Richie’s Picks: THE DREAM & THE HOPE: THE HISTORIC RISE OF KETANJI BROWN JACKSON TO THE NATION’S HIGHEST COURT
Richie Partington
Richie’s Picks: THE DREAM & THE HOPE: THE HISTORIC RISE OF KETANJI BROWN JACKSON TO THE NATION’S HIGHEST COURT by Garen Thomas and Lori Rozsa, HarperCollins/Harper, January 2026, 336p., ISBN: 978-0-06-331144-2
“And there were bloody footprints
Where mercy should have stood
And two dead, left to die on snow-filled streets
Alex Pretti and Renée Good”
– Bruce Springsteen (2026)
“When President Joe Biden nominated Judge Jackson to be on the US Supreme Court, her friends and family and most people in the legal world were thrilled but not surprised.
The president said he wanted somebody truly special for the important job.
‘Somebody extremely qualified, with a brilliant legal mind, with the utmost character and integrity, which are equally as important,’ Biden said. ‘Someone with extraordinary character, who will bring to the Supreme Court an independent mind, uncompromising integrity, and with a strong moral compass and the courage to stand up for what she thinks is right.’”
From cover to cover, THE DREAM & THE HOPE: THE HISTORIC RISE OF KETANJI BROWN JACKSON TO THE NATION’S HIGHEST COURT demonstrates over and over and over again why President Biden’s elevation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court was a no-brainer: Ketanji exceeded Biden’s desired qualifications in every aspect of her resume and her life.
Justice Jackson, who was a precocious reader at age two, and was citing history to adults by age four, was the daughter of a teacher mother and a teacher-turned-attorney father. She fell in love with the law, thanks to her dad, and actually imagined, as an adolescent, one day fulfilling her fantasy of “becoming the first Black, female Supreme Court to appear on a Broadway stage.”
From grade school to high school, to college and law school, Ketanji kept her eyes on the prize, working overtime to consistently be the best student, the best student leader, and the best person she could be. This engaging biography walks us through the challenges and successes from her childhood in Florida onward to the Supreme Court.
“Ketanji developed a very useful habit during her debate competition years. Every time she walked into a new classroom throughout her storied speech and debate career, she’d enter with her customary resolute step, exuding confidence and a big smile with her head held high and her back straight. She was just over five feet tall, but she seemed taller to her friends because of the way she carried herself.
Ketanji knew that a confident posture helped to convince the judges watching from the front row that she knew what she was talking about. She was always prepared, well-rested, and ready to win.
But she knew she had another obstacle to overcome that had nothing to do with her confidence, or with how brilliant her public speaking was, or how sharp and on point her speeches and comebacks or rejoinders were. She was Black, and the judges and competitors were almost always white. Therefore, she walked with purpose to the chalkboard at the front of the room, and with a smile, briefly turned her back to the judges and wrote on the board:
K-e-t-a-n-j-i
She’d put the chalk down and then turn back to face the judges, still smiling. She’d spell her name out loud, and then pronounce it, clear as a bell.
‘She would always just articulate it really clearly,’ said Stephen, who was also on the team, and had watched her introduce herself like that dozens of times. ‘It was a simple, “Hello, my name is Ketanji Brown, K-e-t-a-n-j-i.”’ He noted that she was dark-complexioned ‘Black young woman, a teenager. And she had an unusual name. And so she had to immediately convey to the person who’s going to be literally judging her who she is right off the bat.’”
“Ketanji recalled many years later, ‘Whether it was running for class president, or becoming a champion orator, or even applying to Harvard after my public high school guidance counselor “helpfully” suggested that I not set my sights so high, I recall distinctly not being fazed by the slings and arrows of implicit, or even explicit bias, and making the conscious decision to push forward nonetheless.’
We repeatedly see Ketanji’s compassionate side, and how her time spent as a public defender–a rare experience amongst Supreme Court justices–has enriched her ability to really grasp what people who come before the Court–or any court–might be dealing with.
But THE DREAM & THE HOPE is far more than a biography. This is a serious must-have for Black History Month. It is packed with fascinating details about American Black history, including discussions of pivotal decisions made by the Founders and by the US Supreme Court that have positively and negatively impacted the paths trod by Ketanji Brown Jackson and generations of other Americans of color who have fought for the same rights accorded, so routinely and consistently, to white men. In this age of Trump’s anti-DEI crusade, there is an excellent discussion of affirmative action.
(Spoiler: By far, the biggest group who benefit from affirmative action are white American women, so many of whom unwittingly act against their own best interests by opposing it.)
At a time when a lot is wrong in America, having Ketanji Brown Jackson on the Supreme Court is one of the things that, as an American, I am so proud of. This book is guaranteed to inspire some kids, somewhere in America, to work hard, to become lawyers or jurists, and work to change our representative democracy so that we make America everything it can be.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com