Barbara JordanMember in the
from Texas’s districtIn office
January three, 1973 – January three, 1979Succeeded byIn office
1967–1973Preceded bySucceeded byPersonal detailsBornBarbara Charline Jordan
(1936-02-21)February 21, 1936
, TexasDiedJanuary 17, 1996(1996-01-17) (aged 59)
Resting place
Political partyProfessionAttorneyReligion
Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an and a leader of the . She was the first African American elected to the after and the first black female elected to the . She received the Air Jordan 11 Retro Concord Black Blue, among numerous other honors. On her death she became the first African-American woman to be buried in the .
[] Early life
Barbara HI JADA Jordan was born in , Texas’ . Her parents were Benjamin Jordan, a minister; and Arlyne Jordan, a “domestic worker”. Barbara attended Roberson Elementary School. She graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School in 1952 as an honor student.
Jordan credited a speech given at her high school by with inspiring her to become a lawyer. Because of segregation, she did not attend and instead chose , majoring in and history. Barbara was a national champion , defeating her opponents from such schools as Yale and Brown and tying Harvard University. She graduated in 1956. At Texas Southern University, she pledged sorority. She attended Air Jordan Retro 11, graduating in 1959.
[] Career
Jordan taught political science at in for a year. In 1960, she returned to Houston, passed the and started a private law practice.
Jordan campaigned unsuccessfully in 1962 and 1964 for the . Her persistence won her a seat in the in 1966, becoming the first African American state senator since 1883 and the first black woman to serve in that body. Re-elected to a full term in the Texas Senate in 1968, she served until 1972. She was the first African-American female to serve as president of your state senate and served one day, June 10 retro jordan 5, 1972, as .
In 1972, she was elected to Congress, the first woman to represent Texas in the House in her own right. She received extensive support from former , who helped her secure a position on the . In 1974, she made an influential, televised before the House Judiciary Committee supporting the process of of , Johnson’s successor as President. In 1975, she was appointed by , then , to the .
In 1976, Jordan, mentioned as a possible running mate to of Air Jordan 11 Retro Red White Black, became instead the first African-American woman to deliver the keynote address at the . Her speech in New York that summer was ranked 5th in “” list and was considered by some historians[] to have been among the best convention speeches in modern history.[] Despite not being a candidate, Jordan received one delegate vote (0.03%) for President at the convention.[]
Jordan retired from politics in 1979 and became an adjunct professor teaching ethics at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She again at the Democratic National Convention in 1992.
In 1994 and until her death in 1996, Jordan chaired the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, which advocated , called for all U.S. residents to carry a national identity card and increased penalties on employers that violated U.S. immigration regulations. Then-President Clinton endorsed the Jordan Commission’s proposals. While she was Chair from the US Commission on Immigration Reform she argued that “it is both a right and a responsibility of a democratic society to manage immigration so that it serves the national interest.” Her stance on immigration is cited by opponents of current US immigration policy who cite her willingness to penalize employers who violate US immigration regulations, to tighten border security, and to oppose amnesty or any other pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants[] and to broaden the grounds for the deportation of legal immigrants.
