A street in Miami-Dade County is being named after the first Black female U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson. She expressed her gratitude in a speech at the unveiling ceremony held Monday in Cutler Bay.
“I really do love this place,” Jackson said. “And now to have my name so prominently displayed on a street in a community that has given me so much, that is a very special honor.”
Jackson was born in Washington D.C. but raised in Miami, where she attended Miami Palmetto Senior High School. She credits the institution with cultivating her passion for speech and debate.
“I was nurtured by fantastic teachers and coaches right here,” Jackson said after shouting out her former high school. “It was while I was studying and competing and growing up here in this community that I gained self-confidence in the face of challenges.”
Jackson said that she hopes this street naming serves as a testament to what is possible in this country for people of all backgrounds.
“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,” Justice Brown Jackson said.
