by guest contributor Enid Doggett
Photo credit: DC Public Library: Imagine Photography
“If my life has shown anything, it has shown that it’s important to work hard, be kind, have faith and believe that anything is possible,” said Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson at a recent appearance at the Marin Luther King Memorial Library during her book tour for Lovely One. Her book is inspired by Jackson’s birth name, Ketanji Onyika, which means “lovely one” in English, as chosen by an aunt who worked in West Africa.
The MLK Library event began with introductions from Richard Reyes-Gavilan, the executive director of D.C. Public Libraries. Gavilan highlighted the partnership between MLK and Mahogany Books, a Black-owned D.C.-based bookstore focused on uplifting the stories of the African diaspora.
Jackson took to the stage at the MLK Library with Dr. Carla Hayden, the first woman and Black Librarian of Congress, who opened the discussion.
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson with Dr. Carla Hayden
Jackson’s book, while centered on her personal life, also intertwines significant moments in American history. “I begin the story with my grandparents and then move on to my parents, emphasizing the immense fortune of my birth – the timing of my birth,” she explained. “I belong to the first generation that grew up after the Civil Rights Era, and I don’t want anyone to overlook how crucial that is. I was born in 1970, just a few years after the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the end of laws enforcing segregation.”
Justice Brown Jackson was born to public school teachers Johnny and Ellery Brown on September 14, 1970, in Washington, D.C. The family later moved to Miami, where her father became a Miami-Dade school board attorney and her mother became a school principal.
“My earliest memories are of my dad’s education table with his law books and me sitting at the table with him with my school and my coloring books,” she recalled.
Jackson reflected on how her parents were born in a time of segregation, but her birth occurred during a period of newfound hope and opportunity for African Americans. “They saw it as their shot,” she shared, explaining how her parents ensured she had access to every opportunity. “If there were swimming lessons, I was in the swimming lessons. If there were music lessons, I was doing the music lessons,” Jackson said. She wrote the memoir as a tribute to those who enabled her to seize these opportunities.
Jackson’s journey took off in Miami, where she was elected class president at Miami Palmetto Senior High School. In 1988, she studied at Harvard University, where she met fellow student Patrick Jackson. After earning her undergraduate degree in 1992, she attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1996, the same year she married Patrick.
After completing clerkships, including one with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Jackson worked in private practice and government. In 2012, she was nominated by President Barack Obama for the federal District Court in Washington, D.C., and was confirmed the following year. Following a nomination by President Joe Biden, she was confirmed in June 2021. On February 25, 2022, Biden announced that he would nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson to the position of associate justice of the United States Supreme Court to fill the vacancy by Stephen Breyer, who announced his retirement on January 27, 2022.
Jackson was confirmed on April 7, 2022, to the Supreme Court.
She described her confirmation day as when her journey truly felt complete. “The first moment it hit me was the day I was confirmed. I went to the White House for the vote call, and watching the votes come in was overwhelming,” she said.
Justice Jackson also shared that her book captures the core values passed down to her, which she hopes to pass on to her children.
After a brief Q&A, Jackson closed the discussion by telling the audience her keys to success.
“If my life has shown anything, it has shown that it’s important to work hard, be kind, have faith, and believe that anything is possible,” she said.
