On Ketanji Brown Jackson, ‘Making History,’ And The Expense Of Black Women’s Well-Being
Update: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has been sworn in to the Supreme Court as the first Black woman sitting on the nation's highest court. Jackson is the court’s 116th justice.The following story was originally published on March 25, 2022 during Jackson's confirmation hearings.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is exhausted. I see it in her tight-lipped smiles that feel forced. In the shift in her posture over the course of lengthy hearing days. In the tears pooling in her eyes that she somehow kept from falling. That is until a Black man, Sen. Cory Booker, intervened and reminded Judge Jackson of her power, worth, and example. Only then was she so moved that her cries could no longer be suppressed. A cathartic release that so many of us felt alongside her.