U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson shared stories from her early years at the Southern Methodist University Tate Lecture Series Tuesday evening.
Justice Jackson is the third U.S. Supreme Court justice to visit the university campus in the last week. Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch also visited the George W. Bush Presidential Center last week to discuss their recently published books.
Dedman School of Law Dean Jason Nance introduced Justice Jackson to a nearly sold-out McFarlin Auditorium.
“We believe the law carries tremendous responsibility and opportunities for our students. The law is powerful. It steers institutions, orders civic life and impacts neighbors, loved ones and future generations. That degree of influence calls for principled leaders who are curious, humble, highly skilled and unwavering in the commitment to justice and the rule of law,” Nance said. “Tonight gives us the opportunity to reflect on those values together, guided by someone whose life and work challenge us to consider how we use our own power in service to others.”
Justice Jackson kicked off the lecture by reading a passage from her memoir, Lovely One. The passage was a detailed account of her taking the oath after being confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court. She was nominated by former President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate 53-47 in 2022, becoming the first Black woman to sit on the nation’s highest court.
The conversation was moderated by Tina Perry, president of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. Perry said she visited Harvard Law School when Justice Jackson was a third-year law student and heard great things about her even then.
Perry first asked Justice Jackson to expound on two thoughts in her book: that no one arrives at the highest height on their own, and that vision precedes passion.
“It struck me very early on that the success that I achieved in getting to this point really was not so much about me, but it was about the people and circumstances that I felt were most responsible for getting me to this point, and I wanted to celebrate in the book,” Justice Jackson said.
Perry brought up a scene in the book in which Justice Jackson’s father was at the kitchen table surrounded by law books, her mother was at the stove and Justice Jackson was also at the table “learning her letters.”
Justice Jackson said that the timing of her birth in the 1970s and her environment set her on the path to a career in law.
When Justice Jackson was 8 years old, her mother signed her up to recite “For My People” by Margaret Walker at the county fair.
“I think my mother more than anyone wanted me to know that I had a voice and that I could use it, and she was training me to be the kind of person who was not intimidated to speak up,” Justice Jackson said.
She recalled when she would get frustrated by not being able to do something, her mother would say, “Have you seen others do it? You can do it.”
Justice Jackson ended up excelling at public speaking in high school to the point that she missed her high school graduation for the national championship in original oratory.
She studied government at Harvard University, but she discussed how lonely that first year was for her. She recalled a few days after her 18th birthday, feeling very sad and walking across campus, she walked past another Black woman who whispered to her, “Persevere.”
“One word suddenly opened a whole window to me,” Justice Jackson said.
She recalled a letter her aunt had sent her, saying God put angels all around her, and she wondered if the woman who encouraged her was an angel.
Justice Jackson met her husband, Patrick, during her sophomore year at Harvard.
When Justice Antonin Scalia died, Justice Jackson was on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia at the time. She recalled her daughter, who was in middle school, saying she should apply for the open seat at the Supreme Court. She explained that it isn’t a position someone applies to. Her daughter didn’t want to accept that, so she wrote a letter of endorsement to former President Barack Obama.
“I am raising a young woman who isn’t afraid to speak her mind even to the president of the United States,” Justice Jackson said.
In response to a final question, Justice Jackson concluded the conversation by saying her walk-up song would be “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons. After the red curtain closed, the song filled the auditorium as people filed out the doors.