A Story of Legacy

For our tenth installment of Where We Belong, we spoke with Jordan Pierre – a scholar, activist, and entrepreneur from Brooklyn, New York. For Profile 010, Jordan shared what inspired him to find his voice, how he learned to advocate for himself and for others, and how he helps others speak their truths as well.

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Jalen:
So, Jordan – you are a scholar, activist, entrepreneur...many, many things. What inspired you to start all that?

Jordan:
Yeah. What inspired me, I'll say growing up, one of my first references was Louis Farrakhan. And he just, when I heard him speak, I seen a Black man that was educated but also spoke with conviction, and he spoke truth to power. Ever since I was a child, seeing him speak in that manner, it made me aspire to want to become like that. But I understood that it wasn't just something that you aspired to become, but it’s something that you work to obtain. So I had to start to study. I went to school, and just as a youth, I believed that we all are given a gift, and my gift happened to be my voice. 

Some people always ask me, “Jordan, how have you discovered your voice?” But I think the better question is “how did you gain the courage to use it?” I think for some of us, we’re put in a position where we don't have a choice [but] to do so, because if we was to remain silent, that's when injustice would persist.

So my first reference of someone that seemed to speak with conviction and inspired me to use my platform in the manner that I do was Louis Farrakhan. And after seeing him do so, I met various people, seeing different references and my aspiration was always to become a scholar, but most importantly, use my platform to educate us on how to alleviate ourselves of our conditions.

What I encourage you to do is understand that one of the worst things you could do is die with a story you supposed to give birth to. And that's one of the things I live with, honestly. You know, we all have a story. There’s something that God planted in life is not give life to what it is that was planted inside of you.

So I encourage you to find your reference, because most times we look at the world and try to see somebody that we can see as a role model. And then, know that there’s times you may not see a reference, which means that you are now being called to become that reference. I believe we all have a call and sometimes we just refuse to answer it. But you cause yourself more discomfort not answering the call when you know you have been called to do something.

Jalen:
Yeah, I think it's really important, using your voice. I feel like, you know, all of us have stories to tell, unique experiences, but not everybody has the courage or conviction to use that voice and tell that story, whether it's because of internal struggles, situations you grew up in, or just where we live…there’s forces trying to make us not speak up. But I think it's really good what you're doing: using your voice, using your platform, and using it to inspire others to do the same.

I think it is really important. [In] a lot of situations, especially for people of color, you may not necessarily see a specific example of somebody doing something you might be doing. But if you are that role model for somebody else and or if you find somebody like you that is that role model, it can really do wonders in terms of empowering you to do the same thing. It can give you hope that you can do whatever you set your mind to. 

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Jalen:
Talk a little bit about the role of faith – not just for you as an individual, but in the Black community as well – when it comes to navigating difficult circumstances, finding a sense of belonging and building community, and really just finding hope.

Jordan:
I'm happy you saying that because I just had a conversation with my barber. My barber happens to be like a spiritual counselor in a way; I think God did that divine alignment. We was talking about this idea of [how] we've tried to combat what it is that we’re going through as people of color within this world, whether that was through social, politics…we tried all those ways. But one thing we never tried was the spiritual matter. 

And the Bible says that, “We battle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and spirits in high places.” So one thing I want us to understand is that it is a spiritual warfare. When it comes to faith and even building a spiritual relationship, it’s knowing that many things that we all are facing come down to our spiritual walk. So you got to build yourself up spiritually and just as a community, that's one thing you got to know is like, your soul is important.

You could talk about economics, you could talk about health, how we eat, what it is that we consume...but most importantly we gotta understand…how is our spirit doing? I don’t think we always talk about our spiritual well-being. [We] talk about financial literacy, well, how about spiritual literacy? It's like, “How do we start to build some competency?” And how do we get our spirits right? I think that's one of the places you start to understand what happens is as we grow up, we allow conditions to change who we are. Alright, and values are important, but one thing we’ve got to always understand is that you don’t want your environment to call you to morph into a version of yourself that you never was, and you don't want to stay that person.

There's times where situations arise and you gotta become a different version of yourself. What you always want to know is “how it is that I reground myself, so I'll never lose myself in the midst of circumstances?”

Faith’s played a intricate role in the work that I do, because there’s times where I can’t foresee what it is that God has planned. And one of the things a mentor once told me is that God really gives you the mural, [but instead of] in full, He often gives it to you in pieces – because if He told you what exactly it is He wanted you to become and what you had to go through to become it, there’s a lotta things you wouldn’t have done. 

I encourage you all to build a faith. It’s certain things I can't foresee…[but] one of the things I say to myself is, “I had to convince myself that it's already written.” What I mean by that is in the Bible it says that, “Before you were born, before you were formed in the womb, I knew you before you were born, I sanctified you, and ordained you to be a prophet before nations.”

So I want you to know that there's a time where you got to convince yourself that it’s already written, like some of these things are already going to be what it is. So even if I receive a no, I know that a yes is coming, because God got it and my faith. So I want you to convince yourself that it’s already written and take those steps. A lot of times we have this hesistancy on taking step because we trying to foresee the entire staircase before we take the first step. What I want you to know is that there’s going to be times when you can't foresee the destination, but you have to take the step and as you take steps, clarity will come.

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Jalen:
You're born and raised in Brooklyn, living in Brooklyn right now, and making a big impact here in Brooklyn. Let's talk a little bit about how your upbringing inspired you and how it continues to motivate you to do what you're doing today.

Jordan:
I feel like I never really had a choice, because I was born and raised [such] that one of the things I understood was my neighborhood always had a voice, but many times felt as if we had to be silent. I believe that all oppressed groups deserve to have a spokesman. So if you feel as if you have a voice and you have the courage to use it, know that you are a representation of more than just yourself.

So even when I was younger, I understood that I wasn't just a representation of me, but a lot of young Black men and women who also look like me. So whenever I was speaking, whenever I navigated those spaces, I just, you know, [felt] I'm a representative of more than just myself…to some people that never interacted with a Black person before, I may just be the first Black person they ever met.

I seen a lot of injustice persist. And one thing that I also came to understand, is that, you know, a lot of us haven't been taught how to effectively communicate our thoughts. It's not till we get to a certain age that experiences equip us with the language to put [words] to how it is that we feel and you know, articulate some of the things that we'd seen at that age that we [couldn’t] necessarily articulate.

So now I've educated myself, been through school, and know that I can put linguistics first. It comes with responsibility, so I never really feel like I had the choice to be silent, because I was often put in positions where I had to use my voice. Eagle Academy – which is the school I attended from middle school to high school – it was many times where I had to speak on behalf of the larger demographic of young Black men.

And God puts you in situations…I think [the way] you discover your gift is to think about the situations you keep being put into. To use your talent in [where] it’s needed. Sometimes I think the misconception is that we believe, because it's a calling, that it’s always something that we want to do or that it brings us joy. There’s times when I don't want to speak. But just because you don't want to don't mean that you're not being called to do so. So that's another way in which you identify your gift – being in situations you are always being called to be in and you know, you start to embody that characteristic.

That may be what you're being called to do. And so that's why I say about faith, spirituality, understanding my upbringing…I didn’t feel like I had the ability to really become silent because God gave me a voice. I think that there's some things that people question, but there's some of us that have that inclination, and we answer the call.

Jalen:
You kinda always felt that pull or that push to speak up?

Jordan:
Yeah, I always felt that pull. I also was born in a Baptist household. So my stepfather, who played as my father figure, he was a pastor, like my mom was a first lady. So one of my first references is church and a senior pastor. 

One thing I think we don’t talk about like that is that Malcolm X was a minister, right? Martin Luther King was a preacher. Louis Farrakhan is a minister. So many of our leaders aren’t discussed in a spiritual or religious context, like whether that was a church or a mosque. But knowing that many of our leaders started within a religious base, those are my first references, and it was something about words…like when I seen people speak, and how they delivered messages, that captivated me.

[Something about it] drew my attention. So I watch a lot of speeches. I watch a lot of debates. And that's something that I felt inclined to learn more about…like some people heard music…some people can see an empty canvas and see a whole mural being made…for me, I heard speeches, and it was the words that captivated me. And learning how to take my experiences with things [and turn them into words] was fascinating.

Jalen:
That's cool, that's cool for sure. I think it's really interesting – seeing who and what inspires people and what they do. It’s cool talking about those with oratory gifts. Speakers and stuff like that really inspiring you. 

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Jordan:
Yeah, I want to make sure I say that when I say use your voice, I don't necessarily mean verbal form of communication. When I say use your voice, I'm saying find what it is that you good at, that you could use to be that vessel through which you communicate how it is that you feel. So some young men or women may not be great at public speaking, but if you put them in a studio, they can write a song and articulate how they feel.

There’s young women that's good at braiding hair. There was a time period we used braids to do slave routes. So understand that you can also use braids as a form of communication. There's some beauticians that get 50 girls into a salon. Some educated professors can't get 50 girls from our neighborhood to sit down and be attentive. Even art. Art is a form of activism. Photography – no matter how many revolutions take place, if nobody’s there to capture the images, it don't lead to no type of change, right?

So what I'm saying is that you use what it is that you gifted at, whether that's photography, art, videography, poetry. Use what it is that you good at to shake the room is what I often say. Mines happened to be verbally speaking when I say your voice, but your voice don't necessarily have to be verbal. Your voice is that tool that you've been equipped with, that you could use to communicate how it is that you feel.

Jalen:
For sure. And it kind of goes back, too, to honoring whatever gifts you have. Everybody has their own particular background, skills, and experiences, all of which can be used for good.

Jordan:
Absolutely.

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Jalen:
So we talked a little bit about the concepts of community and stuff like that. What does it mean to you to be part of a community and to belong?

Jordan:
I think the feeling of having communities is knowing that you have people that's willing to support you – not only when you up, but also when you do wrong. I think a lot of times we have seen from many of our leaders when they made a mistake, that the [offset] tends to be some type of backlash. You see many people that was rooting for you, they start to show their true colors. I think that a true community for somebody is willing to embrace you, even when you do wrong, that we always by your side, so you know that you got your support, whether it’s when you up or if you down. Through the glory and through the trials and tribulations, we’ll always be there by your side. 

So I think even more goes into building community. When it comes to community, you [gotta] have a supportive cast, that tells you when you're wrong [and] also is with you when you’re right…people that's willing to rally behind you whether or not everything is going in your favor…I think a lot of times you want to have a community that's there for you, not only when things are going right.

I think most times, your community starts to show who they are when it's not in their best interest to be by your side. Today, we live in a world where we're more capitalistic, and there was a time we used to say that we thought that you are an ally if you're willing to spend money. But now the question is, are you determined or able to stay determined regardless of who’s on your side and who’s going to lose money standing by your side? 

We have to become more critical of what it is that we see being funded. Because what's being funded doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s right. And [there’s] a lot of things that aren’t right or aren’t promoting a message that we feel youth in our generation needs to hear…[things] aren’t built just on economics, but built on morals and honesty. 

There comes a time when money isn't enough. We look at, like, Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore, and things that's going on outside of the borders of the United States. [Money] has always been used to try to get us to dismantle our revolution. [But] there comes a time where we say we can't just say we’ll [follow the money]…we gotta prioritize our people. 

Jalen:
I think with community, there's a lot of different factors that play into it…I think accountability is really important. Being part of a community, I feel like it is…being compatriots in a certain sense. And also, part of that means you gotta check people when they're doing the wrong and not just check them, but also support them in doing the right thing and fixing it…I think accountability is really important. Not just calling people out on when they're doing something wrong, but also like educating people on how to do the right thing and stuff like that. 

And then, you know, going back to what you're saying as far as the economic portion and stuff like that [that’s] financially related. I think there's a lot of things where, you know, in the capitalist society we live in…obviously money is like a big deal, right? But to your point, you know, a lot of other things that are important as well. And I think a big part of being part of a community is that, ideally together you're stronger than alone, which means that as a community you can overcome financial obstacles. Stuff like mutual aid really becomes important and can really be impactful because if you're all in it together, those hurdles are a little more easy to overcome.

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Jalen:
What are some things that make you feel like you belong? Not just in your community, but also in the country, in the world, stuff like that.

Jordan:
I’d say in my community what makes me feel as though I belong growing up was that people looked out for me. So there [were] times where, before a shooting would occur, they would say “Jordan, I want you to go upstairs.” There’s some things they made sure I wasn't privy to. 

I think a lot of times we say it takes a village to raise a child, and it does, right? There’s certain things that a village must do to ensure that they child isn't necessarily exposed to certain parts of a certain lifestyle that they feel like that would tarnish the child's viewpoint or there’s some things that you just too young to see. 

I think today we have...we say that we have so much access, but there's also something that comes, that’s detrimental to having access – which is that too much access to what it is that you have not been taught can lead to you feeling as if you had the ability to do certain things that you haven't been effectively taught [how] to do.

There was a time period where we was being raised by our parents, where socialization was through our environment, through how people in our immediate environment taught us how to navigate our spaces. But now we're being socialized through social media, and we haven't had that much control [over] what it is that our children are being exposed to. There’s times where a five year-old can be on YouTube and see gun violence. They now removed certain warnings and restrictions for Instagram, where the violent content no longer [has] the explicit warning. So now we're being exposed to certain content that, if we had regulations, we wouldn’t want our child to see at a certain age.

So even when it comes to this idea of, you know, building a community, you know, belonging, all the above, it's understanding that we’re living in a different time period, where we must be privy to what it is that we’re teaching our children, what it is that we expose them to. And what my community did that made me feel [a sense of] belonging [was] that they [were] guarded. They made sure I was guarded. They made sure that there were certain things I didn't see.

It was like, “Jordan’s gonna be the president, we’re gonna assure him of that.” They said, “Jordan is the person that's going to make it out, and he's going to be our leader.” “We gon’ ensure that we protect him.” 

A big part of my community was that protection, was that sense of ensuring that I was safe. So I think that's a big part of how my community made me feel as though I belonged, and I've seen people put their life on the line to ensure that it was safety behind mine.

Jalen:
It's important to feel safe mentally, physically, whatever. And that's kind of the beauty of community: when you're part of a community, you know, you got people looking out for you, and you feel like you belong. You know that, you know it's safe to be who you are and safe to do what you want to do. Pursue your dreams, goals, etc.

That’s really good that you had that experience, because, like you kind of alluded to as well, especially nowadays, it’s not all the time that people have that opportunity or that experience.

On the note of social media and stuff like that – and kind of going back as well to what we were talking about in terms of role models – I think there's so many different possible role models you can have on social media, but obviously, not all of them are good. So, you know, to your point,

I kind of sometimes wonder, like, man, kids growing up right now…even adults, they are still navigating their ways through life and stuff like that.

Jordan:
You navigate the world according to the narrative that you receive, right? So in order for [us] to change how it is that [we] behave or how [we] navigate space, we’ve got to change the narrative that [we] receive.

One thing that I've learned is that many people navigate spaces based on narratives, right? So if we are going to change the behavioral health space, we’ve got to change the narrative that they receive… [and] change the information that you obtain. We often say that the mind is the man's most powerful tool because you want to change your money, change your meaning, you change his mind. You gotta change what it is that's programming his thoughts. So I'm big on that, when it comes to this narrative warfare that's taking place, when it comes to what narratives are being told.

I just came back from South Africa. And one thing I’ve come to understand is that it's through our lack of education that we don’t see people that ought to be our allies. What do I mean by that? There's many people that come from the hood, and they feel as though…the disparagement or the injustice that people are fighting in Palestine is not an injustice we ought to confront. And that's because we haven't been taught how the Palestinian Liberation Army has assisted us in many ways. I've read how the Black Panther Party learned how to free Assata Shakur through the practices of the Palestinian Liberation Army. I learned how Fidel Castro, when he went to speak at the U.N. in 1960, they had canceled his reservation at the hotel because they didn’t want him to be in attendance. So the Nation of Islam got in contact with him, and they made sure they covered his lodging. So we have to stay [viewing things] internationally. 

There's certain people that’s outside of our race, class, that are more victims of the same systems of oppression. And when we [become] educated on how the system exists abroad, it is usually the same template. That's how we start to build this unity. A big opportunity is education, right? So as I educate myself, I use my platform to educate others.

Jalen:
I think it's interesting you talked about that because I think [this] kind of ties into the whole premise of the series, as well as a lot of different cross-cultural conversations. I mean, you’re a Black man from Brooklyn. I’m Filipino, and I grew up in an area that was suburban, with a lot of white people. But still, we have a lot in common just based off of broader experiences and stuff like that.

Jordan:
Yeah. Class experiences definitely [are] a big part of it…and people of the same class have more common goals than those of the same race. If you were to be of the, you know, the working class, you may have many common experiences day-to-day.

And a big part of class is that we develop culture out of class experiences. One of things I want to see [is education] in regards to [exposure], because I often talk about how there's two forms of incarceration. The first one is to be behind bars, but the second is to be a victim of limited exposure. Often people think exposure to how other races exist, but also, the exposure to how we exist across the diaspora is important because there's some of us that haven't seen how being Black is in South Sudan, or how [we] exist in various countries in Africa…in Ghana, Nigeria, Morocco, Cameroon, Gambia.

I think that through our experiences as African Americans, we think that all Black people might relate to our experiences, which is not necessarily true, right? But when you gain experiences of how Black people exist outside of the context of what we’ve normalized [in America], you start to understand that there's many different types of Black and they exist in different realities.

As you start to become more aware of how we exist, how we see ourselves has got to change. I think one of the most dangerous things about media is not [just] how it’s conditioned other people see us, but how it's conditioned [us] to see ourselves.

Jalen:
For me, I'm familiar with the concept of being part of the Filipino diaspora. Even though, you know, the Filipino diaspora is very different, and the broader Asian diaspora is very different from the global Black diaspora, there are definitely a lot of overlapping and similar themes in terms of what it means to be part of a diaspora, you know. And through my experience, for sure, what that's taught me is that we can have different experiences all across the world, different cultures, but at the end of the day, there is that kind of unifying theme. 

And I think when we identify the unifying themes – whether it's across the Black diaspora, the Asian diaspora, or all people of color – there's a lot of opportunity for real connection, allyship, and being more successful. When you're together, working together, collaborating, then [you’re stronger than being] separate, independent and apart.

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Jalen:
With the work you do, with the life you lead, what's the legacy you want to leave behind for your community?

 

Jordan:
That's a great question. I'll say that when you on a certain mission…when you find something bigger than just yourself, [one of the things] that you got to come to terms with [is] that a lot of things that you're fighting for, you may not live long enough to see come to fruition. So a big part of [what I want] my legacy [to be] is to show that there's people that are willing to give for a narrative.

 

Even though it may seem to be tough…when I was growing up, my father always told me that just because everybody doing it don't mean it’s right. It just doesn't mean it ought to be followed. I believe that we're living in a time period where history is still being made, and I always want to make sure I emphasize this when it comes to my legacy. So I want us to know that we [owe it] to our history to make things right…we talk about Malcolm X…Martin Luther King…all those people that have come before us…

There is a time when you study history, but they also tell you everything [so] that you have the ability to create history. We live in a time where there’s people organizing in Palestine, the Congo, South Sudan. And the question now is not [just] what have our leaders done, it’s what are you going to do today?

One day people will read up on the work that you have done, right? Because I don't see myself no different from a Martin Luther King or from a Malcolm X. I believe that I, too, possess the same abilities, and I’m doing the work. And what I'm trying to encourage is all of us understanding that you, too, have the ability to make history, and that history is still being made.

What is it that you want to do during this time, for when a generation looks upon the time that we lived through, when they come across your story and the work that you have done?

 

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To watch the full interview, visit us @dspraofficial on Instagram and TikTok.

To learn more about Jordan and his work, check out @jordanpierre and @theclassroompodcast on Instagram.