Affirm Black Women Portrait Series: Barbara Jordan

“I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution.” - Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan was a Texas congresswoman and is best known for her opening remarks at President Nixon’s impeachment hearings. She used her knowledge of the law to explain the five articles of impeachment against Nixon as they related to the Constitution. Her straightforward explanation helped educate the American public. She admonished her fellow committee members that if they did not find the evidence compelling enough, “then perhaps that 18th-century Constitution should be abandoned to a 20th-century paper shredder!” 🔥