Welcome to Karen Hunter's awesome. I am Karen Hunter, and we're in the last couple of days of

Women's History Month. Now, for those of you who don't know me, I don't normally mark time the way society says we should. So for example,

while it's Women's History Month, every day is Women's History Month in my world. Every day is Black

History Month in my world. Every day is Kwanza. Every day is Kwanza. I don't wait for them to tell us when we should be celebrating and acknowledging people.

We're going to do it every day.

But since we are in the last couple of days, I thought it would be interesting for those people

who do mark the time to celebrate a couple of women these last couple of days.

So today I want to honor Barbara Jordan. I recently watched a PBS

documentary entitled The Inquisitor. And I was going to watch it earlier and I couldn't find it.

It was on independent lens. So when I went to PBS to search, the Inquisitor didn't show up.

So I had to go back out, go into independent lens, and then find her documentary. And I was excited

because I grew up in a household that had Jet and Abney magazine. And on occasion, Jet and Ebony,

shout out to John Johnson. Lord have mercy. would, you know, honor different people, different black folk on the cover, sometimes politicians.

And I do distinctly remember Barbara Jordan being on a couple of those Jet Magazine covers.

And I remember as a little girl saying, wow, a black woman. And in fact, she was the first

black woman elected to Congress from a Confederate state, the great state of Texas. She was born

in Houston in the Fifth Ward to poverty. And I say it that way because she wasn't supposed to ever rise to the

position that she did. Barbara Charlene Jordan born February 21st, 1936, in Houston's Fifth

Ward. And she was supposed to stay in Houston's fifth ward until she died. But she envisioned something greater. Her grandfather

would have her out with him when he was doing his business on a horse and buggy in the community.

I think he was selling something, and she would be his ride or die, his wing woman. And in many

ways, you know, he inspired her to see a world

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