More than 1,000 people in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) waited with patient excitement to hear U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson share her life as captured in her autobiography “Lovely One: A Memoir,” on Sept. 24.
The program began with Jackson at the podium, reading a passage from her book that recalled the day she was sworn in as the 116th justice and the first Black woman to sit on the bench of the highest court in the land. Her writing style and speaking tone make audiences feel like they were really in that moment with her. Through the words, people can feel Jackson’s anxiousness and the pride that her family felt.
At NMAAHC, it was a beautiful way to begin the conversation with Elizabeth Alexander, Ph.D., president of the Andrew Mellon Foundation. Alexander is a noted poet, scholar, and cultural advocate, a perfect match for the evening.
Jackson acknowledged those who had the greatest influence in her life on her path to the Supreme Court.
“There were so many people starting with my parents, my grandparents, my brother, mentors, and friends, who helped prepare me for this job,” Jackson said.
Throughout the conversation, Jackson frequently shared what she learned from her parents, and in particular her grandmother. She was born in D.C. in 1970 and her parents were teachers in District of Columbia Public Schools.
Her father wanted to go to law school and he was accepted at the University of Miami, so the family moved back to Miami, her parent’s hometown, when Jackson was 3 years old. They lived in on-campus housing, which was an advantage to a curious child like Jackson.
“My earliest memories are of being on a college campus and watching my dad study law. That’s where I first came to the notion of law,” Jackson said acknowledging her childhood vision of being on the Supreme Court.
A nod to a career in law kept coming when in junior high school, Jackson stumbled upon a magazine article she said was in either Ebony or Jet about Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court, and in 1966, became the first to serve as a federal judge.
She was a voracious reader and even recited poetry as a child at her mother’s urging.
She recalled an instance where a note was left on a sink at the house indicating that it was not working. The short note was filled with misspellings. Jackson thought the note with misspellings was funny and showed it to her grandmother, thinking she would also find the misspellings funny.
“I thought we were raising you better than this. You don’t laugh at somebody just because they can’t spell as good as you,” said Jackson’s grandmother.
That was a lesson in understanding circumstances before being judgemental.
It’s a lesson that Jackson may have reflected on in reviewing the recent ongoing case of Marcellus Williams case that came before the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices issued an unsigned order denying Williams’s request for a stay of execution.
Only the three liberals, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, noted their dissent. With options for Williams exhausted, he was executed in Missouri on Tuesday, Sept. 24, during the time when Jackson and Alexander were in conversation.
Now that the book tour has wrapped up, Jackson recalled a memorable moment traveling the country. She talked about an incident boarding a flight.
“One of the people who was working like the baggage on the plane, runs up to me,” Jackson said. “He says, ‘I know who you are. You’re a Brown, I’m a Brown. I know you think we don’t see you, that we don’t know what you’re doing, but we do. You keep going. You keep doing it.’”
“Lovely One: A Memoir” is now available, and because Jackson has a lovely storyteller’s voice, also check out the audio version of this autobiography.
Ms. Siler:
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your thought provoking article!