CLAUDIA JORDAN – From Sirius radio to rising television starlet

“I am so excited about my new television sitcom on NBC called ‘My Parents, My Sister and Me,’ that is executive produced by Debbie Allen,” said Jordan. The series currently airs inside a Saturday morning block of children’s programming, “and is very positive — bringing back the ‘Cosby Show’ days. I play a really fun and cool teacher, Ms. Wilson. The main character, (played by) Robin Givens, is a wife in an interracially blended family. I think viewers will really enjoy it.”
Jordan grows visibly enthusiastic when asked to recount her initial forays into show business. She first received public notice after winning the title of Miss Rhode Island, an honor that earned her the right to compete for Miss USA.
“After the Miss USA Pageant, I moved to Los Angeles with only $500” to her name, Jordan said. “Struggled for two years, and I got a few jobs doing commercials. Becoming one of the ‘Price is Right’ girls on the popular game show really gave me that extra push. I got a publicist and was on a few magazine covers. It was hard, but I was persistent.”
Today, Jordan relishes the opportunity to showcase a more irreverent side to her personality — as host of a weekly, self-titled satellite radio talk show on a Sirius channel curated by multi-talented entertainer Jamie Foxx. She also frequently appears as a sidekick on a weekly show hosted by Foxx himself, whom she says is “very dedicated to doing our radio show and is there religiously if he doesn’t have a movie he is shooting.”
It has long been a criticism of Hollywood that rising African-American stars too rarely receive the same opportunities as entertainers considered mainstream by the industry powers-that-be. According to Jordan, some African-American women may play an unfortunate role in limiting their own opportunities. “I think a lot of challenges we have are those that we bring upon ourselves,” she said. “There is a real lack of sisterhood and respect for each other in Hollywood — and also in everyday life. You go on some of these Internet blogs and you can find African-American women tearing each other down. This negative image perpetuates itself to the larger masses, and represents us very badly. We have to stop it and show the grand style of our power when we come together as a unit.”
From a broader perspective, it saddens Jordan to find that much of this animosity stems from what is considered the fierce competition to find a suitable mate. “I think that we as black women are finding it harder to support each other because of the competition to find a good black man to love us,” she said. “During the 1960s and ’70s, 35 percent of black females would not get married, and 65 percent would. Now, it has totally flipped and 70 percent of us will never marry. There are really not enough black men available when statistics indicate that there are 1.8 million more black women then black men, and the count is even narrower when you factor in those … who are incarcerated, homosexual, or just don’t want to marry within their race. So, as a result, many of us feel that we have to fight over the five percent of black men who are available, and we treat each other very badly. I would like to see us do something each day that is positive, and resist the temptation to gossip or to make a negative comment about a fellow sister. It’s OK to let someone have the light, because it won’t take away from yours. I believe we hold tremendous power in making our world a better place.”
As Jordan sees it, building self-esteem and self-love is the first step to success in every area of life. “I grew up with low self-esteem and thinking I was not good enough, pretty enough or smart enough,” she said. “Some of this belief was built from the criticism I received from family members and so-called friends. When I turned 30-years-old, something in me just clicked, and I knew I was not going to let people bring me down or make me feel like a victim. I think my confidence is restored every day when I accomplish something on my own. There have been no favors given to me in my career. No sugar daddies and no short cuts. I can keep my head up high knowing that all I have done so far, I did by myself. I get my confidence from