June Jordan's "Poem about My Rights"
“I am the wrong sex, the wrong age, the wrong skin…the wrong nose, the wrong hair, the wrong need, the wrong dream, the wrong sartorial. ” –June Jordan, “Poem About My Rights”
Black women exist in states of “wrongness.” Our intersections are greenlights to racism, misogyny, patriarchy, and misogynoir. Carefree Black womanhood is unfathomable because we are only able to exist in between the cracks of everybody else’s opinion. Yet, we persevere and create generations of dynamic Black women that build on the power of those before us. —Precious Thompson With poise, fearless diction and a creeping sense of anger, June Jordan narrates her history of wrongs. The wrongs done to her as a Black woman in the United States are juxtaposed with the wrongs transgressed upon Southern Africa by nations around the world. The poet expresses that she is a product of the perpetuated history of rape within imperialistic societies— a history predicated on the violation of rights and dignity of its minorities. Aware that her skin, gender, heritage, and attitude challenge the very stability of the rape culture she inhabits, June Jordan is unwilling to pass the baton of terrorized incarceration any longer. --Bryan Ramos Romero
June Jordan’s “poem about my rights” takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions, while she moves from topic to topic to explain what “the wrong” person in an American society has to endure. This free verse style she chooses to write in shows her anger and frustration with the way the world controls those that it feels is “the wrong sex, the wrong age, the wrong skin.” She uses her identity as a Black woman to express the many intersecting ways this view society has directly impacts her. At the end of the poem, she renames herself and doesn’t claim the labels that have been forced upon her, which I believe is the most important part. –Andrea Brown
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