Make it plain

Description:

Black Americans have always relied on the oral tradition--storytelling, preaching, and speechmaking--to assert their rights and preserve and pass on their history and culture. In the pulpit, courtroom, or cotton field, they have understood the power of words, distinctively delivered, to educate and inspire. Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., one of the nation's finest speakers, imbibed this tradition as a young man and has given it his own unique inflection from his work on the civil rights front lines, to the National Urban League, to positions of influence at the highest level of business and politics. A friend and confidant to presidents, Jordan has never forgotten the men and women whose oratorical skill in service to social justice deeply influenced him. Their examples and voices, reflected in Vernon's own, make this book both a history and an embodiment of black speech at its finest.--From publisher description.

subjects: African American lawyers,  African American orators,  African American political activists,  African Americans,  Biography,  Civil rights,  Civil rights movements,  History,  National Urban League,  Oratory,  Political aspects of Public speaking,  Public speaking,  Jordan, Vernon E. -- 1935-,  Jordan, Vernon E. -- 1935- -- Oratory,  National Urban League -- Biography,  Public speaking -- Political aspects -- United States,  African American orators -- History,  African Americans -- Biography,  African American political activists -- Biography,  African American lawyers -- Biography,  African Americans -- Civil rights -- History -- 20th century,  Civil rights movements -- United States -- History -- 20th century,  Oral tradition,  African americans, civil rights,  United states, politics and government,  Political aspects

People: Vernon E. Jordan (1935-)

Places: United States

Times: 20th century