June Jordan (1936–2002) was a Black feminist poet, essayist, teacher, and activist whose work centered on liberation, love, and justice. She wrote powerfully about race, gender, sexuality, and oppression, always tying personal experience to larger struggles for freedom. Jordan believed in the transformative power of language and community, and her writings often celebrated resilience and the possibility of building a more just world. One of her most quoted lines, “We are the ones we have been waiting for,” continues to inspire movements for collective care and liberation today.