What Do You Do With A Voice Like That?

What Do You Do With A Voice Like That?

Juvenile herstory
"'My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is
total. And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the
diminuation, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.'
The Constitution, Barbara said, must be preserved.
The president, Barbara said, must go."
Any of us who were around for Watergate would agree that Barbara
Jordan had a big voice. Now children and reading aloud parents are
introduced to this bold congressperson in What Do You Do With A Voice
Like That? which pairs Chris Barton's words with Ekua Holmes' rich,
collage like illustrations.
Jordan had a much harder path than most people knew. In 1973
she got the devastating diagnosis of multiply sclerosis. I'm sure
back then treatment was much less state of the art than it is today.
Even as she transitioned from cane to walker to wheel chair she served
three terms in Congress and taught public policy and ethics to
graduate students for 17 years. She taught until she died of multiple
sclerosis, leukemia, and pneumonia.
In 1976 at the Democratic National Convention Jordan made the
keynote speech and made this prescient statement:
"A spirit of harmony will survive in America only if each of us
remembers that we share a common destiny; if each of us remembers,
when self interest and bitterness seem to prevail, that we share a
common destiny. I have confidence that we can form this kind of
national community."
In today's America where the greed of the few at the top dooms
so many of the rest of us the common destiny based community would
seem to be the only way we can collectively survive and thrive. It
will take all our big, small, and medium sized voices to make this
happen.
On a purrrsonal note, I had a kind of crappy day yesterday. I was
seriously missing Joey because I was telling some friends how, knowing
he wouldn't be with us when Thanksgiving rolled around, I gave him his
last Thanksgiving in June. He loved every moment of turkey prep.
Calendar Thanksgiving will remind me so much of him. Honestly I just
want to stay home in my pajamas that day and read and not handle all
the image control at the in-laws where I'll be all day while Eugene is
deer hunting. But I don't have the energy for that battle.
Then later I went to a presentation by two indiginous people. After a
few people and I were talking to one of them. She kept alluding to
young people and old people. When I asked her to please not treat age
as a binary it turns out that in her culture it is. Like "old" people
all have wisdom because we've had more experiences. Which is total
bullshit. I mean unless you consider "Build a wall" and "Make America
great again" to be pearls of wisdom. Plus I don't want to be trapped
in a stereotyped role based on the least significant facet of my
life. I am as multifaceted and intersectional as anyone. My feelings
inside were like a fire when someone pours on kerosene. I was so
angry I was beyond speech. So I quietly left the room. Now when I
see indiginous friends and acquaintances I'll wonder if they see the
real me or just some indigenous stereotype.
jules hathaway


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