A sometimes-tearful Ketanji Brown Jackson, fresh off her victorious battle to win Senate confirmation as the first Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, told the world on Friday April 8, 2022, “We’ve made it. All of us. All of us.”
Speaking on the South Lawn of the White House flanked by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Jackson said triumphantly, “Our children are telling me that they see now more than ever that here in America, anything is possible.”
“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.”
Harris beamed as she declared, “Today is indeed a wonderful day.”
This will answer fundamental questions about who we are and what kind of country we live in. You will inspire generations of leaders. They will watch your confirmation hearings and read your decisions in the years to come.
Some Republicans’ bitter, distasteful questioning did not stop Jackson from a bi-partisan 53-47 confirmation vote, and Biden said her triumph “is going to let so much sunshine on so many young women, so many young Black women.”
“We’re going to look back and see this as a moment of real change in American history,” he said.
St. Louis’ first Black woman mayor, Tishaura O. Jones, was among the first to congratulate Jackson after she won confirmation.
“This is a remarkable moment for our country,” she said in a statement.
“Justice Jackson is one of the most qualified nominees for the high court in our history, with vast experience in federal courts, private practice, and especially notable as a federal public defender.”
State Rep. LaKeySha Bosley, (D-St. Louis) called the nomination and confirmation “remarkably historic.”
“With the appointment of Justice Jackson to the Supreme Court, young Black women will see themselves represented in the highest court in the land and know their voices are included in the ever-unfolding story of our nation.
“They will know that they too — through virtue of their hard work, determination, and indomitable spirit — can reach heights once withheld from them. Those qualities are the epitome of what it means to be an American, and Justice Jackson has embodied them throughout the confirmation process. To hear the cracking sound of yet another glass ceiling breaking is music to my ears.”
Missouri Legislative Black Caucus Chair Ashley Bland Manlove, (D-Kansas City) said Jackson’s confirmation is important because “all too often disregards the voices of Black women.
“Our nation is fortunate to have a woman serving in America’s highest court with her deep and broad knowledge of the law, her decades of experience as a litigator, as well as her strength and resolve amidst heinous attempts to assassinate her character during the confirmation process. Justice Jackson’s confirmation further illustrates America’s capacity to live up to its promise and serves as another milestone in the continuing struggle for social equality still waged by so many Black Americans.”
Like Manlove, state Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, (D-St. Louis) reminded the nation of the contempt some GOP senators, including Missouri’s Josh Hawley, held toward Jackson.
“Like most Americans, I was beside myself with shock and outrage while watching Justice Jackson endure hour after hour of character assassination from Senators acting in bad faith with political vendettas,” he said in a statement.
“However, I rest assured knowing the joy she and so many of her supporters feel today as she ascends to the bench far eclipses the pain she must have endured. Justice Jackson has overcome so many obstacles to inspire so many Black women and girls who can now see themselves represented by someone who occupies the rarified air of the Supreme Court. I am ecstatic to see what she accomplishes moving forward.”
Jackson remarked that she had been flooded with thousands of congratulatory letters, many from children.
“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.”
