cloud).

          I appreciate the invitation, though, believe me. Bigly. :)

  5. I lived in Houston during those Nixon impeachment trials. I don’t remember it because I was a very little kid, but I do remember seeing Nixon get on the helicopter on live TV because my mother forced me to. She had been a volunteer for the Nixon campaign. I had two Republican parents who never spoke of Barbara Jordan, and so I had to learn about her late in life. The politics of people like my parents is that they would never call themselves racist, would never use an racial slur, and would never think of aligning with explicitly racist politics, and so easily fit MLK’s “moderate Christian” description.

    • So many folks that have been in Houston! I shouldn’t be surprised I guess, but fourth largest city or otherwise, I’ve always tended to see us as kind a very (very) big small town for so many reasons.

      It might be fair to say that no one calls themselves racist in the modern world, it’s a pejorative that carries a taint and is more in the mouth of the other person than in one’s own understanding of identity. In my family also I never heard anyone utter a racist slur or say an openly racist remark, but I can’t swear some of that wasn’t simply kept outside the hearing of the kids.

      • It was the 6th largest city when I was growing up there – and yes, Houston is the biggest collection of cow towns run together ever.

        You are correct that other than the “Deplorable and Proud of It” group, nobody ever calls themselves racist simply because it has become a pejorative rather than a descriptor. As has bigoted. And prejudiced. And deplorable is well on its way to losing its identity as a descriptor, too. But I’m still glad Hillary pointed them out.

        • Yes it smarted when she said that so they now use it as a banner, but somewhere inside, they know – that is, the milder ones know they’ve aligned themselves with the side of hate.

          • It actually explains part of the Hillary Hate – especially on the Alt Left – they know the label fits them and they hate her for point it out.

  6. And thank you for the props to Lysis, MG!

    “Lysis that started it all, the Hillary News & Views.” AMEN

    • I see people asking about Lysis now and then, and wonder if he knows that what he started is persisting like a weed. ;) Even DK trying to scrape us off isn’t withering us so far.

      • I’ve seen him occasionally comment at Shakesville, but I think he’s taking a break.

        • LOL, that reminds me of an old great-uncle of mine! He used to talk about the three “withered aunts” in our family, which sent us all into gales of giggles. I think he meant to say “widowed aunts,” which in his particular vernacular would sound more like “widdered.”

      • He hasn’t been back to DK since his last HNV diary that I know of. I sent him an invitation to VUTB but it’s never been answered. I wish he would come back – over here actually – his work was solid and we need all hands on deck for 2018.

  7. {{{MG}}} – thanks for the lovely diary – I, too hoped she would be our first woman president. I used to dream about getting a “twofer” – female and Black. I grew up in Houston – can’t tell you the Ward but can name every school I went to, heh. In 1974 I was living in Austin. By the time of the impeachment hearings I had a 3 year old and a several month old so hadn’t been paying attention. Until the actual hearings.

    Love Barbara Jordan’s voice. Love her words more. The reason I am not panicked although I am not happy about our current situation is that, like her, my “faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total.” And with my Village, “…I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution.”

    Thank you again and “Hai” everybody. :)

    • Writing this short piece reminded and sharpened for me so many things. In 1976 I thought it was only a short matter of time before we would have a woman president, and an African American president.

      I cherish the presidency of Barack Obama, and I mourn still for what we almost had with HRC.

      But trust the voice of Barbara Jordan to gird up our loins for the fight we are in now. Panic serves us nothing. I’m with you, bfitzinAR. <3

    • She went back to work this morning, after staying home yesterday and basically sleeping like Master Wufei – all day in long naps. Her neck is better but it will take a while before it’s truly healed up. I’m hoping today isn’t too soon for her to go but she’s like that – won’t stay down. I’ll tell her the Village was inquiring. :)

      • Good – sleeping is when healing occurs. Tell VonsterTX that now’s the time to start alternating warm and cool compresses on her neck (did anybody in PT give her exercises to do for this?) – and sending Healing Energy. Hoping to see her over here sometime soon. moar {{{HUG}}}

        • Her doc gave her some general instructions, I’m in charge of pestering her to follow them. Will pass along the hugs!

          • You might tell her that a few minutes of doing the PT exercises a day plus the compresses when it’s in the ‘minor irritant’ stage is what’s kept me from going back to my chiropractor for over 6 months. moar {{{HUGS}}}

  11. Thank you, MG. Inspired by you, I just tweeted Ms. Jordan’s impeachment comments. We all benefit from remembering herstrength, courage, and eloquence.

    Question for the Village…did anyone catch any of the Cruz-Sanders debate last night or hear reactions? I purposely didn’t watch it, but I did expect to see a rash of tweets about it. Instead, McConnell decided to piss of women with his treatment of Sen. Warren, and that became the news of the night. So, full-throated defense of the ACA was made, right? Right?

    • I only saw a few tweets about it (the debate) last night but I was focused on polishing the diary and pestering the Vonster to sit with her back and neck supported. ;) I admit I didn’t look for them too hard though. I’d be curious to know how it went but prefer third hand when it comes to the junior senator from Vermont.

      And tweeting Barbara Jordan quotes – excellent!

  12. Great Diary MG, I saw her speech at the Democratic National Convention and was mesmerized. So mesmerized that I asked my girlfriend to marry me and we did that year, Ha. Jordan would have been a great President.

    • That is a great story! Barbara Jordan mesmerized you into proposing! :D I love it.

  13. So in honor of Black History Month the Grand Wizard Klansman of Kentucky decides to deny a white women the right to express her view on the Senate floor, while reading a letter from the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement Coretta Scott King. What acumen for man that is married to a woman of Color.

    • It’s a wonder they have any feet left, the way they keep shooting themselves in them. Unfortunately they are probably, correctly or otherwise, secure in the idea that their constituents think like them rather than like us.

    • Afternoon, rto. Did you happen to catch any of the Cruz-Sanders Egothon last night? Or heard any scuttlebutt about how it went? I’m hearing absolutely nothing; not even my RL Berniac friends have posted on FB.

      • “I’m hearing absolutely nothing; not even my RL Berniac friends have posted on FB.” might be your answer right there but the quiet is surprising for sure…

        • It really is strange. I know the EVENT was overshadowed by the McConnell Blunder, but even on Twitter, the silence was deafening. I guess the good news is that this means it’s unlikely we’ll have to defend against anything said by an alleged ally?

          • That would be something, wouldn’t it? I’m sure he’ll try to worm his way back into the conversation, and it will undoubtedly include an attack on Democrats. In the meantime, I don’t even see him touting it on Twitter that much, so I wonder if Cruz shellacked him?

            Oh wait, I see that he was using the hashtag #DebateWithBernie (because of course he was), when #CNNDebateNight was the one that was being used most last night.

          • :::snort::: – I think the Haters are about to shift back to “Draft Warren for Prez” – as soon as Bernie becomes irrelevant enough and he’s getting close. Of Course EW isn’t interested and she’s much more efficient in the Senate where she can play to her strengths, but the Alt Left doesn’t give a rat’s patootie what she wants. Or what anybody else wants. sigh

  15. So over at the old digs, Skookum had the brilliant idea of reaching out to Villagers who were victims of “the Night of the Long Knives” over there. I’ve already reached out to MethuenProgressive and USMarine70 (he wasn’t bojo’d, but he’s been inactive for awhile) on Twitter. I think I have AnnaShane’s mailing address somewhere, so I could always send her a snail mail invite if no one else has a faster way to reach her. What about Jasper McGuff? Did anyone ever interact with him outside of the site? What other names should I be considering?

  19. Sessions confirmed and keystone project moving forward….. tough sledding ahead, gotta go one day at a time.

    • Yeah. Right now our only hopes are with the Courts. The more they are antagonized, the more they’re going to actually uphold the law – and they’re being antagonized right, left, and sideways. One day at a time is how we’ll survive until we can right the Ship of State.

      {{{rto}}} – you be careful. You’re the one with the target painted on him. I’m an old white lady so I’m invisible. The worst they’ll do to me is steal my Social Security so I starve. You they may beat up and kill. Love and Light protect you.

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