Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson kicked off N.C. A&T’s 2025-2026 Text-In-Community series on Wednesday, Sept. 3, with a profound overarching message for students.
The TIC series, sponsored by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the Division of Student Affairs is an annual program that supports university-wide conversations centered around a selected text.
This year’s first selected text was Jackson’s bestselling memoir, “Lovely One,” which unfolds her life story up until 2022 when she was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The conversations surrounding Jackson’s memoir that night can be summed up in one quote: “I am standing on the shoulders of the generations of the past,” Justice Jackson said. “Think of yourself as a part of a bigger narrative.”
During her visit, Jackson told students that this sentiment is what drove her to attend Harvard University, practice law at the highest court and eventually write a bestselling autobiography in the midst of a major career shift.
After being introduced by Chancellor James R. Martin II, Jackson read an excerpt from the preface of her book titled “Sacred Trust.”
In the preface, she recounts her June 2022 investiture ceremony where she stood before the nation and took an oath to defend and support the Constitution as a Supreme Court justice.
The preface reveals what was running through her mind in that moment.
“Only one generation after my mother and father had experienced the spirit crushing effects of racial segregation in housing, schooling and transportation while growing up in Florida, their daughter was standing on a threshold of history, the embodiment of our ancestor’s dreams,” she read to the crowd.
This line from the excerpt set the tone for the remainder of the conversation between Jackson and event moderator Lora Cubbage, an A&T alum and former Guilford County Superior Court judge who now serves as the Greensboro city attorney.
Cubbage asked Jackson to expand on an array of topics that pop up in her memoir, from being raised by pro-Black HBCU graduates, to falling in love with a Boston Brahmin and navigating marriage, motherhood and an extraordinary legal career.
In all of her responses, Jackson returned to her central point, that her accomplishments were made possible by the support and sacrifices of her ancestors who’ve put her in the position to support the next generation.
“We’re a part of a whole. We’re not just in it for ourselves,” she said. “Do what is necessary to get ready for when the baton is passed to you.”
Sophomore biology student Raheem Johnson said Jackson’s point resonated with him deeply.
“Being a third generation Aggie, I really feel like I relate to Ketanji in the sense that people before me have put in work for me to be able to succeed in school,” he said.
Senior psychology student Genesis Drake had similar takeaways.
“It’s really important that I do my best to not only honor myself but to honor my family, and of course God and the people that came before me,” Drake said.
