Lovely One by Ketanji Brown Jackson

Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States, chronicles her life story and her extraordinary path to becoming a jurist on America’s highest court, in her inspiring, intimate memoir. 

In this unflinching account, Justice Jackson invites readers into her life and world, tracing her family’s ascent from segregation to her confirmation as a Supreme Court justice, with the span of one generation. Named “Ketanji Onyika,” meaning “Lovely One,” based on a suggestion from her aunt, a Peace Corps worker stationed in West Africa, Justice Jackson learned from her educator parents to take pride in her heritage. She describes her resolve as a young girl to honor this legacy and realize her dreams: from hearing stories of her grandparents and parents breaking barriers in the segregated South, to honing her voice in high school as an oratory champion and student body president, to graduating magna cum laude from Harvard and participated in pivotal student organizations. 

Here, Justice Jackson pulls back the curtain, marrying the public record of her life with what is less known. She reveals what it takes to advance in legal profession when most people in power don’t like you, and to reconcile a demanding career with the joys and sacrifices of marriage and motherhood. Through trials and triumphs, Justice Jackson’s journey will resonate with dreamers everywhere, especially those who nourish outsized ambitions and refuse to be turned aside. This moving, openhearted tale will spread hope for a more just world, for generations to come.