Today we’d like to introduce you to Patricia Jordan.
Hi Patricia, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Growing up as a product of the church and Armstrong High School, I learned good speaking skills early on. My mom was a teacher and my father drove a truck. Both of those careers influenced how I saw life. My mom knew education was essential and my father loved traveling the roads driving trucks. His father purchased the first bus to transport Black students in Hanover County to the only public school they could attend in the 1930’s. My father drove that bus as a student with his brothers Clarence and Earl. Being farmers, in Hanover, having to get up, pick vegetables to go to market, then leaving to drive the bus to pick up other kids to take them to school and going to school himself, as soon as he was old enough to do so, he enlisted in the army.
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All of this influenced my path in life. I was secretary of my high school graduating class at AHS. I attended Upward Bound at VUU which broadened my cultural knowledge with field trips and concerts and books and people from other cities and counties. My father was from Hanover and we had briefly lived there when I was first born but at age five my mom wanted me to go to school so we moved to Richmond. Hanover didn’t start kids in school until age six, At Upward Bound I met students from Hanover who were actually related to me.
After high school I was accepted at the University of Berkely in California but knew we didn’t have the resources for me to attend, so I began college at VCU. I later married, had two sons, and then divorced. I returned to live in Hanover County.
During my career, I have worked in accounting, as a sales representative, a trainer, event planner for American Cancer Society organizing the then largest Breast Cancer walk and working to organize the first African American Men’s Health Summit with over 500 men in attendance. My final career position was as Director of the Richmond USO, where I was responsible for having the center built, furnished and acquiring volunteers to staff the center.
During my years in the work force, I always volunteered. I worked with the boy scouts to form the first troop at our church; I worked with the PTA from the time my sons were in school until the present and until my last grandson will graduate from Mechanicsville High school in two years. I’ve served on the board of Sylvia’s Sisters to provide period products to our students in our schools. I serve on the DEI committee for Covenant Woods where leadership sought to educate their community on diversity and inclusion.
I am active in my church and have held several leadership positions there. Youth Ministry leader, Christian Education Leader, Boy scout troop 576 Troop Leader, Social Justice Leader, and I’ve been an active member of the B. S Giles Singers for 48 years, I’ve worked with our senior’s ministry to sponsor field trips for our seniors and to provide birthday and other special holiday acknowledgments for them. Currently, I am leading the effort to start our food pantry
I continued growing my speaking skills by joining Toastmasters International where I became the first Black woman to become district governor of our Virginia Chapter. I was then elected as the first Black woman from Virginia to become International Director for Toastmasters from Virginia. My duties included teaching and training others to become leaders and better communicators
I had always been involved and a part of the NAACP, yet I felt a calling to become more active. I became membership chairman and then Vice President and for the past 8 years I’ve served as President of Hanover NAACP. We’ve grown our membership, and our programming and we’ve won the coveted Thalheimer Award from NAACP National for the past six years, The award goes to the team that does the best programming of carrying out the mission of the NAACP. During my tenure I worked with the former President to create a march in Hanover County to change the names of our two confederate named schools with a diverse crowd of over 500 people marching for the change on that day.
We are committed to making all of Hanover aware of the achievements of our Black Hanover Community, each year we acknowledge and honor those little-known Black Heroes in Hanover County, we honored and advocated for state recognition of the Hanover eight students who integrated Hanover High schools. We honored the first MLB player from Hanover, Mr. Lester Jackson, and the 92 year old woman, Mrs. Jean Folly, who started the effort to preserve Hickory Hill enslaved people’s cemetery, we honored Mr. Leon Brooks who was responsible for having the confederate flag removed from VA military airplanes.
As the mother of two sons and grandmother of three grandsons, my work won’t be done until they are not looked at differently. I pray daily that the work I do will touch the lives of my community and in some small way bring relief
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Many challenges have crossed my path in my journey however my faith says, the Lord will make a way somehow. Persistence and faith will bring you through things you would never have believed you could conquer.
My faith allowed me to raise two sons basically on my own. Today they are both in management in the workforce and have sons of their own who are doing well.
As a woman in the work force you were not looked at as leadership potential. however, I managed to climb those stairs and worked in sales positions where few women did. Those skills and God’s placing me in the right places at the right time lead to my being in charge of having the Richmond USO built at Richmond International Airport.
Racism of course has been a challenge. As a woman you have double work to do. We must overcome the challenge of men thinking we aren’t supposed to be in leadership and then a European society who believe we as a people are less than they.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I believe I’ve included this response in my former responses.
I am most proud of being true to who I am, to whom the creator made me to be. To put it in other words, I’m proud to stand on God’s word, to bring light to this dark world, to stand for those in need of justice, or whatever their needs may be. I am proud to be that kind word whispered to someone who is in need of hearing that at a moment when no one else is saying anything, I am proud of being a doing what I know God says is needed for others and of not being a person who thinks I must covet for myself, I am a giver and it brings me joy to do so.
My work is social justice for the Hanover Community through the Hanover NAACP. We exist to meet the needs of our community for those who are treated unjustly. We are here to educate our community so that they may make educated decisions in all aspects of their lives
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I live in Hanover County so I will respond to what I like about Hanover. Hanover is my hometown, It is where my paternal great grandmother’s parents were living in the late 1700’s and my paternal great grandfather was living in the mid 1800’s, My maternal great grandparents were also from Hanover and we can trace them back to the mid 1800’s living in Hanover County. It is the roots I know and love
Hanover has a ways to go in accepting all people, Mid 1800’s Hanover was about 50/50 Black and European. At the end of the civil war most Blacks moved to Richmond where they could get work and now our population is about 80% European and less than 20% Black. This has led to a misconception that the Europeans own Hanover County and they rule Hanover County with the same mindset of the Jim crow era
Contact Info:
- Website: www,hcbnaacp,org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=hanover%20county%20va%20naacp
