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Affirmative Acts
Piercingly intuitive, eloquent, and caustic, Affirmative Acts is an address to the social, economic, racial, and political conflicts that mar the otherwise beautiful human experience.
In this new collection of political essays, Jordan explores the confusion of an America in the grip of pseudo-multiculturalism and political intolerance. Continuing in the tradition of her classic collections Civil Wars and Technical Difficulties, Jordan acquaints readers with moments of American life threatened by social negligence and economic despair. With her characteristic insight, Jordan unveils how these too-frequent bouts of civil unrest bring out the weakest parts of the American spirit and challenges readers to remain inspired as society approaches the millennium.
June Jordan's wisdom shines through in this brilliant collection of inspirational essays, which will be eagerly awaited by Jordan loyalists and enjoyed by her new readers.
In this new collection of political essays, Jordan explores the confusion of an America in the grip of pseudo-multiculturalism and political intolerance. Continuing in the tradition of her classic collections Civil Wars and Technical Difficulties, Jordan acquaints readers with moments of American life threatened by social negligence and economic despair. With her characteristic insight, Jordan unveils how these too-frequent bouts of civil unrest bring out the weakest parts of the American spirit and challenges readers to remain inspired as society approaches the millennium.
June Jordan's wisdom shines through in this brilliant collection of inspirational essays, which will be eagerly awaited by Jordan loyalists and enjoyed by her new readers.
288 pages, Paperback
First published October 20, 1998
About the author
June Jordan
80 books458 followersJune Millicent Jordan (July 9, 1936 – June 14, 2002) was a Caribbean-American poet and activist.
Jordan received numerous honors and awards, including a 1969-70 Rockefeller grant for creative writing, a Yaddo Fellowship in 1979, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 1982, and the Achievement Award for International Reporting from the National Association of Black Journalists in 1984. Jordan also won the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Writers Award from 1995 to 1998 as well as the Ground Breakers-Dream Makers Award from The Woman's Foundation in 1994.
She was included in Who's Who in America from 1984 until her death. She received the Chancellor's Distinguished Lectureship from UC Berkeley and the PEN Center USA West Freedom to Write Award (1991).
(from Wikipedia)
Jordan received numerous honors and awards, including a 1969-70 Rockefeller grant for creative writing, a Yaddo Fellowship in 1979, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 1982, and the Achievement Award for International Reporting from the National Association of Black Journalists in 1984. Jordan also won the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Writers Award from 1995 to 1998 as well as the Ground Breakers-Dream Makers Award from The Woman's Foundation in 1994.
She was included in Who's Who in America from 1984 until her death. She received the Chancellor's Distinguished Lectureship from UC Berkeley and the PEN Center USA West Freedom to Write Award (1991).
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 16, 2017
Extremely timely, especially considering these essays are more than twenty years old now. The circumstances may have changed, but June Jordan's emotional and political response still resonates.
"We, women, know about coming together in grief
We know about coming together against loneliness
We know about coming together in love, and in acts of committed , reliable, kindness
But we, women, we still do not know about and crave and insist upon coming together in power for power;
Coming together for a specific, collective, political purpose, each and every time we convene a meeting of as many of us as we can persuade to stand or sit together, united."
"We, women, know about coming together in grief
We know about coming together against loneliness
We know about coming together in love, and in acts of committed , reliable, kindness
But we, women, we still do not know about and crave and insist upon coming together in power for power;
Coming together for a specific, collective, political purpose, each and every time we convene a meeting of as many of us as we can persuade to stand or sit together, united."
April 28, 2026
ESSAYS ON A VARIETY OF POLITICAL TOPICS OF THE 1990s
June Jordan (1936-2002) was an American essayist, columnist, activist, novelist, poet, and even librettist; she taught African American Studies, Women’s Studies, and English at UC Berkeley from 1989 until her death; she had previously taught at Yale University, SUNY at Stony Brook, Connecticut College, and the City College of New York.
The first essay (1990) in this 1998 collection is about Nelson Mandela: “His victory is big news. Enemies of his freedom have died or will die or they must welcome him. This is not the falling apart of the Berlin Wall. This is white Western hegemony acceding to the non-European future of the planet. You cannot rule somebody who would rather die than kneel. You cannot intimidate somebody seeking his freedom or your death… This is an African Black man who says, “I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people.’ Mandela is not a man of the cloth. The African National Congress is not the Church… He personifies a secular revolt against her and not violations of human rights. He calls on no authority beyond the authority of the pain and the degradation of living in Black South Africa.” (Pg. 3)
Of Clarence Thomas’s appointment to the Supreme Court, she comments (1991), “For some, they became Black manhood or the sentimentalized biography of Clarence Thomas. Among those who detested Thurgood Marshall and who generally despise Black men there was a willingness to promote Clarence Thomas because Clarence Thomas was not the point: the point is to homogenize the Supreme Court. If someone with Black skin will serve that purpose, then fine!” (Pg, 10)
She states (1992), “I must conclude that the ‘good news’ of the 1980 Miami uprising was politically indefensible as such because it did not lead to something big, new, humane, and irreversible. Today, for example, there is another victim of state violence: Rodney King. And I believe we must take care not to become like our enemies. I do not accept that we should fall upon a stranger, outnumber him or her, and beat and possibly kill our ‘prey.’ And I believe we must take care to distinguish between our enemies and our allies, and not confuse them or forget the difference between a maniac and a potential comrade.” (Pg. 28)
She wonders (1993), "why do I write without hesitation about the injustice that freed the cops who beat up Rodney King and then keep to myself my qualms about the fact he has been charged with beating up his wife?” (Pg. 34)
She observes (1994), “There is a powerful hatred loose in the world. And most Blackfolks know it. Most of us know it’s white, not Black. It’s white, not Jewish. It’s white and it’s male, not female. It’s white and it’s male and it’s heterosexual, not gay or lesbian. We who are weak make it our business to figure out who’s strong---strong enough to help us to or to crush our lives.” (Pg. 85)
She asserts (1994), “We note that the United States has never even considered sanctions against Israel. We notice that the American media got all excited and riveted by Minister Louis Farrakhan when one of his lieutenants spewed forth loathsome anti-Semitic (and also, by the way, homophobic and misogynist) remarks. We notice that the American media absolutely failed to broadcast or telecast the news of Minister Farrakhan’s December 4, 1964 column when he described Malcolm as ‘a dog returning to its vomit’ and when he, Farrakhan, declared that Malcolm was ‘worthy of death.’ Anti-Semitism is wrong. Anti-Semitism is evil. All scapegoating of any kind of people is evil and wrong. Farrakhan and Khalid Abdul Muhammad fulminate about white people, and they trash and vilify that most vulnerable segment of white America: the Jewish population. I have already turned away from Farrakhan. I was never there. He was never on my side. Farrakhan runs on hatred. His targets change. But the hatred continues. His views and preachments are not easily distinguishable from those of David Duke. But Farrakhan does not possess a fraction of the power invested in and represented by David Duke. We notice double standards.” (Pg. 87)
She notes (1995), “Affirmative action emerged as a belated national policy some thirty years ago… When President Johnson announced this affirmative resolve, his ambitions seemed minimal, and righteous… Back then, a majority white population in the United States appeared to be assured… In this context, affirmative action would not and did not seem necessarily threatening to the average white American: As long as you’re eating well, you do not mind sharing your food with strangers. Thirty years later, and we live in a country eager to imprison, detail, deport, defund anyone who is neither ‘white’ nor native English-speaking. Nevertheless, the white population of American is generally in decline while peoples of Spanish-speaking origins and Asian origins double or triple.” (Pg. 122-123)
She explains (1995), "I am a cultural pluralist. And, as sexuality is a biological, psychological, and interpersonal factor of cultural experience, I am a sexual pluralist. What else could I be? Given men who desire women and women who desire men and men who desire men and women who desire women and men who want to become women and women who want to become men and men who desire men and women both, and women who desire women and men both, what else could I be, besides a sexual PLURALIST?” (Pg. 137)
Jordan’s comments are always interesting (of course, some of the subjects of the essays/columns are somewhat ‘dated,’ now).
June Jordan (1936-2002) was an American essayist, columnist, activist, novelist, poet, and even librettist; she taught African American Studies, Women’s Studies, and English at UC Berkeley from 1989 until her death; she had previously taught at Yale University, SUNY at Stony Brook, Connecticut College, and the City College of New York.
The first essay (1990) in this 1998 collection is about Nelson Mandela: “His victory is big news. Enemies of his freedom have died or will die or they must welcome him. This is not the falling apart of the Berlin Wall. This is white Western hegemony acceding to the non-European future of the planet. You cannot rule somebody who would rather die than kneel. You cannot intimidate somebody seeking his freedom or your death… This is an African Black man who says, “I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people.’ Mandela is not a man of the cloth. The African National Congress is not the Church… He personifies a secular revolt against her and not violations of human rights. He calls on no authority beyond the authority of the pain and the degradation of living in Black South Africa.” (Pg. 3)
Of Clarence Thomas’s appointment to the Supreme Court, she comments (1991), “For some, they became Black manhood or the sentimentalized biography of Clarence Thomas. Among those who detested Thurgood Marshall and who generally despise Black men there was a willingness to promote Clarence Thomas because Clarence Thomas was not the point: the point is to homogenize the Supreme Court. If someone with Black skin will serve that purpose, then fine!” (Pg, 10)
She states (1992), “I must conclude that the ‘good news’ of the 1980 Miami uprising was politically indefensible as such because it did not lead to something big, new, humane, and irreversible. Today, for example, there is another victim of state violence: Rodney King. And I believe we must take care not to become like our enemies. I do not accept that we should fall upon a stranger, outnumber him or her, and beat and possibly kill our ‘prey.’ And I believe we must take care to distinguish between our enemies and our allies, and not confuse them or forget the difference between a maniac and a potential comrade.” (Pg. 28)
She wonders (1993), "why do I write without hesitation about the injustice that freed the cops who beat up Rodney King and then keep to myself my qualms about the fact he has been charged with beating up his wife?” (Pg. 34)
She observes (1994), “There is a powerful hatred loose in the world. And most Blackfolks know it. Most of us know it’s white, not Black. It’s white, not Jewish. It’s white and it’s male, not female. It’s white and it’s male and it’s heterosexual, not gay or lesbian. We who are weak make it our business to figure out who’s strong---strong enough to help us to or to crush our lives.” (Pg. 85)
She asserts (1994), “We note that the United States has never even considered sanctions against Israel. We notice that the American media got all excited and riveted by Minister Louis Farrakhan when one of his lieutenants spewed forth loathsome anti-Semitic (and also, by the way, homophobic and misogynist) remarks. We notice that the American media absolutely failed to broadcast or telecast the news of Minister Farrakhan’s December 4, 1964 column when he described Malcolm as ‘a dog returning to its vomit’ and when he, Farrakhan, declared that Malcolm was ‘worthy of death.’ Anti-Semitism is wrong. Anti-Semitism is evil. All scapegoating of any kind of people is evil and wrong. Farrakhan and Khalid Abdul Muhammad fulminate about white people, and they trash and vilify that most vulnerable segment of white America: the Jewish population. I have already turned away from Farrakhan. I was never there. He was never on my side. Farrakhan runs on hatred. His targets change. But the hatred continues. His views and preachments are not easily distinguishable from those of David Duke. But Farrakhan does not possess a fraction of the power invested in and represented by David Duke. We notice double standards.” (Pg. 87)
She notes (1995), “Affirmative action emerged as a belated national policy some thirty years ago… When President Johnson announced this affirmative resolve, his ambitions seemed minimal, and righteous… Back then, a majority white population in the United States appeared to be assured… In this context, affirmative action would not and did not seem necessarily threatening to the average white American: As long as you’re eating well, you do not mind sharing your food with strangers. Thirty years later, and we live in a country eager to imprison, detail, deport, defund anyone who is neither ‘white’ nor native English-speaking. Nevertheless, the white population of American is generally in decline while peoples of Spanish-speaking origins and Asian origins double or triple.” (Pg. 122-123)
She explains (1995), "I am a cultural pluralist. And, as sexuality is a biological, psychological, and interpersonal factor of cultural experience, I am a sexual pluralist. What else could I be? Given men who desire women and women who desire men and men who desire men and women who desire women and men who want to become women and women who want to become men and men who desire men and women both, and women who desire women and men both, what else could I be, besides a sexual PLURALIST?” (Pg. 137)
Jordan’s comments are always interesting (of course, some of the subjects of the essays/columns are somewhat ‘dated,’ now).
February 1, 2024
A book of political essays that highlight revolutionary potential in the masses. Particularly in politics, education, personal life, and community building. Though not every word sung true for me June Jordan emulates the politics of her time in coherent and inspiring ways that still has relevance today.
May 5, 2016
These are individual essays so I am reading them in no particular order. What I can say is that although the first essay is dated 1990 (the year Nelson Mandela emerged from prison after serving 27 years), her essays could have easily been written in 2015. As one reviewer stated "... she says exactly what she means to say and says it powerfully. ... She manages to tap that place where race and sexuality, class and justice, gender and memory come together..." Rather than "tap," I'd say disrupt. Her essays (what I have read so far), are calls to action or at the least a call to greater awareness of how politics not only shapes our lives and how we live, but determines how well we can live and interact with others in this world. Her books are a prized addition to my collection of books and essays written by and about black women, history, politics and even academia.
December 15, 2007
A- I love JJ
Read
December 18, 2009All I can say is June Jordan is a modern day hero! But who doesn't know that??
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews