Florida street named after Ketanji Brown Jackson: ‘This is where I got my start’

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson spoke at a ceremony Monday celebrating the renaming of a street in her home of Miami-Dade County in her honor, according to multiple reports.

During the Monday ceremony, Brown reflected on the road she took to becoming the first Black woman on the nation’s highest court.

“I hope that this street naming will also serve as a testament to what is possible in this great country,” Jackson said.

“I hope that people who are driving by might have a moment of reflection about what it means that a person from this neighborhood and someone from my background could take what this place has to offer and be well-equipped enough to then go out into the world and do what it takes to not only become the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States – but also the first former public defender – and the first associate justice who is from the great state of Florida,” Jackson said.

The Miami-Dade County Commission voted unanimously to name the street after Jackson in October. It was a move spearheaded by Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins, who said that she looked to the Supreme Court justice as an inspiration.

“As a mother, lawyer, public servant and woman of color, the Justice is an inspiration, to say the very least. It is my absolute honor to recognize the Justice and to do so during Women’s History month,” Higgins said in a statement, according to CNN.

Jackson was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Biden in February 2022 and was sworn in as a justice in June of that year following the Senate’s confirmation of her nomination. Both of Jackson’s parents still live in the southern part of the county.