Barbara Jordan stamp to be issued

[sonias]

Politico 9/11/11
Barbara Jordan stamp to be issued

In 1972, Barbara Jordan became the first African-American woman elected to Congress from the South. This week, 15 years after her death, she will become the first African-American congresswoman to appear on a U.S. postage stamp.

Jordan, who delivered an acclaimed keynote address at the 1976 Democratic National Convention and also made a keynote address to the convention in 1992, will be the 34th person honored as part of the Postal Service’s annual Black Heritage series.

Last year’s honoree was filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. The series, which began in 1978 with a stamp honoring Harriet Tubman, has also depicted such political figures / social activists as Martin Luther King Jr., A Philip Randolph, W.E.B. DuBois, Roy Wilkins, Malcolm X, Paul Robeson and Thurgood Marshall. (The Postal Service doesn't honor living people or anyone, except for recently deceased presidents, until they have been dead at least 10 years.)

She is also one of a small number of former members of Congress from Texas to be honored with a stamp of her own, following Sam Rayburn and Lyndon B. Johnson.

A native of Houston, Jordan was first elected four years after New York’s Shirley Chisholm, the first black congresswoman. She served three terms.

:toast: to another wonderful Texas woman!

[kentauros]

1. I rarely use stamps, but I may have to buy some of these!

I'll join you in that toast :toast:

[sonias]

2. Makes one more thing that will go away due to technology

I wonder how the mail will be replaced completely. I know more and more people are paying for everything on line and even good and services are purchased online. Sometimes the USPS is the cheapest form of delivery though. I always choose that option if it is available when I buy something online.

And there is one other big part of the USPS - they are a big source of jobs in communities. Especially for minorities. They were probably the first good paying job that offered minorities an equal chance. The first real equal opportunity employer, so to speak.

But you are right even stamp collecting would be a good reason to buy some of these.

:hi:

[kentauros]

4. The USPS is often cheaper and faster for packages,

and I suppose that's still the case with envelopes. I primarily use them (when I can) for packages, including overseas. The biggest stumbling block with them for me is their hours of operation. Either they need to open later in the day in order to remain open later in the evening, or they need to expand the capability of those automated package machines to include overseas shipments. Every bit of the paperwork required to send something to another country could be just as automated as it is now.

Of course, the one big thing that would help them immensely is to turn them back into the old government agency they used to be and weren't required to operate like a business. Either that, or we apply that regulation to all other agencies, including and especially the Pentagon. Well, I can dream, anyway ;)

[sonias]

3. Related link - Barbara Jordon's 1976 Keynote speech

It's a bit surreal that this speech is still very relevant today.

American Rhetoric

Barbara Charline Jordan
1976 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address

(snip)
Now -- Now that I have this grand distinction, what in the world am I supposed to say? I could easily spend this time praising the accomplishments of this party and attacking the Republicans -- but I don't choose to do that. I could list the many problems which Americans have. I could list the problems which cause people to feel cynical, angry, frustrated: problems which include lack of integrity in government; the feeling that the individual no longer counts; the reality of material and spiritual poverty; the feeling that the grand American experiment is failing or has failed. I could recite these problems, and then I could sit down and offer no solutions. But I don't choose to do that either. The citizens of America expect more. They deserve and they want more than a recital of problems.

We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national community. We are a people trying not only to solve the problems of the present, unemployment, inflation, but we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of America. We are attempting to fulfill our national purpose, to create and sustain a society in which all of us are equal.

Throughout -- Throughout our history, when people have looked for new ways to solve their problems and to uphold the principles of this nation, many times they have turned to political parties. They have often turned to the Democratic Party. What is it? What is it about the Democratic Party that makes it the instrument the people use when they search for ways to shape their future? Well I believe the answer to that question lies in our concept of governing. Our concept of governing is derived from our view of people. It is a concept deeply rooted in a set of beliefs firmly etched in the national conscience of all of us.

Only part of the speech is available for free - the intro, but the whole thing can be read at the same site.

:kick:

[onestepforward]

5. That's wonderful!

The more I learn about her, the more I'm impressed. I'm so proud that she was a Texan.

[sonias]

6. Me too

I didn't know about her a lot while she served in Congress, although I do remember her serving on the Watergate committee in Congress.

I've gotten to know a lot more of her since then. She was awesome!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

7. She had the Voice of God.

Amazing woman. Molly Ivins said she should have been appointed to the Supreme Court.
Her congressional seat has had some amazing people occupy it -- Craig Washington is a brilliant lawyer. Mickey Leland was brilliant.