Vernon Can Read!: A Memoir

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Overview

A number-one Washington Post bestseller, this memoir is the unforgettable story of a life and its times. As a student in Atlanta, Vernon Jordan had a summer job driving a white banker around town. During the man's afternoon naps, Jordan passed the time reading books, a fact that astounded his boss. "Vernon can read!" the man exclaimed to his relatives. Nearly fifty years later, Vernon Jordan, long-time civil rights leader, adviser and close friend to presidents and business leaders, remembers the sweeping struggles, changes, and dangers of black life during the civil rights revolution.After attending a predominantly white college in the Midwest and graduating from Howard University Law ...

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Overview

A number-one Washington Post bestseller, this memoir is the unforgettable story of a life and its times. As a student in Atlanta, Vernon Jordan had a summer job driving a white banker around town. During the man's afternoon naps, Jordan passed the time reading books, a fact that astounded his boss. "Vernon can read!" the man exclaimed to his relatives. Nearly fifty years later, Vernon Jordan, long-time civil rights leader, adviser and close friend to presidents and business leaders, remembers the sweeping struggles, changes, and dangers of black life during the civil rights revolution.After attending a predominantly white college in the Midwest and graduating from Howard University Law School, Jordan dedicated himself to the civil rights movement. He led the drive to register black voters in the South and was president of the National Urban League, one of the great civil rights organizations of the era, where he was instrumental in integrating American businesses and providing economic and social support to the expanding black middle class. He survived a white racist's assassination attempt and later became a pillar of America's legal, corporate, and political worlds.But Jordan's life was shaped in his early years, and this book is also a moving testament to the family whose support and courage provided the framework for his achievements. Vernon Can Read! chronicles a life of courage, pride, sacrifice, style, and accomplishment.

Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble
Vernon Jordan has made the advancement of civil rights his life's goal. As a boy in Atlanta, he learned from his parents how to survive in a Jim Crow world. After graduating from a predominantly white college, he built a legal career, helped desegegrate the University of Georgia, became a field director for the NAACP, and ran the United Negro College Fund and the National Urban League. Jordan's tale is an American success story.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The greatest value of Jordan's reading is that it tells the listener some things about the man.
More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews
From The Critics
...candid, worldly, controversial and smart.... a marvelous memoir by a man who knows what to tell and how to tell it.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781586486709
  • Publisher: PublicAffairs
  • Publication date: 11/3/2008
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 352
  • Lexile: 1050L (what's this?)
  • Product dimensions: 5.50 (w) x 8.20 (h) x 1.10 (d)

Meet the Author

Vernon E. Jordan, Jr, a major figure in the American civil rights movement, is now a managing director of the investment firm Lazard Frères & Co. -- Annette Gordon-Reed, author of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School and a professor at New York Law School.

Read an Excerpt

From the very beginning, I felt the tug of my mother's hope. It could not have been missed. I moved forward, propelled by her deep ambition and love for me-- two things I never had a moment's doubt about and which moved me to accept her guidance and to want to vindicate her faith in me. It's an almost irresistible challenge, when you have someone who thinks you are special and who works to see that you get the chance to shine. A bargain is struck, sometimes silent, sometimes spoken; their faith and commitment for your effort and success. If success is at all possible, you don't want to fail. You do everything you can not to fail. If there are times when things don't work out as you plan (and that often happens) a hard and honest effort fulfills the bargain. No matter what--you never break faith with those who support you.


This is not to say that I don't have a will of my own, or my own preferences. It just happened (nature or nurture?) that my mother and I were of the same mind on the main point: that I was to go as far as I could as quickly as I could. All children rebel at some points, but for the most part, I believed my mother was right. If she had a plan for my advancement, then I was all for it. I was so confident in my knowledge that, at the end of the day, she wanted what was best for me that I followed her instructions about the important things in life. Until she died, I never made a major decision without consulting her. Sometimes I didn't even get the chance to consult.


"Vernon, Jr., now wherever you go to college, you're going to join the ROTC."
"I don't want to be in the ROTC."
"It doesn't matter. Wherever you go to college, you're going to join the ROTC."
"Mama, what do you know about the ROTC."
"I don't know anything about the ROTC."
"Well then, why are you so insistent that I should join it?"
"All I can tell you is that all the white women I work for are sending their kids to the ROTC. There must be something to it."

"There must be something to it." That was how my mother thought about things. She hadn't figured out exactly why the ROTC was so important to the "white women." I don't believe she knew it was the upper class's method of keeping their young men out of harm's way as they performed their military service. But considering how things were between whites and blacks, the details didn't matter much. It was a simple, straightforward calculation. Whether you were talking about the ROTC, schools, medical care, political power--all the basics of life--white people were hoarding the best of the world and had frozen black people out. It just made good sense to pay attention to where whites were going and how they were using the enormous amount of resources and opportunities they had rounded up for themselves. Whatever was going on that could be good for us; Mama wanted us to be a part of it.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1
1 My Mother's Son 13
2 At Home in the World 36
3 DePauw 68
4 Chicago Interlude 95
5 Howard Law School 108
6 Mr. Hollowell 126
7 Ms. Hurley and the NAACP 144
8 The Dollar and the Ballot 166
9 A World Opened Wide 191
10 Building Blocks 208
11 Building Bridges 228
12 At the Helm 249
13 Endurance 279
14 American Dream, American Reality 301
15 Family Matters 317
Epilogue 331
Acknowledgments 335
Index 337
Customer Reviews
Average Rating 4.5
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  • Posted June 11, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    The Memoir Vernon Can Read

    This memoir was a great story of how someone who had so little to begin with helped a whole race and nation gained so much as a result of his work and accomplishments. Vernon was a hard worked in everything he did and life and challenged everything at that time. He was a huge civil rights leader and worked hard to bring equality to the nation the US of A and to blacks and all jews. This man should always be remembered all with names of Martin Luther King and the Kennedys because he did all this stuff for a whole group of people and when he was almost done with heading the charge he passed along the knowledge to the next generation so that his efforts would not be in vein and equality in the USA would be more than ever.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 22, 2003

    Thank you sir, for your mighty shoulders!

    Vernon Jordan is one of few lions of the Civil Rights era that remain. His life intersected with other seldom-mentioned lions that are with us no more such as Medgar Evans, Roy Wilson, Andrew Young, Maynard Jackson, and probably the most significant social engineer that never had (or desired) a spotlight in life or death, Whitney Young. I did not wait until 2001 to learn of Mr. Jordan's life, but I am thankful that Mrs. Gordon-Reed and he captured it in these inspirational pages. I admire and emulate Mr. Jordan for his courage, conviction, and vision. I will use his blueprint (with slight adjustments for a new era) to press forward with the work that he and those who came before him, knew we would not survive without.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 5, 2003

    Thank You Vernon for This Book!!!

    This book is absolutely great. I have greatly admired Mr. Jordan since his tenure with the National Urban League. This book has shown what obstacles and inspirations pushed Mr. Jordan into becoming the great man that he is and has always been. This is a book for all generations to be inspired by.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 18, 2003

    A Good, Quick Read

    I enjoyed this book about Vernon Jordan, who, before this readin it, I thought was only the guy who introduced Monica Lewinsky to President Clinton. This book is as much of a page-turner as an autobiography can get. Besides the history of Mr. Jordan that I was unaware of (such as heading the Urban League and his relationship with President Carter, which was quite interesting), there was black history on a personal level. However, this book focuses a lot on his early life, which, with all due respect, wasn't all that interesting. This book also left much to be desired (with only a small portion at the end) about his relationship with President Clinton, which, let's get serious, is how most people would know him name from. When he's talking about the Urban League and his power, he got a little cocky to me, which is why this book isn't a 5-star, but definitely 4.5-stars.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 20, 2003

    An Addictive Book!

    This book is a must read for anyone that have goals. It is a blueprint for success. Vernon was (and is still) hungry for success. It gives the uninspired a reason to hope, work hard, and never settle for less than what you can achieve if you work harder!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 21, 2002

    A Great Read

    I knew little about Vernon Jordan before reading this book. This book is well written, entertaining, extremely informative about the history of civil rights over the last 50 years, and very inspirational. If you know any teenagers, try to get them to read this book or better yet, read it with them.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 5, 2002

    Inspiring

    I'm an African-American Male aged 44, who likes to read inspirational and motivational type books. I did not know that much about Vernon Jordan, but after engulfing this book within 3 days, I have an unquenchable desire to read another book about an African American person who's work has impacted our country. The story line & writing style/Ex.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 15, 2002

    The indomitable Human spirit

    This book is the epitome of the indomitable human spirit,the story of a poor black kid that rose from grass to grace despite herculean forces and obstacles against him,a lesson in human perseverance and the triumph of good over dark forces.We all have to remember our past to understand the present and project the future.Finally,it is a story of the very essence of our being.'If you trust him,He will take care of you'

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 30, 2001

    Interesting...but Sad

    This book is well written and easy to read. It is an education into the mind of the successful black American and what spurs some of them onto a better life. Jordan's ideas such as 'white people were hoarding the best of the world and had frozen black people out' were very revealing about the African American motivation which rocketed some black Americans into the upper echelons of society today. Read it for the educational value.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 6, 2001

    Exceptional

    This book captured my heart when he talked about the respect, love and admiration he had for his mother. It captured my mind when he reminisced about his civil rights struggles and day-to-day struggles as a black man in a world dominated by white men, only to rise above the racism and become a powerful Attorney & rainmaker in Corporate America.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 9, 2001

    Excellent! Great!

    Mr. Jordan captures your heart & soul with stories of admiration, love and respect for his mother and captures your mind when telling stories of civil rights struggles. This is the story of a man who rose above the racisim, to become a powerful Attorney and rainmaker in corporate America. If after you've read this book, you haven't learned something; close the book, open it, and read it again.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 8, 2001

    Yes, YOU CAN !

    I have read only 75 pages so far, but from what I have read, this book is/will be an awesome inspiration for anyone who wants to do something meaningful in their life. If a black kid, growing in the era of segregation, with so few resources and opportunities can do so much, YES YOU CAN TOO !!!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 4, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 10, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

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