Jordan was born in Houston, Texas. She passed the Bar Exams in Massachusetts and Texas before returning to Houston to open a law practice. Active in the Kennedy-Johnson presidential campaign of , Jordan wanted to be a part of the change. She unsuccessfully ran for the Texas House of Representatives in and Her persistence won her a seat in the Texas Senate in , becoming the first African American state senator since and the first black woman to serve in that body. Reelected to a full term in the Texas Senate in , she served until , when she made a successful bid to represent Texas's Eighteenth Congressional District in the U.
Barbara Charline Jordan February 21, — January 17, was an American lawyer, educator  and politician who was a leader of the Civil Rights Movement. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom , among numerous other honors. She was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors from to Jordan's work as chair of the U. Commission on Immigration Reform, which recommended reducing legal immigration by about one-third, is frequently cited by American immigration restrictionists. Her mother was Arlyne Patten Jordan, a teacher in the church,   and her father was Benjamin Jordan, a Baptist preacher. Jordan attended Roberson Elementary School.
Nearing the blessed close of what has been an absurd Presidential election cycle, one thing is clear: Barbara Jordan would not be here for any of this. Unfortunately, we could surely use her. Jordan went to Washington and told us to become a more perfect union.
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