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Book

Lovely one : a memoir

Call Number

  • 921 J1335 (CEN, EAS, OSH, POW, WSQ)

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Edition

First edition.

Publication Information

New York : Random House, [2024]

Physical Description

xx, 405 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Summary

"With this unflinching account, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson invites readers into her life and world, tracing her family's ascent from segregation to her confirmation on America's highest court within the span of one generation. Named 'Ketanji Onyika,' meaning 'Lovely One,' based on a suggestion from her aunt, a Peace Corps worker stationed in West Africa, Justice Jackson learned from her educator parents to take pride in her heritage since birth. She describes her resolve as a young girl to honor this legacy and realize her dreams: from hearing stories of her grandparents and parents breaking barriers in the segregated South, to honing her voice in high school as an oratory champion and student body president, to graduating magna cum laude from Harvard, where she performed in musical theater and improv and participated in pivotal student organizations. Here, Justice Jackson pulls back the curtain, marrying the public record of her life with what is less known. She reveals what it takes to advance in the legal profession when most people in power don't look like you, and to reconcile a demanding career with the joys and sacrifices of marriage and motherhood. Through trials and triumphs, Justice Jackson's journey will resonate with dreamers everywhere, especially those who nourish outsized ambitions and refuse to be turned aside. This moving, openhearted tale will spread hope for a more just world, for generations to come"--

Contents

  • Preface: A sacred trust
  • Part one: Bringing the gifts. The dream
  • Black studies
  • No place like home
  • The deep end
  • Warrior hearts
  • Mighty spirit striving
  • Force of nature
  • The secret
  • Beloved community
  • In circle square
  • Our people
  • A more perfect union
  • Love changes everything
  • Part two: Grit and grace. A year like no other
  • African homecoming
  • The culture of big law
  • What is justice?
  • Call of duty
  • Parenthood
  • The bench
  • Life support
  • From Leila's lips (to God's ears)
  • America the beautiful
  • We are the dream
  • Epilogue: Lovely life
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Photograph credits.

Subjects