Lovely One

In Jackson’s early childhood, her mother, Ellery Brown, supported the family financially while her father, Johnny Brown, attended law school at the University of Miami. Jackson has always admired her parents for their loving natures and their intense work ethic. She reflects on the significance of her father’s career in the law, noting that historically, politicians used the law to oppress African Americans through legalized enslavement and Jim Crow laws. During their childhoods in Florida, Jackson’s parents endured Jim Crow laws, and Jackson is proud to have come from “resilient stock,” praising her parents and grandparents for rejecting the demeaning nature of these laws and remaining determined to “rise out of poverty” (8).

Jackson provides an overview of her family history, explaining how her maternal grandparents, Horace and Euzera Ross, moved from Georgia to Miami in the 1940s to pursue opportunities there. Though they were still subjected to racist laws in their new city, the Rosses were happy to move into Liberty City, a neighborhood for Black residents that was a New Deal project in the 1930s. Horace left his job at a brewery, where his white bosses condescended to him, and began his own landscaping business. Their children all grew up to share in Euzera and Horace’s ambition and drive—including Ketanji’s own mother, who became a science teacher and later a school principal. Jackson recalls her grandfather’s death when she was 13. He and her grandmother challenged the narrative that Black Americans should accept an inferior position in society, and they passed on a sense of ambition and purpose to their children and grandchildren.

Jackson’s father, Johnny, was born the youngest of five children in Georgia. When his father abandoned the family during his early childhood, his mother, Queen Anderson, moved the family south to Miami, where they settled in the Liberty City neighborhood. Working long days to provide for her family on her own, “Mama Queenie” was not very involved in Johnny’s education. An independent kid, Johnny would forge his mother’s signature on his report cards and largely looked after himself.

While Jackson’s parents met in high school, they didn’t begin dating until they were both college students. Her father studied history, while her mother studied science, and both became teachers after graduating. The two married in 1968, a time of political turmoil as well as positive change. While they grieved the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., both of whom had advocated for Black rights, Ellery and Johnny were also hopeful and excited about the end of segregation and a new era for Black Americans.

As college students, the Browns participated in civil rights marches, and they continued their anti-racist work as young professionals. Ellery experienced the changes of integration firsthand as a teacher at a predominantly white school, where she mentored her students and encouraged them to set high goals for themselves. In his work as a history teacher, Johnny designed a curriculum on African American history that became part of a Black studies program in the school district. Now living on the border of the District of Columbia and Maryland, the Browns were able to travel more freely, and they took day trips to New York to experience all the city had to offer. They socialized with other Black professionals, many of whom had also moved north for opportunities. While things weren’t perfect, the Browns were a positive and forward-looking couple, and they focused on the promise of the new decade of the 1970s.

Two years into their marriage, they welcomed their first child, Ketanji Onyika, which means “lovely one.” The Browns encouraged their daughter to feel a sense of pride in her African heritage, which she expressed by wearing dashikis and having natural hair styles. Jackson reflects on how her parents raised her and her brother to expect barriers to success and to persevere through them. In addition to their loving parenting, Jackson considers their lessons about persistence “the greatest gift [her] parents gave [her and her brother]” (30).

When Jackson was three years old, her parents left her in the care of her maternal grandparents while they toured West Africa. Jackson thoroughly enjoyed being spoiled by her grandparents, and her parents were thrilled to reconnect with their ancestral roots as they toured Sierra Leone, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, and Togo. Soon after their return, Johnny was admitted to the University of Miami law school, and the family moved to its campus.

Even at a young age, Jackson noticed that her paternal grandmother, Queen, was much sadder and lonelier than her maternal grandparents, living on her own in Liberty City. Jackson has some fond memories of her father’s siblings, particularly her lively and musical uncle Thomas. However, as she grew up, she realized that as a “born striver,” her father was the “unicorn” of his family and didn’t really fit in with his siblings (36).

As Ketanji grew up, her parents actively fostered her academic abilities by teaching her reading skills at home and sending her to a Black-owned preschool. After preschool, she attended George Washington Carver Elementary, a school with a gifted program. In her early childhood, Jackson was blissfully unaware of the larger racial context of her life and even the racism occurring in her Miami community. She remained close with her grade-school best friend, Sunny, into adulthood; as an adult, Sunny told her that their teacher was stricter with Black students than white ones. Looking back, Jackson wonders if she actively ignored this classroom dynamic as a child. She recalls how her parents tried to protect her from the realities of life as a Black child in the South without making her feel different or inferior to her white counterparts.

Jackson recalls a frightening incident in which, at age seven, she nearly drowned at a pool party but was rescued by her parents’ friend. Swimming was a new skill for her, as her parents insisted that she should learn how to swim since she lived close to newly racially integrated beaches and pools. Jackson recalls feeling disappointed in herself for panicking in the pool’s deep end since her parents had taught her to be confident. Jackson remembers how her parents responded to her doubts and complaints by refocusing her on how she could overcome her problem and insisting that she could do it.

Jackson’s household encouraged her creative and intellectual development; she was surrounded by African and African American art and books, and she had an interesting assortment of toys. Jackson’s parents were highly conscious of how the media could influence her sense of self, and they allowed her to watch shows like Sesame Street, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, and Schoolhouse Rock but discouraged shows like The Brady Bunch, which didn’t have any Black characters. As an introvert, Jackson enjoyed playing on her own and even frequented a secret courtyard outside where she played by herself and enjoyed her solitude. While she was a minority in her school’s gifted program, where she was sometimes uncomfortable with how she stood out, Jackson felt a strong sense of belonging at her family’s church, where she was part of a large Black congregation and loved participating in services. She concludes this chapter by reminiscing about finding a note that her grandmother had written and laughing at her grandmother’s poor spelling. Her mother helped her realize that she was very fortunate to be getting an education and having her knowledge celebrated. Humbled, she apologized to her grandmother.