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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 5, 1986)
Words of black activist, writer aimed at helping the oppressed By Shannon Kelley Of lh# Kmttmld Racism. sexism and other forms of oppression an* the focal points of June Iordan's words. They are words she chooses carefully and directly; words she uses in the context of not just her experience of op pression, hut also of her life in relation to others ~ the other lives she cares about. ' » . ' '“Nobody questions my •. credentials as a radical black ac tivist with experiences she had in South Africa. She .writes about the African National Con* . gross (A.N(;j. the opposition' group in South Africa, and the • Sandinistas in Nicaragua two. of the. most self-determined . political groups iii the world, '; she said. /J; • ".The problem, it seeing, is of a perception, in effect, that : he| ps -proven t us from ; 'understanding the meaning of the things that we have in coin-: • \ Vnqn and 'therefore treat these , [ things;in a way that Would be V vatidly„ahd durably useful in huildjng. for example, coalic . tiiihs on various issues ' ''Ar.certain degree of a full stomach a net comfortable sur roundings,must exist for one to have even the luxury to think of somiMine else " she said Iordan .points to the South Africans • who were put in the Bantu starts. '. They : grew up under apar theid.,and they have Imen vic timized as much as anyoneJn theWntury, and then thev turn around and do to their own peo ple what was done jo them.'' No one has a corner on virtue. Iordan said. "Oppression does not pro vide for heroes or heroines morally;" Iordan said "No matter how oppressed I am as a blac k person or as a black female or a female human be ing, it doesn't mean that I'm good." ..she said. "It doesn't mean that the imposition of U renin on me has turned me into a superior human tieing a! all All it means is that I've been tyrannized." The issues concern all of us. and we raced to work together to accomplish self-determination at every level of our existenc e, she said, Iordan started writing poetry when she was seven years Old. She turned to writing as a result of her father's force-heeding her literature she didn't unders tand; such as the Bible and works by Shakespeare. "I didn't know what they meant f could only absorb the sound of things," she said. "Apparently these words had enormous power because, year N0.1 IN TEST PREPARATION CLASSES FORMING NOW AT ^lUMMPUIN EDUCATIONAL CENTER Tout Praparatioo SpactalwN Smo* 1938 For Information. PImi* Can — 485-9099 — after year, the same words would be repeated and people still would allow their lives to he changed by that. 1 thought then* must he something pretty deep going on and got very ’interested.*’ . • • y jordan's poetry ts intense and direct. Though her inspirations to write come through different forms.,"they all cptnb from real, verifiable life," she said. "None of it is made up hec.ause that's part of my task as an artist — to deal;in a creative way .with the real things that Other people : tm>s ides nil»c:a re*a.boUt.- ;■~ v■ V Jordan said the importance of her work is to toll the truth. The emergence of her political and personal solves has created a •’struggle.'! "I find writing so difficult and uncomfortable, sitting there for that long. And if I didn’t think there was an important reason for being there. I’ni sure I would quit and do what. 1 really want to dpi which is ride my 11n vole. ." . ‘ ‘. • ’ • She; said writing helps her to realize other people do not have as an aceesible creative release .‘ as she (hies: Iordan said she has I’ workaholic habits;" and when she final|y!allows for. a rest. she is horrified/ thatrshe is -not .ac-. corrvpl ifih i hg anything , r . “Itut no matter how horrified I am-.’I reaiizii thai a lot°of peo . pie. 'eyelf, if ..they sat there at /1heir deikd. woiiUi not be able to /get it out.. I always have a way’to • escape; tmj release." she said. Jordan believes that everyone has; an; inherent-capacity for worldwide power. Hvervdne - Has. known the intimate expres sion ofpowerlessness as a"; .,phild’.-aridrthe key to acquiring power is to no longer regard ourselves as victims, she said. a "The question of how much power we have is not a matter of - tihatiCM.V up .aided. "It is a matter of discovery. 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