Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson spoke at an event at the Chevalier Theater in Medford on Sept. 11. One of the latest stops on her book tour, the venue was full of attendees.
The justice did not focus on discussing national political issues, instead reflecting on her life before the Supreme Court and her new memoir “Lovely One.”
The event opened with Jackson reading from the preface of her book, detailing her personal journey to the Supreme Court. She spoke of her experience being sworn in and reflected on the progress that made it possible for a Black woman to take her place on the nation’s highest court.
“I had to keep reminding myself this moment was real,” Jackson read aloud from her preface, describing her experience swearing in. “[I was] the first black woman to sit on the Supreme Court in its 233-year history.”
Jackson was interviewed by Imani Perry, a writer and professor at Harvard University, who asked about specific vignettes from the book and Jackson’s intentions in writing it. Jackson highlighted the strength she drew from understanding where she came from.
“I think for me, personally, history helps when I think about the adversity, anger and outrage of prior generations,” Jackson said. “It helps me put it in perspective.”
Jackson then went on to answer pre-submitted audience questions about a range of topics, including her daily life and personal interest in theater.
One audience question posed to Jackson was how she keeps faith when dealing with adversity. She once again drew inspiration from history and took hope in the distance the nation has traveled.
“When I think about how far we’ve come as a nation, not only do I feel grateful, but it gives me hope, and it helps me to endure the anger, outrage, et cetera,” Jackson said.
Answering another audience question about what brought her the most joy during her tenure on the Supreme Court, Jackson mentioned that inspiring young people was one of the most joyful aspects of her role.
“The thing that I love about my job the most is when I get to invite future students to the board,” Jackson said. “I get to have audiences and people who listen to my life story. It’s a wonderful opportunity to connect.”
Sophomore Isadora Alexis, who attended the event, found that the event was enjoyable, though it was not what she was anticipating.
“I think it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but I appreciated the fact that I could be in the same space as her and hear some of her opinions and thoughts and ruminations on her own life and what brought her to the moment where she is now,” Alexis said.
Alexis also described an exciting energy in the theater.
“It was so cool, also being around such an invested crowd. Like everyone was there, everyone was very enthusiastic, very much in the moment,” Alexis shared. “It really helped me, at least, to make the most of it, and really take away as much as I could from her interview.”
While much of the talk was very thoughtful and serious, there were also several humorous vignettes about Jackson’s life.
“I enjoyed how light-hearted [Jackson] was. She was very comedic. It felt very informal, which I wasn’t expecting,” Alexis said.
While Jackson did cover many topics in her time on stage, Alexis wished she had touched on more current events.
“I wish that she talked more about the current political climate,” Alexis remarked. “I wish we had deviated just a bit from just talking about her book and talked about the modern world a little bit.”
Despite wishing that the talk had referenced today’s politics more, Alexis found the event to showcase a unique and unseen side to Jackson.
“When we see government officials and people who work on the federal level like her, especially at such a polarizing time, they’re definitely boiled down to their decisions and their opinions,” Alexis said. “It was very nice seeing a bit of a more human side to her.”
Also, in an effort to protect judges in a period of political violence, there was a group called Support the Courts demonstrating outside of the theater, passing out flyers which read “Support The Courts” and “Protect our Judges,” calling for nonpartisan support for the protection of judges from violence. Their flyer describes their goal to “demonstrate to judges that there is tremendous public respect for their role and concern for their safety.”
