Lovely One

Book Recomendation

Lovely One is an autobiography from Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. She is the latest Supreme Court appointee. I read the book, for a book club, expecting to be critical, and instead I was moved and my mind was changed on several subjects. Jackson is a very smart, hard working daughter of hard working parents and grandparents. The book gives me no reason to believe that she was a DEI hire.

Full confession. I had not paid much attention to her and her appointment because I try not to get too immersed in politics and her appointment was tainted in my mind by Joe Biden’s, foolish (in my former opinion) prior promise to put a black woman to the Supreme Court. I felt that the President should choose the candidate that was most qualified and most aligned with his philosophy who could be confirmed.

Ketanji means Lovely One in a West African language hence the name of the book. It taught me a lot about Jackson and her judicial and personal trials but also it discusses the invisible obstacles to success that confront minorities. One obstacle is lack of role models. It is easier to visualize yourself in a role when there are already people like you in the role. Joe Biden was right to announce that he would appoint a minority woman and he then choose an outstanding person for the job.

Read this book. It might change your mind about affirmative action in hiring and admission. And also about the importance of multi-generational hard work. It changed my mind.