WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — It was a packed crowd on the South Lawn of the White House Friday to celebrate the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court justice-to-be Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Among those celebrating was Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio.
“A brilliant scholar who looks like us will be seated on the highest court,” she said with pride.
During Jackson’s speech, she thanked God, supporters and her family for bringing her to this moment.
“We’ve made it,” Jackson said. “…I am the dream and the hope of the slave.”
“For a justice to say that it gives me great comfort,” Beatty said.
Two students at Jackson’s alma mater, Harvard Law School, are proud of the ceiling Jackson is breaking.
“I’m inspired to figure out what it means to chart my path what it means to break another ceiling,” Mariah Watson said.
“We’re here for a bigger purpose and I can tell that’s what she’s here for,” Zarinah Mustafa said.
The emotion behind Jackson’s historic confirmation could be felt throughout the White House ceremony, with President Joe Biden calling it the best achievement of his administration so far.
“That means a lot that president Biden knew that we needed that sort of leadership,” Kalisha Dessources-Figures said.
Dessources-Figures sits on the team that helped the president select Jackson. She says that the soon-to-be justice’s record speaks for itself.
“She is truly just the nominee for this moment,” she said. “I imagine all the Black girls across this country, the Black women, the children are just looking in awe at the history she’s made.”
Jackson will join the court once Justice Stephen Breyer retires this summer.
