Public Speaking Project

Task: To present, through public speaking, a biography and a 1 1/2 minute speech from a selected speaker firmly noted & in the American historical & literary protest tradition.

Biography Powerpoint Presentation on Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan



U.S Lawyer, Educator, and Politician


Biography
->Barbara Charline Jordan was born on February 21, 1936 in Houston, Texas.
->Father Benjamin Jordan was a Baptist Minster and a Warehouse worker.
->Mother Arlyne Jordan was a Domestic Worker.
->Has two older sisters named Bennie, and Rose-Marie.
->Grow up in a part of town that was reduced to poverty.
->She was a State Senator, a congressman and a member of the House of Representatives.
->After retiring from the House of Representatives, Barbara returned to Texas to become a full time professor at a University.
-> Died on January 17, 1996. Died of pneumonia in Austin, Texas.

Ambitions
->When she was young she wanted to be a pharmacist but a woman named Edith Sampson made her think that she wanted to a lawyer.
->Barbara always had political ambitions.
->She wanted to help change the segregation laws.
->Barbara ran for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives in 1962 and 1964 but lost both times.
->In 1972, she ran for the U.S. Congress and was elected from her Houston district.

Accomplishments
->First African American female that represented Texas as a State Senator since 1883.(1966 to 1972)
-> First African American female to represent state in Congress from the South.
->First African American to be elected and re-elected into Congress.
->Worked in the John F. Kennedy’s Presidential campaign in 1960.
->In 1976, became the first African American women to deliver a keynote address at political convention.
->House of Representatives from 1973- 1979
->Jimmy Carter was interested in naming her either attorney general or U.N. ambassador but she remained in Congress.

Contribution to Protest
->As a U.S congressman and as a state Senator, Barbara sponsored bills that helped people that were at a disadvantage.
->She became a leader in the fight to impeach Richard Nixon.
->Vote “Yes” of the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.
->Best remembered for her defense of the Constitution in the Watergate affair.

Sources
Picture of Barbara Jordan
->http://www.peaceworkmagazine.org/files/images/p18BarbaraJordan1976v01.jpg01.jpg
Information on Barbara Jordan
->http://txtell.lib.utexas.edu/stories/j0001-full.html
->http://www.beejae.com/bjordan.htm
->http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0800619.htm
->http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=90
->http://gale.cengage.com/free_resources/whm/bio/jordan_b.htm
->http://www.answers.com/topic/barbara-jordan?cat=biz-fin
->http://www.avoiceonline.org/cbcwomen/jordan.html
->http://alterdestiny.blogspot.com/2008/01/forgotten-american-blogging-barbara.htmlbarbara.html




Speech
1992 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address
Delivered 13 July, 1992, New York, NY
Barbara Jordan
www.americanrehetoric.com/speeches/barbarajordan1992dnc.html

It was at this time, place and event 16 years ago I presented a keynote address to the Democratic National Conventions. I remind you that year 1976, we won the presidency. Why not repeat in 1992? We can do it.

What we need to do, Democrats, is believe that it is possible to win. It is possible. We can do it. Tonight, I heard a lot about change. Every Speaker here said something about change. Change: From What to What? From what to what. What about the public mind? The public minds are held at low regard.

We are not strangers to change. Twenty years, we changed the whole tone of the nation at the Watergate abuses. We know how to change and what needs to be done.

There are things which outta change. We will change in order to satisfy the present, the future and improve the environment at the same time. When the economy is growing and we taking care of the environment, we all succeed. And we can do it all.

We need to change the way the economy lives. We have an economy that doesn’t care. Change must be made to direct the American economy. We can make that change and became proud of the country that we are.

As we undergo that change we must prepared to answer Rodney King’s haunting question, “Can we all get along?” I say we answer that question with a resounding “Yes!”