Ketanji Brown Jackson Wants People To Know Her Story With First Memoir Titled, ‘Lovely One’

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is telling her story the best way she knows how with a new memoir.

According to CNN, her book will be titled ‘Lovely One,’ taking readers on a journey from her Miami upbringing, to her Harvard years, marriage and more. “Mine has been an unlikely journey,” Justice Jackson says.

“This memoir marries the public record of my life with what is less known.”

The title has sentimental value, using the English translation of her birth name, Ketanji Onyika Brown, given to her my her aunt. “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.”

What a story to tell.

Before making history as the first Black women appointed to the Court, Jackson was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. After sitting through grueling interrogation, she was confirmed by the Senate in mid-2022 and shortly after, gave her first opinion in November.

This will be the 52-year-old’s first book.

Published by Random House, there has been no announcement of a release date or how much she will be paid for her work. It isn’t uncommon for Supreme Court members to secure lucrative deals. Justice Jackson follows in the footsteps of fellow members, like Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who received a payment of over $400,000 for her unreleased book.

According to a statement written by Jackson this week, her “hope is that the fullness of my journey as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, litigator, and friend will stand as a testament for young women, people of color, and dreamers everywhere … especially those who nourish outsized ambitions and believe in the possibility of achieving them.”