An Historic Nomination
Authenticity and character were on full display this past week as Ketanji Brown Jackson and Ashleigh Barty made headlines. Judge Jackson, President’s Biden pick to fill Justice Stephen Breyer’s seat on the Supreme Court, endured over 23 hours of questioning including abusive, hostile, and vile, grandstanding by some GOP members. The chair of the Judiciary Committee, Dick Durbin, (D-IL) characterized the attacks by Lindsay Graham, (R-SC), Josh Hawley, (R-MO) and Ted Cruz, (R-Mexico), among others, as “unfair, unrelenting and beneath the character of the Senate.” But KBJ prevailed with grace, intelligence, humor, and humility.
Destined for the world stage
World number one Ash Barty, an Indigenous Australian, who recently captured the 2022 Australian Open, in a grueling three set nail-biter – ending a 44-year drought of Aussies winning their own Grand Slam, announced her retirement at the age of 25. She explained during an informal interview with her former doubles partner, Casey Dellacqua, “I don’t have the physical drive, the emotional want and everything it takes to challenge yourself at the very top of the level anymore. I just know I am absolutely spent, physically I have nothing more to give. That for me is success.”
A Strong North Star
Their stories intersect and diverge in unusual ways. At the core of both their narratives is a strong north star with serious women who inspired them. The obvious juxtaposition is a world number one walking away from the court at the pinnacle of her career, while a glass-shattering nominee (twice her age) plays an intense, considered, and strategic match in the US Senate.
Constance Baker Motley
It is the heft of their character that draws parallels. Until her nomination, I was not familiar with Judge Jackson. Watching and listening to her navigate the perilous waters of the Senate confirmation process with measured and respectful intellect, and an abundance of forbearance, for an excruciating length of time, is a reminder why her nomination is not only historic but necessary. Inspired by Constance Baker Motley, a trail blazer in the civil rights movement, she was the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge and won nine of the ten cases she argued before the Supreme Court. In accepting the SCOTUS nomination, Judge Jackson concluded “Today I proudly stand on Judge Motley’s shoulders, sharing not only her birthday, but also her steadfast and courageous commitment to equal justice under the law.”
Evonne Goolagong Cawley
Ash Barty is an athlete who plays without drama. She embodies the Rudyard Kipling quote from his poem IF inscribed above the players entrance to Centre Court at Wimbledon. “If you can meet Triumph and Disaster, and treat those imposters just the same…” As the world’s top player in 2021, the nation had high hopes she would hoist the trophy, and end the drought. But she faltered in a three-set match in the quarters. At her press conference she said, “you are either winning or you are learning, and the sun will come up tomorrow.” This year in the press conference after capturing the Aussie Open title, a reporter asked how it felt to finally end the drought. “I am a small part of an amazing history of tennis in Australia.” Evonne Goolagong Cawley, an Indigenous Australian, and world number one player in the 70’s and 80’s surprised Barty as the trophy presenter. Of Goolagong Cawley, Barty said, “She is an amazing human being, and I am lucky to call her a friend and experience this together.”
As they embark on new paths, I am reminded of the poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. The third paragraph speaks to Ash Barty, the sixth to Judge (hopefully Justice) Jackson