While campaigning for the 2020 Presidential election, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden made a promise to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court when given the opportunity. That promise came true last month when President Biden announced Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as his nominee for the Supreme Court. 

When I saw the CNN notification pop up on my phone displaying that Biden had nominated Jackson to the court, a smile immediately spread across my face. I was smiling knowing that not only did Biden keep his promise, but a Black woman could be in the Supreme Court and make history.

NIU Law School Dean Cassandra Hill expressed her thoughts and emotions when she first heard about Jackson’s nomination. 

“Immediately I was overcome with excitement and pure joy to hear that the first Black woman, Ketanji Brown Jackson, would be a nominee,” Hill said. “It was a historic and phenomenal moment.” 

I hope that with her confirmation to the court, years from now young Black girls and aspiring Black female attorneys will be able to look up who had served on the Supreme Court and see Jackson’s name show up. They would be able to look at her name and know they can do it too; that it is possible.

Her nomination will bring hope to the American public, most importantly the Black community, and inspire others to be leaders and trailblazers in any career, not just law. 

Being an English major, I never thought that a Supreme Court nomination would mean so much to me. 

Before the confirmation hearings started, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I knew there were going to be times that Senators would try to question Jackson’s rulings, cases and integrity. I also knew that the world would be watching to see how Jackson would answer those questions and if she would blow up and then be labeled the “angry Black woman.”

Hill said she knows Jackson’s historical appointment will bring three things: perspective, inclusion and representation. 

“As a woman of color she will bring a unique perspective to the court and an ability to view legal issues through a lens of diversity and equity,” Hill said. “A different perspective will allow for overall better decision making and shaping of opinions.”

Hill said she believes that Judge Jackson, as a former public defender who provided a voice for vulnerable members of marginalized communities, will also provide inclusion in the court. Hill acknowledges that the nomination shows the power of representation and hopes that it will help build trust in the institution for younger generations. 

Jackson’s nomination is one step forward for justice in the Black community and will hopefully bring change to the community because now our voices and our struggles will be heard. 

“Judge Jackson will be the first Black woman to sit on the highest court in our nation and we’re all gonna make sure that she won’t be the last,” Hill said.