This Unruly Witness: June Jordan's Legacy

by Lauren Muller (Editor), Becky Thompson, Dominique C Hill

A collection of bold, tender, and illuminating writings on June Jordan’s multidimensional legacy and the “sacred continuance” of her work as poet, healer, and activist. 



This Unruly Witness, created to celebrate the life and legacy of the poet activist June Jordan was curated for people who see love as a life force, who seek a community that can sustain us, who know that “we are the ones we have been waiting for.” With essays and poetry written by people carrying the batons Jordan passed, this collection illuminates why we need Jordan more than ever.



This is the first collection written by artists, intellectuals, and activists whose work has been deeply shaped by June Jordan’s extraordinary legacy. Featuring essays, poems, letters, and interviews from internationally acclaimed poets, and thinkers including Angela Davis, Pratibha Parmar, Margo Okazawa-Rey, Naomi Shihab Nye, Afaa M. Weaver, E. Ethelbert Miller, and former students of June Jordan’s. 

Genres: Nonfiction, Poetry

312 pages, Hardcover

Published November 11, 2025

Reviews

[Sarah Schulman]

Gorgeous. Every writer would love to be remembered this way.

[Needle To Narrative | Chantel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays and prose feels like I'm sitting in on a funeral of a beloved distant relative whose sunset came too soon. Not having the privilege to have met her, I found myself transfixed on snippets of life shared, stories passionately delivered in embedded remembrance of those she not only crossed paths with but lingered alongside. Her generational impact was made witness in the words of Elizabeth Alexander, Alexis De Veaux, Becky Thompson, and Sheila Menezes. Sitting in the pews, words of love and fire roll off the tongues of seasoned friends, students, and loved ones bound together by her stream of words. Between the sermons, words clap in rhythmic flow through poetry by Marilyn Hacker and Mahogany L. Browne, wailing in unison to her linguistic legacy. Letters dated but not delivered, spill out over the lectern like a Eulogy reading. The funeral rounds off to a close with Imani Perry’s An Eternal Summer. We rise in acknowledgement leaving the procession knowing June’s legacy is not lost in the bedding of the earth.

Alexis Pauline Gumb’s foreword made it clear what the reader should expect in declaring “This is not a book.” Even after reading those first five words I found myself wanting to read a chronological order of life you often find in most biographies. I wanted to know who June Jordan really was. After sitting in on this lovingly crafted recollection of legacy, I feel as though I’ve come to know her through the words of those who intimately loved her. Closing this collection invites you to open up to her work, or if previously familiar, revisit her life in greater detail.

I’ve added a vinyl pairing on my instagram @NeedleToNarrative to be enjoyed with this book. Check it out and let me know your thoughts!

Much thanks to NetGalley and Haymarket Books for this advanced readers copy.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was unfamiliar with June Jordan when I selected this as my choice from the Haymarket Book Club. Then by the end, I needed to know more about her. It was as if I accidentally stumbled into her Celebration of Life, only to stay as I absorbed all the stories, memories, thoughts, literary analysis, and poetry.

This incredible anthology of essays and poems captivated me with Kelly Elaine Naivies’s essay and poem on oral histories being my personal favorite.

June Jordan was an activist poet who fought for so much and so many. At times, it almost felt disheartening to think of how many battles continue into the present, yet I am trying to do better by learning from our activists to continue the fight.

Imani Perry ends the anthology asking us to turn to this collection whenever our courage falters, and our spirit is low. I know I will, and hope you’ll pick up this book and do the same for yourself. I’m already thinking about a line from June Jordan’s “Alternative Commencement Address,” which is about Dartmouth silencing a South African Anti-Apartheid protest:

We were outnumbered, but we were here.

[Ayannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jealous I didn't get to experience June Jordan's genius in real time, but grateful for this collection of love letters to her legacy, and I was able to familiarize myself with her work, legacy, and influence.

[Gayatri · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I study June Jordan’s poetry, I read these tributes to her. I am especially drawn to the poems inspired by her poetry. I’m learning details and anecdotes about her teaching, life, and impacts that inspire me.

[Sasha Fish · Rating 4 out of 5]

June Jordan is the blueprint forever and always!!!