BUSINESS Supreme Court Justice Jackson Proclaims: ‘We’ve Made It. All of Us’ Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer
Two hundred and thirty-two years, 116 justices, 108 white men, six women, two Black men and one Latinx woman later, the U.S. Supreme Court finally has an African-American woman serving as associate justice. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson earned confirmation with a 53-47 vote, breaking the glass ceiling after
America’s first Black woman Vice President, Kamala Harris, presided over the process to confirm her. “It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States,” Jackson proclaimed a day after her confirmation during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. “But we’ve made it. We’ve made it. All of us. All of us,” she declared, add-
5 Ketanji Brown Jackson (Courtesy photo)
ing “Our children are telling me that they see now more than ever that here in America, anything is possible.” Jackson said she has been flooded with thousands of meaningful notes from children and others. She said the letters from youth
touched her deeply. “Because more than anything, they speak directly to the hope and promise of America,” she asserted. “[Children] also tell me that I am a role model, which I take both as an opportunity and as a huge responsibility.
Americans Comment on Judge Jackson’s Historic Confirmation Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer “Judge Jackson has a demonstrated record of excellence. I believe, based upon her work as
a trial judge when I served on the Court of Appeals, that she will adjudicate based on the facts and the law and not as a partisan.” -Former President Barack Obama
to help people who are caught in the intersection between poverty and the legal system.” -April Frazier Camara, president/CEO National Legal Aid & Defender Association
“Words cannot express the overwhelming joy I feel for all the Black women, public defenders and legal aid attorneys who have ever aspired to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court. We know that wealth and race, unfortunately, continue to decide outcomes in too many court cases. Judge Jackson’s professional experience is what is needed
“Judge Jackson’s nomination stands as proof that politicians can honor their promises once they are elected, as President Biden and the Senate majority have done. We look forward to the brilliant opinions she will write and the power of her personality to influence skeptics on and off the court. -National Council of Negro Women President/ Chair Thelma Thomas Daley “With this extraordinary, glass-breaking moment, Black girls across the U.S. will have more than their dreams of being a Supreme Court Justice to demonstrate ‘that with hard work, determination and love, it can be done.’ It is my honor to know Judge Jackson and I believe we will be one step
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closer to our pursuit of a more perfect union when she is sworn in as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.” -Ward 5 Councilman Kenyan McDuffie “In its 233 years of existence, there has never been a Black woman on the U. S. Supreme Court. That will no longer be the case. I want to thank President Biden and the Biden-Harris Administration for fulfilling its campaign promise and acknowledging that it is long overdue for a Black woman to serve on the highest court of the land.” -Melanie Campbell, president, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable “Judge Jackson’s nomination is historic, not only because she will be the first Black woman to serve as a Supreme Court Justice but her service will mark the first time two
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“I am feeling up to the task, primarily because I know that I am not alone. I am standing on the shoulders of my own role models. Generations of Americans who never had anything close to this kind of opportunity but who got up every day and went to work believing in the promise of America,” she said. President Joe Biden acknowledged his historic nomination and the recently confirmed associate justice. “I mean this from the bottom my heart. This is going to let so much sunshine on so many young women, so many young Black women,” Biden said. “We’re going to look back and see this as a moment of real change in American history.” Harris, who presided over the Senate vote, said Jackson’s confirmation served a higher purpose. “This will answer fundamental questions about who we are and what kind of country we live in,” Harris said. “You will inspire generations of leaders. They will watch your confirmation hearings and read your decisions in the years to come. Today is indeed a wonderful day.” The arduous and volatile confirmation hearings served to underscore that while more than 3,800 individuals have served on federal benches in the U.S., only 70 have been Black women. Following four days of public testimony and a racially-charged grilling of Jackson by Republicans that began on March 21, Senate Judiciary members deadlocked 11-11 on April 4 to
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