Poem about My Rights

A powerful political statement, June Jordan’s “Poem About My Rights” was first published in 1978 and reprinted in a collection of her work, Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan, in 2005 (Copper Canyon Press). The poem is a lengthy free verse piece with no distinct form, rhyme, or meter. “Poem About My Rights” can be seen as an important representation of Jordan’s intentions as a poet as well as an illustration of themes permeating her larger body of work.

In this poem, Jordan explores the connections between intersecting marginalized identities and the larger political landscape in which a person is located. Despite being originally written and published in the late 1970s, “Poem About My Rights”—like much of Jordan’s poetic work—is hailed as a piece that can also relate to contemporary readers dealing with violence and marginalization based on their race, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status.

Content Note: “Poem About My Rights” contains multiple instances of graphic language describing rape; this study guide, therefore, also contains descriptions of sexual assault and/or violence as needed to summarize and analyze the poem.

Poet Biography

June Jordan is one of the most highly awarded American poets in the 20th century; over the course of her career, she published numerous books of poetry, essays, and children’s stories.