Ketanji Brown Jackson is the daughter of two teachers, and she told a crowd at the University of Virginia that her mom made her education a priority.
“When I was an infant she labeled everything in my room, so I actually read very early.”
She and Ketanji’s dad also wanted her to know her heritage.
“My parents gave me an African name. Ketanji Onika means lovely one. My mom wanted me to know where I had come from historically and be proud of it.”
An honors student and a champion in competitive public speaking in high school, she applied to Harvard.
“And you wrote that you wanted to attend Harvard to help you fulfil your fantasy of becoming the first black female supreme court justice to appear on a Broadway stage.”
After her book came out, producers of a show called And Juliet invited her to appear one night only.
After speaking her lines and singing on stage, Jackson concluded it wasn’t so different than arguing a case in court.
“As a lawyer what you’re doing is persuading a judge, and actors and actresses have to put on a persuasive performance.”
Her goals may also have been persuasive – winning her a spot at Harvard where she excelled and met the man who would become her husband.
“And he’s sitting behind me in this class, tapping me on the shoulder, talking to me, hanging his keys on my earrings, flirting, flirting.”
That was in their class about race in America – but on another day, in a government class, he ignored her. She was puzzled, and her friends suggested she stay away from the guy, who must be nuts, but the future Mrs. Jackson took a more courageous approach.
“I’m going to confront him on one of the friendly days," she vowed. "So, on a friendly day I said to him, ‘Hey, why don’t you speak to me in our government class?’ And he says, ‘I’m not taking a government class,’ and I say, ‘Yes you are. I see you in that class!’ And he says, ‘Oh, you must be talking about my identical twin brother, because he has an identical twin brother, and I did not know this.”
They dated for seven years and have now been married for nearly three decades.
In February of 2022, President Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, and she met with 98 senators who would be asked to sign off.
“And they were all lovely, talking about families, very complimentary," she recalls. "We all knew that many of them weren’t going to vote for me, but they were lovely in our conversation, and so when the hearing happened and they weren’t lovely, it was actually very helpful, because I realized that they weren’t really talking to me. They were talking to their constituents.”
As it happened, her visit to UVA came just a few days after Jackson’s 55th birthday, providing an opportunity for the crowd of about 800 to stand and show their appreciation by singing Happy Birthday.
She feels grateful to be on the court – to have a chance that no other Black woman in America has had. That gratitude sustains her, along with a powerful work ethic and a commitment to good health – eating carefully and hiring a boxing trainer to ensure good exercise for someone who’s often in stressful situations.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
