This is a very sad story. It kind of reminds you of the Latoya Jackson story.
http://www.urbanphilly.com/up_ps_dj.asp
Deloris Jordan
A rose by any other name: Michael Jordan's sister finally exhales
By Christina Crews
Wouldn't you like to be one of Michael Jordan's siblings? Riding the wave of his celebrity, being showered with all things fancy, having the ultimate bragging rights. Hell, you'd be famous just for having the "Jordan" moniker. Well according to eldest sister, Deloris E. Jordan, being Michael Jordan's sister carries a weight that the public does not see and that not many people could bear -- including Deloris herself.
In Deloris' book, In My Family's Shadow, she talks about all the horrors she had to endure and stifle for years, just to keep the Jordan name in tact because of her little brother's clean cut, respectable and very public image.
"In My Family's Shadow talks about not only being in Michael's shadow but being in my family's shadow as a whole, about being my own person and learning that my life was my life and I had a right to live it regardless of the accolades my family gained," said Deloris, who has lived in Philadelphia for the last 13 years.
Deloris and James Jordan had four other children besides Michael -- Dennis, Deloris, Larry and Roslyn -- but when Michael, second to the youngest, became "Michael," second to none, Deloris' world changed. But even before Michael achieved his fame, Deloris claims that the man she loved and respected, her father, began sexually molesting her, sometimes coming to her while her younger sister lay sleeping next to her. In addition, her mother, she claims, abused her emotionally and physically.
Deloris says her father's abuse began at age eight continued until she was 16, when she finally confronted her mother about what had been happening. Mom Jordan made Deloris confront her father, who, she says, admitted it. Her mother's answer was to send her away to a girls' home, but that never happened. "We lived in affluent Black neighborhood in Wilmington, N.C. My parents were well respected, well liked and well known and I don't know if they could've explained how I ended up in a girls' home. Since I didn't wind up going, I was left in a house with nobody talking to me, telling me how to get beyond any internal conflict," she states. "My mother had my father to vent on, to be angry with and to punish, but she told me to shut up. She told me on the day she mentioned the girls' home that when she walked out of there, we would never disclose or discuss this again."
Meanwhile Michael's basketball prowess was becoming the talk of the sports world. It was hard enough to accept what had happened to prior to her brother being famous. Now it was becoming impossible to try to address in the midst of Michael's comeuppance.
Deloris went on with her life, often acting out because she had no other outlet. As an adult she would attempt suicide three times. During her third attempt, she mixed an inordinate amount of pills with a fifth of bourbon. "My thought at the time was even if it didn't kill me, at least if I fell into a coma, something to numb my pain, anything was better than this," she remembers. "I was willing to go through whatever measures to just stop the internal pain." Discovered by a girlfriend, Deloris' stomach was pumped and she spent a few days in the ICU.
"Frank Rizzo dropped dead two days later so I was a very angry young woman. I couldn't understand why God took him, who seemed to be enjoying life and had a lot to live for and left me, someone who didn't want to live. I didn't understand why he would leave me in this misery," she said. "Then I thought, OK Lord, I don't know why you're keeping me here, but there's no doubt you're keeping me. So that put me on a search to find out why he was keeping me. But that didn't happen overnight."
Deloris was still angry, she was still miserable and she was still wondering what she did to make her father touch her in the way he did. Bringing attention to her situation would be a bad PR move for Michael. The Jordans were North Carolina's royal family and were presented to the country as the picture of southern normalcy. But Deloris was dying inside. It would take years of therapy to help her come to grips with what happened, but she would never get a chance to ask her father any questions because of his murder in 1993.
Now 43 and estranged from her family, this mother of three has renewed her relationship with God and found her path in life. Along with her book's debut, she has launched her publishing company, Jordan Signature Publishing. "One publishing company wanted me to make the book more about Michael or step away from the abuse [angle]. I was fighting to keep the integrity of my story. I figure if they're telling me to do this and that, how many people without the gravity of my name have to fight for the same thing? So I figured I'd give first time authors a chance to be heard," said Deloris.
In My Family's Shadow promises to enlighten readers about the imperfections of the Jordan family detail the choices Deloris made in her life as a Jordan. Her book can be found currently at Basic Black Books in the Gallery. In My Family's Shadow will be released nationally in March.
http://www.urbanphilly.com/up_ps_dj.asp
Deloris Jordan
A rose by any other name: Michael Jordan's sister finally exhales
By Christina Crews
Wouldn't you like to be one of Michael Jordan's siblings? Riding the wave of his celebrity, being showered with all things fancy, having the ultimate bragging rights. Hell, you'd be famous just for having the "Jordan" moniker. Well according to eldest sister, Deloris E. Jordan, being Michael Jordan's sister carries a weight that the public does not see and that not many people could bear -- including Deloris herself.
In Deloris' book, In My Family's Shadow, she talks about all the horrors she had to endure and stifle for years, just to keep the Jordan name in tact because of her little brother's clean cut, respectable and very public image.
"In My Family's Shadow talks about not only being in Michael's shadow but being in my family's shadow as a whole, about being my own person and learning that my life was my life and I had a right to live it regardless of the accolades my family gained," said Deloris, who has lived in Philadelphia for the last 13 years.
Deloris and James Jordan had four other children besides Michael -- Dennis, Deloris, Larry and Roslyn -- but when Michael, second to the youngest, became "Michael," second to none, Deloris' world changed. But even before Michael achieved his fame, Deloris claims that the man she loved and respected, her father, began sexually molesting her, sometimes coming to her while her younger sister lay sleeping next to her. In addition, her mother, she claims, abused her emotionally and physically.
Deloris says her father's abuse began at age eight continued until she was 16, when she finally confronted her mother about what had been happening. Mom Jordan made Deloris confront her father, who, she says, admitted it. Her mother's answer was to send her away to a girls' home, but that never happened. "We lived in affluent Black neighborhood in Wilmington, N.C. My parents were well respected, well liked and well known and I don't know if they could've explained how I ended up in a girls' home. Since I didn't wind up going, I was left in a house with nobody talking to me, telling me how to get beyond any internal conflict," she states. "My mother had my father to vent on, to be angry with and to punish, but she told me to shut up. She told me on the day she mentioned the girls' home that when she walked out of there, we would never disclose or discuss this again."
Meanwhile Michael's basketball prowess was becoming the talk of the sports world. It was hard enough to accept what had happened to prior to her brother being famous. Now it was becoming impossible to try to address in the midst of Michael's comeuppance.
Deloris went on with her life, often acting out because she had no other outlet. As an adult she would attempt suicide three times. During her third attempt, she mixed an inordinate amount of pills with a fifth of bourbon. "My thought at the time was even if it didn't kill me, at least if I fell into a coma, something to numb my pain, anything was better than this," she remembers. "I was willing to go through whatever measures to just stop the internal pain." Discovered by a girlfriend, Deloris' stomach was pumped and she spent a few days in the ICU.
"Frank Rizzo dropped dead two days later so I was a very angry young woman. I couldn't understand why God took him, who seemed to be enjoying life and had a lot to live for and left me, someone who didn't want to live. I didn't understand why he would leave me in this misery," she said. "Then I thought, OK Lord, I don't know why you're keeping me here, but there's no doubt you're keeping me. So that put me on a search to find out why he was keeping me. But that didn't happen overnight."
Deloris was still angry, she was still miserable and she was still wondering what she did to make her father touch her in the way he did. Bringing attention to her situation would be a bad PR move for Michael. The Jordans were North Carolina's royal family and were presented to the country as the picture of southern normalcy. But Deloris was dying inside. It would take years of therapy to help her come to grips with what happened, but she would never get a chance to ask her father any questions because of his murder in 1993.
Now 43 and estranged from her family, this mother of three has renewed her relationship with God and found her path in life. Along with her book's debut, she has launched her publishing company, Jordan Signature Publishing. "One publishing company wanted me to make the book more about Michael or step away from the abuse [angle]. I was fighting to keep the integrity of my story. I figure if they're telling me to do this and that, how many people without the gravity of my name have to fight for the same thing? So I figured I'd give first time authors a chance to be heard," said Deloris.
In My Family's Shadow promises to enlighten readers about the imperfections of the Jordan family detail the choices Deloris made in her life as a Jordan. Her book can be found currently at Basic Black Books in the Gallery. In My Family's Shadow will be released nationally in March.