Exploring Representation and Advocacy in Government with "What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?"

BY SCOTT RILEY AND MARY ANN CAPPIELLO, ON BEHALF OF THE BIOGRAPHY CLEARINGHOUSE

The nation is rattled by a presidential impeachment trial. The economy is held in the grip of a recession. Black Americans demand an end to racism, redlining, and segregated schools. Women insist on equity in the home and in the workplace, control over their finances and their bodies. 2020? No. 1974.

The votes cast today, on Election Day 2020, along with the millions of votes cast over the last several weeks, will determine the next president and vice president of the United States of America. Today’s votes will also elect all members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 members of the U.S. Senate. How much do our students know and understand about these legislative bodies and the power with which they are endowed? About the people who serve within these institutions?

One small way to begin a conversation about these legislative bodies, the legislative process, and the people who fill those seats is with a reading of What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, written by Chris Barton and illustrated by Ekua Holmes. This 2018 picture book tells the life story of Barbara Jordan, the formidable Congresswoman known for her defense of the Constitution during the 1974 impeachment trial of President Richard Nixon:

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Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States, “We, the people.” It is a very eloquent beginning. But when the document was completed on the seventeenth of September 1787 I was not included in that “We, the people.”  I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake.  But through the process of amendment, interpretation and court decision I have finally been included in “We, the people.”

Today, I am an inquisitor; I believe hyperbole would not be fictional and would not overstate the solemnness that I feel right now.  My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total.  I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.

Barbara Jordan believed in the Constitution, and she believed in the power of the processes of government to enact change on behalf of the greater good. Throughout What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?, author Chris Barton uses the power and conviction of Jordan’s voice to demonstrate to readers how Jordan worked within the system to advocate for social justice. Through repetition, sentence variety, and precise word choice, Barton captures Jordan’s transition from studious young woman to tireless champion. Ekua Holmes’ mixed-media collages move from intimate close-ups to panoramic views, constantly shifting and changing perspectives to engage the reader in different portraits of Jordan.

Earliest known draft of VOICE, p. 6

Dr. Thomas Freedman, Barbara Jordan’s Debate Coach at Texas Southern University, Oct. 2, 2015

Barbara Jordan - Political Values and Ethics - Fall 1981

Operating within the Investigate, Explore, and Create Model of the Biography Clearinghouse, we designed teaching ideas geared toward literacy and content area learning as well as opportunities for socio-emotional learning and strengthening community connections using What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?

Create with What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?

Featured here is one of the teaching ideas inspired by What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?

“Making our Own Voices Heard.” Barbara Jordan used her voice and her education to become an advocate for the people around her and ultimately, for the American people, in her role as representative. At the end of his narrative, Barton writes, “...what do we do with a voice like that? We remember it, and we honor it by making our own voices heard” (unpaged).  What do your students already advocate for? What changes do they want to see in your community, the nation, or the world? How can they make their voices heard? In this activity, over 1 or 2 days, or 1 or 2 weeks, depending on the time you have available, your students have the opportunity to explore and advocate for their community in the footsteps of Barbara Jordan.

CHECK OUT THE BOOK ENTRIES @

What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?

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Otis and Will Discover the Deep

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Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl

If you have 1-2 hours….	If you have 1-2 days….	If you have 1-2 weeks….
After reading What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?, have students brainstorm the people in your community or in the world today who need a voice like Jordan’s from the Socio-Emotional Learning section above. How can students amplify the voices of those people and help them advocate for their needs as allies?	Have students conduct a video-conference conversation with members of a local or regional organization that advocate for the people and/or issues that your students have identified. Be sure to have students prepare questions in advance; help students to organize their questions by related subtopics.	Working with your school or local public librarian, gather print and digital resources your students can use to conduct more research on the people and/or issue they have identified. Work together to create and implement an action plan, to take your students’ advocacy work out of the classroom and into the community.

By investigating biographers’ research and writing processes and connecting people and historical events to our modern lives, we hope to motivate change in how readers engage with biographies, each other, and the larger world. To see more classroom possibilities and helpful resources connected to What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, visit the What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan page on The Biography Clearinghouse.
 
Additionally, we’d love to hear how these interviews and ideas inspired you. Email us at thebiographyclearinghouse@gmail.com with your connections, creations, questions, or comment below if you’re reading this on Twitter or Facebook.
 
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Scott Riley​ is a middle school instructional coach at Singapore American School where he supports professional learning in and out of classrooms and the debut author of The Floating Field: How a Group of Thai Boys Built Their Own Soccer Field (Millbrook Press 2021).

Mary Ann Cappiello teaches courses in children’s literature and literacy methods at Lesley University, blogs about teaching with children’s literature at The Classroom Bookshelf, a School Library Journal blog, and is a former chair of NCTE’s Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction K-8.