This is Democracy – Episode 283: Barbara Jordan

Jeremi and Zachary are joined by Professor Mary Ellen Curtain to discuss the life and legacy of Barbara Jordan, a pioneering legislator, civil rights activist, and the first African American woman elected to Congress from the South. Curtain's new book, 'She Changed the Nation: Barbara Jordan's Life and Legacy in Black Politics,' explores Jordan's impact on American politics, from her rise in the Texas State Senate to her defining moments during the Watergate hearings. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "Trailblazer". Mary Ellen Curtin is Associate Professor in the Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies, and Director of American Studies at American University, Washington DC. She is the author of two books: Black Prisoners and Their World, Alabama, 1865-1900 (University Press of Virginia, 2000) and, most recently, She Changed the Nation: Barbara Jordan's Life and Legacy in Black Politics (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024).