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'My Faith in the Constitution Is Whole' : Barbara Jordan and the Politics of Scripture

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Title: 'My Faith in the Constitution Is Whole' : Barbara Jordan and the Politics of Scripture
Description: How Barbara Jordan used sacred and secular scriptures in her social activismUS Congresswoman Barbara Jordan is well-known as an interpreter and defender of the Constitution, particularly through her landmark speech during Richard Nixon's 1974 impeachment hearings. However, before she developed faith in the Constitution, Jordan had faith in Christianity. In “My Faith in the Constitution is Whole”: Barbara Jordan and the Politics of Scripture, Robin L. Owens shows how Jordan turned her religious faith and her faith in the Constitution into a powerful civil religious expression of her social activism. Owens begins by examining the lives and work of the nineteenth-century Black female orator-activists Maria W. Stewart and Anna Julia Cooper. Stewart and Cooper fought for emancipation and women's rights by “scripturalizing,” or using religious scriptures to engage in political debate. Owens then demonstrates how Jordan built upon this tradition by treating the Constitution as an American “scripture” to advocate for racial justice and gender equality. Case studies of key speeches throughout Jordan's career show how she quoted the Constitution and other founding documents as sacred texts, used them as sociolinguistic resources, and employed a discursive rhetorical strategy of indirection known as “signifying on scriptures.” Jordan's particular use of the Constitution—deeply connected with her background and religious, racial, and gender identity—represents the agency and power reflected in her speeches. Jordan's strategies also illustrate a broader phenomenon of scripturalization outside of institutional religion and its rhetorical and interpretive possibilities.
Authors: Robin L. Owens
Resource Type: eBook.
Subjects: Speeches, addresses, etc., American--African American authors--History and criticism, Rhetoric--Political aspects--United States--History, Religion and politics--United States, African Americans--Religion
Categories: RELIGION / Religion, Politics & State, HISTORY / African American & Black
Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
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  Data: 'My Faith in the Constitution Is Whole' : Barbara Jordan and the Politics of Scripture
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  Data: How Barbara Jordan used sacred and secular scriptures in her social activismUS Congresswoman Barbara Jordan is well-known as an interpreter and defender of the Constitution, particularly through her landmark speech during Richard Nixon's 1974 impeachment hearings. However, before she developed faith in the Constitution, Jordan had faith in Christianity. In “My Faith in the Constitution is Whole”: Barbara Jordan and the Politics of Scripture, Robin L. Owens shows how Jordan turned her religious faith and her faith in the Constitution into a powerful civil religious expression of her social activism. Owens begins by examining the lives and work of the nineteenth-century Black female orator-activists Maria W. Stewart and Anna Julia Cooper. Stewart and Cooper fought for emancipation and women's rights by “scripturalizing,” or using religious scriptures to engage in political debate. Owens then demonstrates how Jordan built upon this tradition by treating the Constitution as an American “scripture” to advocate for racial justice and gender equality. Case studies of key speeches throughout Jordan's career show how she quoted the Constitution and other founding documents as sacred texts, used them as sociolinguistic resources, and employed a discursive rhetorical strategy of indirection known as “signifying on scriptures.” Jordan's particular use of the Constitution—deeply connected with her background and religious, racial, and gender identity—represents the agency and power reflected in her speeches. Jordan's strategies also illustrate a broader phenomenon of scripturalization outside of institutional religion and its rhetorical and interpretive possibilities.
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      – Code: 328.73092
        Scheme: ddc
        Type: prePub
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Speeches, addresses, etc., American--African American authors--History and criticism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Rhetoric--Political aspects--United States--History
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Religion and politics--United States
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: African Americans--Religion
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: 'My Faith in the Constitution Is Whole' : Barbara Jordan and the Politics of Scripture
        Type: main
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          Name:
            NameFull: Robin L. Owens
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            NameFull: Robin L. Owens
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2022
            – D: 13
              M: 01
              Type: profile
              Y: 2023
          Identifiers:
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9781647122720
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9781647122737
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9781647122744
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: 'My Faith in the Constitution Is Whole' : Barbara Jordan and the Politics of Scripture
              Type: main
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