Trail-blazing Illinois women ‘beyond thrilled’ Justice Jackson sworn in as first Black woman on Supreme Court

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in February, shortly before President Joe Biden nominated the U.S. Circuit judge for a seat on the nation’s top court. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP file)

For Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, the swearing in of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Thursday sparked mixed emotions — a disheartening feeling that it took so long for a Black woman to rise to the nation’s top court and elation that it finally happened.

“I think Ketanji, her name, the way she wears her hair, her skin tone, what that means for me as a dark-skinned Black woman lawyer to see myself reflected in her presence — and she’s brilliant — is what I’m happy my daughters get to see,” Foxx told the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday.