Context

This line was spoken by Barbara Jordan and quoted in an article in the Chicago Tribune (October 27, 1974).

Barbara Jordan was just a young Congresswoman when she found herself serving on the House Judiciary Committee as they decided whether or not to impeach President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. Once the committee completed their investigation, Representative Jordan gave a powerful (and nationally televised) speech slamming Nixon. Oh, and then Nixon resigned. Hey, that's the way the game is played.

Later, she would become the first African-American woman to deliver a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention and go on to champion all kinds of important causes. But Jordan always valued the one thing that she felt got her to where she was in life—her brains.

When she would speak on college campuses, she would tell students that their salvation wouldn't come in the form of political movements, but from their own hard work and dedication. Basically, Black power and green power weren't gonna get them where they needed to go. But brain power? That was just the ticket to a life of success. We can't disagree with her there.

Where you've heard it

If you only had a brain you'd have heard this quote before. It will pop up when folks are referencing the power of human know-how over the political movements. (Though, to be fair, sometimes groups of people organizing around a common goal might accomplish some good things.)

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Okay this is just a tiny but pretentious, especially since you're writing off some really important political movements here and championing the spirit of the individual over the group. But, hey, Shmoop likes brains, so we think your friends will let you get away with this one as long as there's some good snacks at your shindig.