Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
#AmericanHistory π©πΎββοΈ
Good morning briend friends!
Iβm currently taking pre-orders for this Thursdayβs bread pickup on my website.
β¦ But letβs talk about this photo. π₯°
This photo is everything to me. As I sat down to write this newsletter this morning, my daughter was sitting next to me. Hannah saw this photo of KBJ and asked about it. As we talked about it, I asked what emotion she thought her daughter (Leila) was displaying. Confidently, Hannah said the daughter looked βhappy.β
I agree, and added that I think she looks proud.
Iβm so grateful that this photo exists. As a parent, I canβt think of a more fulfilling feeling than to know that your child was watching you operate in your element and was looking on with joy and pride in this way.
An extra cool thing that came from this photo circulating so widely, was the unearthing of an old letter that this same daughter wrote about her mom 6 years ago.
Then 11 year old Leila wrote to President Obama asking him to consider her mom for the Supreme Court. In that letter she seemed to have the same sort of pride and admiration of her mother as she wrote:
βShe is determined, honest, and never breaks a promise to anyone, even if there are other things sheβd rather do. She can demonstrate commitments and is loyal and never brags.β
On April 7, 2022, by a vote of 53-47, the U.S. Senate confirmed President Joe Bidenβs nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, for whom she previously served as a law clerk. Jackson will be sworn in after Breyerβs retirement takes effect at the end of the 2021-22 Supreme Court term.
On April 9th, KBJ addressed the supportive public reaction that she has received, saying:
βI have spent years toiling away in the relative solitude of my chambers with just my law clerks in isolation. So itβs been somewhat overwhelming in a good way, to recently be flooded with thousands of notes and cards and photos expressing just how much this moment means to so many people. The notes that Iβve received from children are particularly cute and especially meaningful. Because more than anything, they speak directly to the hope and promise of America.β
At that same event in the Rose Garden, addressing the historic nature of her nomination and confirmation, KBJ said:
βIt has taken 232 years β and 115 prior appointments β for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. But we have made it. Weβve made it. All of us. All of us. And our children are telling me that they see now, more than ever, that here in America, anything is possible. β¦ In my family, it took just one generation to go from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States.β
That is all for this week. Today I just want to bask in my celebration of this country, and rest in my appreciation for Black Excellence. If youβre looking for more inspiration along the same lines, The Root has a great little slide show on 8 more black women that shattered glass ceilings in politics.
Cheers,
Mo
P.S. If you are curious about the Supreme Court and/or American History - I really canβt overstate how fascinating NPRβs More Perfect was. It was a limited-run podcast series about the history of the Supreme Court - and I absolutely loved it. It came out a few years ago, but I feel like I learned so much from that series. Iβd heartily recommend giving it a listen.