Self Image and Intersectionality in the Poetry of June Jordan

 
     This paper examines the racial poetry of the African-American poet , essayist , and activist June Millicent Jordan  ( 1936- 2002 ),  in the light of Intersectionality theory , and how she employs her language and poems in order to defend human rights in general and the black race in the United States of America in particular aspiring for universal peace .
     In her poems, Jordan asserts that racism against black people in the United States is socially unjust, morally condemnable, and has no justification whatsoever. Moreover, Her poems put forward a manifesto for a better human identity where black Americans can attain human dignity and identity. For Jordan, blackness is not a burden because the colour of one’s skin is simply hereditary. No opportunity has been given to black people to choose the colour of their skin. As an activist , Jordan casts doubt on the American democracy that marginalizes and demonizes black people. So, she calls for social integration . Jordan’s racial discourse attempts to build up new modes of thought whereby a social and political reform can be fulfilled in order to put an end to inequality, injustice, and oppression. Significantly, Jordan’s discourse represents a survival mechanism for oppressed black people.
Jordan, the eminent author , challenges the preposterous idea that race and colour, that being a black citizen anywhere in the continent , should elicit fear, contempt, ridicule, or any kind of discrimination. Eventually , the poet asserts that serious deprivation of rights to be , or to become, may result in disastrous consequences that threatens the lives of those people ,  their families,  and the stability of the whole society as well.