News

Today, we witnessed history being made. The United States Senate—with a bipartisan vote—confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. For the first time in its history, a Black woman will sit as a justice on its bench. The Andrew Goodman Foundation celebrates this long overdue and tremendously inspiring milestone, which will make the justice system in America more fair for all Americans. Not only is Judge Jackson the first Black woman to become a justice, but she is also the first public defender to do so. 

Judge Jackson offers both extensive experience and an invaluable perspective to the role that America needs as we aim to bend the arc of our democracy more and more towards justice. Her illustrious career and education include serving as a jurist on both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the D.C. District Court, a public defender, a clerk for the retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, and graduating from Harvard University and Harvard Law School.

The Andrew Goodman Foundation recognizes the confirmation of Judge Jackson as another critical milestone in our continuing work to honor the legacies of Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney, and Michael Schwerner and uplift the spirit of young activists today. For Black women across the United States, including the young Black women in our own Andrew Goodman Vote Everywhere program and HBCU Cohort, Judge Jackson’s confirmation symbolizes representation and belonging. This is the America that Andy, James, and Michael envisioned when they put their lives on the line during Freedom Summer in 1964.

When President Biden announced Judge Jackson’s nomination to the Court on February 25, 2022, The Andrew Goodman Foundation joined organizations and individual voices across the nation to urge the Senate to confirm her. We are now extraordinarily moved to witness this significant moment in history come to fruition. The Supreme Court—and America—are all that much better for her place on the bench of the highest court in our land.