Justice Jackson working on a memoir, titled ‘Lovely One’

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January 5, 2023

By Hillel Italie, Associated Press

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is working on a memoir. Jackson, the first Black woman appointed to the court, is calling the book “Lovely One.” “Mine has been an unlikely journey,” (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is working on a memoir. Jackson, the first Black woman appointed to the court, is calling the book “Lovely One.”

“Mine has been an unlikely journey,” Jackson said in a statement released Thursday by Random House.

“But the path was paved by courageous women and men in whose footsteps I placed my own, road warriors like my own parents, and also luminaries in the law, whose brilliance and fortitude lit my way. This memoir marries the public record of my life with what is less known. It will be a transparent accounting of what it takes to rise through the ranks of the legal profession, especially as a woman of color with an unusual name and as a mother and a wife striving to reconcile the demands of a high-profile career with the private needs of my loved ones.”

No release date has been set for “Lovely One.” Jackson, 52, was born Ketanji Onyika Brown. The book’s title comes from the English translation of Ketanji Onyika, the name suggested by an aunt who at the time was a Peace Corps worker in West Africa.

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Jackson’s position was made possible by trailblazers and activists and her memoir will likely detail some experiences that leave Black Americans wondering if they’re really free.

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