teaser

Opinion: As Alaska Native women, we stand in support of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination mirrors many of the experiences of minorities in the U.S.

  • Friday, April 1, 2022 6:56pm
  • Opinion

The nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson mirrors many of the experiences of minorities in this country — it brings hope wrought with controversy that is rooted in racism. Hope because a promise was kept when the US President nominated the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court and controversy because the nomination devolved into a display of racism, partisanship and a deplorable lack of dignity by certain members of the committee during her confirmation process.

Our Alaska Native peoples are very familiar with this dichotomy of excitement that is almost immediately smothered by those uncomfortable with any change toward an equitable future. Our people have watched with both hope and dismay as promises have been kept and forgotten; trust has been built and then torn back apart. Many times, this has happened in our local, state, and federal courts, and a few times, even recently, at the Supreme Court. In fact, as Alaska Natives we know just how critical this is because we do not currently have any Alaska Native people serving as judges in the entire Alaska State Court System. And because we feel this inequity every day, we know why the highest court in the United States must reflect the people it presumes serve – it is in fact a tenet of this country’s democracy and this bench plays an important role in enacting this representation. We must embrace this opportunity to have the amazing mind and voice of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on the U.S. Supreme Court because she has a commitment to jurisprudence, exceeds all the necessary criteria and deeply understands the dichotomy and yet persists to fight for what is right for our country.

As a person of color and as a woman, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has lived the experience of having to work harder and endure more just to be on a level playing field. We know that despite enormous early educational achievements, her high school guidance counselor advised her to “not set her ‘sites so high” when she expressed her desire to apply to Harvard Law School. Thank goodness this did not dissuade her. She went on to Harvard, has served on the federal bench, which is already quite an achievement, and now she is poised to be confirmed for a lifetime seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. She did this by building an impeccable resume and reputation despite the voices and systems of power that try to hold her back.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has the education and experience that the job requires with more than a decade serving on a federal bench, a clerkship with a U.S. district court and a U.S. court of appeals. She brings a diversity of professional experience with her work in criminal defense, which the Supreme Court lost when Justice Thurgood Marshall retired more than 30 years ago. Personally, she brings strengths, integrity, and grace under pressure. These are the qualities that we need in a person whose decisions will shape the lives of generations to come.

She has more than shown over her lifetime that she is the US Supreme Court Justice our country needs right now. We ask our congressional representatives take this historic moment and use it not to diminish this country by holding back an incredible American from serving her country but rather to strengthen it by appointing Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. As Alaska Native women, we stand in support of her confirmation.

• Jaeleen Kaa Ju Hein Kookesh (Tlingit/Athabascan – Angoon), Sarah Aan Shaawátk’I Dybdahl (Tlingit/Nimiipu – Klawock), Rosita Kaaháani Worl, Ph.D. (Tlingit – Juneau), Gianna Saanuga Willard (Haida – Ketchikan), Gloria Ilsxilee Stang Churchill Burns (Haida – Ketchikan), Alana Peterson (Tlingit – Sitka), Heather L’geiki Powell (Tlingit/Ojibwe – Hoonah), Louise Brady (Tlingit – Sitka), Dawn Kaaxwáan Jackson (Haida/Tlingit – Kake), Marina Anderson (Haida/Tlingit – Craig), Barbara ‘Wáahlaal Gíidaak Blake (Haida, Tlingit, Ahtna – Juneau), Elizabeth La quen náay Medicine Crow (Haida/Tlingit – Kake), Nicole ch’aak tlaa Hallingstad (Tlingit – Petersburg) and Jacqueline Kus.een Pata (Tlingit – Juneau). Columns, My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire. Have something to say? Here’s how to submit a My Turn or letter.

More in Opinion

Web
Have something to say?

Here’s how to add your voice to the conversation.

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, addresses a crowd with President-elect Donald Trump present. (Photo from U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan’s office)
Opinion: Sen. Sullivan’s Orwellian style of transparency

When I read that President-elect Donald Trump had filed a lawsuit against… Continue reading

Sunrise over Prince of Wales Island in the Craig Ranger District of the Tongass National Forest. (Forest Service photo by Brian Barr)
Southeast Alaska’s ecosystem is speaking. Here’s how to listen.

Have you ever stepped into an old-growth forest alive with ancient trees… Continue reading

As a protester waves a sign in the background, Daniel Penny, center, accused of criminally negligent homicide in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, arrives at State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. A New York jury acquitted Daniel Penny in the death of Jordan Neely and as Republican politicians hailed the verdict, some New Yorkers found it deeply disturbing.(Jefferson Siegel/The New York Times)
Opinion: Stress testing the justice system

On Monday, a New York City jury found Daniel Penny not guilty… Continue reading

Members of the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé hockey team help Mendenhall Valley residents affected by the record Aug. 6 flood fill more than 3,000 sandbags in October. (JHDS Hockey photo)
Opinion: What does it mean to be part of a community?

“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate… Continue reading

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, at the Capitol in Washington on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. Accusations of past misconduct have threatened his nomination from the start and Trump is weighing his options, even as Pete Hegseth meets with senators to muster support. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)
Opinion: Sullivan plays make believe with America’s future

Two weeks ago, Sen. Dan Sullivan said Pete Hegseth was a “strong”… Continue reading

Dan Allard (right), a flood fighting expert for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, explains how Hesco barriers function at a table where miniature replicas of the three-foot square and four-foot high barriers are displayed during an open house Nov. 14 at Thunder Mountain Middle School to discuss flood prevention options in Juneau. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Our comfort with spectacle became a crisis

If I owned a home in the valley that was damaged by… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter: Voter fact left out of news

With all the post-election analysis, one fact has escaped much publicity. When… Continue reading

The site of the now-closed Tulsequah Chief mine. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
My Turn: Maybe the news is ‘No new news’ on Canada’s plans for Tulsequah Chief mine cleanup

In 2015, the British Columbia government committed to ending Tulsequah Chief’s pollution… Continue reading

The Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage. (Alaska Department of Family and Community Services photo)
My Turn: Rights for psychiatric patients must have state enforcement

Kim Kovol, commissioner of the state Department of Family and Community Services,… Continue reading

People living in areas affected by flooding from Suicide Basin pick up free sandbags on Oct. 20 at Thunder Mountain Middle School. (City and Borough of Juneau photo)
Opinion: Mired in bureaucracy, CBJ long-term flood fix advances at glacial pace

During meetings in Juneau last week, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)… Continue reading