Naming Our Destiny by June Jordan
"Naming Our Destiny" is a significant poetry collection by June Jordan that reflects her commitment to addressing social and political issues through the lens of personal experience. Spanning over thirty years, this volume includes a mix of previously unpublished poems alongside well-known works, showcasing Jordan's evolution as a poet and activist. Central to the collection is her exploration of the Black experience in America, where she bravely confronts themes of oppression, injustice, and advocacy for marginalized voices.
The collection opens with a poem addressing a high-profile racial incident, employing straightforward language to engage readers with contemporary societal issues. Throughout the poems, Jordan utilizes idiomatic and colloquial expressions, enhancing their emotional impact and relatability. Notably, her feminist reinterpretation of classic themes highlights women's resilience against male oppression, asserting strength in the face of victimization.
Jordan's poetry serves as both a personal narrative and a broader commentary on cultural and historical injustices, linking her experiences to significant events like the Vietnam War. Ultimately, "Naming Our Destiny" stands as a poignant call for compassion and humanity, inviting readers to reflect on the struggles of the oppressed while celebrating resilience and the pursuit of justice.
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Naming Our Destiny by June Jordan
First published: 1989
The Work
Naming Our Destiny: New and Selected Poems, June Jordan’s most monumental volume of poetry, is a collection that covers a wide range of topics. The poems in the collection span more than thirty years; fifty pieces never published previously are also included in this volume. In Naming Our Destiny, Jordan demonstrates that it is her mission as an artist to change the world, and with the poems in this collection, Jordan takes a stance against oppression as she explores the black experience in America.
Jordan’s volume begins with “Poem from Taped Testimony in the Tradition of Bernard Goetz.” The poem, which starts, “This was not I repeat this was not a racial incident,” reflects Jordan’s willingness to include contemporary affairs that have political and historical significance in her poetry. With the verses of this poem, Jordan tries to show the reader, from a black woman’s perspective, just what might pass through a mind like that of Bernard Goetz—a white man who shot black youths in a New York City subway in the early 1980’s. Jordan looks unflinchingly at the reality of this event and states it in the simplest language. This poem also displays the power of idiomatic and colloquial language.
Another example of Jordan’s devotion to exploiting instances of human oppression can be found in “The Female and the Silence of a Man.” The poem, situated in the middle of the collection, is a response to Irish poet William Butler Yeats’s “Leda and the Swan.” Yeats’s poem retells the myth of the rape of Leda by the god Zeus, who takes, for the act, the form of a swan. In her feminist revision of Yeats’s classic, Jordan calls attention to women’s plight as victims of male oppression. She does not perpetuate, however, Leda’s victimization. She destroys the legacy of victimization by showing a woman becoming strong enough to silence her oppressor. The poem, while not technically complex, is as puissant as any written by those who adhere to a formalist credo.
Jordan’s commitment to a search for justice is evident in her closing autobiographical poem, “War and Memory.” The poem summarizes Jordan’s life. Relating her own experiences to cultural and historical events, such as the Vietnam War and the War on Poverty, Jordan is able to speak on behalf of the world’s oppressed, dispossessed, and disfranchised. Throughout Naming Our Destiny, Jordan appeals to the decency and humanity of her audience. Each poem is a plea for all to exercise compassion toward others. In Naming Our Destiny Jordan makes artful use of meter and rhyme to protest the everyday human oppression that might otherwise go unrecognized.
Bibliography
Erickson, Peter. “The Love Poetry of June Jordan.” Callaloo 9 (1986): 221-234. This essay explores the paradoxical relationship between self-definition and the rejection of restrictive labels in Jordan’s love poetry. It provides detailed interpretations of several poems reprinted in Naming Our Destiny, including “A Short Note to My Very Critical Friends and Well-Beloved Comrades,” “Poem About My Rights,” “Fragments of a Parable,” and “For Dave: 1976.”
Erickson, Peter. “State of the Union.” Transition 59 (1992): 104-109. Although this essay focuses primarily on Jordan’s prose writings, the discussion of her self-naming process provides useful background information for interpreting the poetry. In addition to discussing Jordan’s writing career and Technical Difficulties, this essay explores her critique of identity politics.
Jordan, June. “An Interview with June Jordan.” Interview by Joy Harjo. High Plains Literary Review 3 (1988): 60-76. This interview provides a number of useful insights into Jordan’s writing process, her theory of language, her choice of poetic forms, and her political motivations.
Jordan, June. “Thinking About My Poetry.” In Civil Wars. Boston: Beacon Press, 1980. In addition to summarizing Jordan’s complex relationship with language, this narrative essay explores how her changing political views influence her poetic voices.
Ostriker, Alicia. Stealing the Language: The Emergence of Women’s Poetry in America. Boston: Beacon Press, 1986. This wide-ranging analysis of twentieth century U.S. women poets contains brief discussions of “Case in Point,” “Getting Down to Get Over,” and several other poems reprinted in Naming Our Destiny.