EMILYs List Statement on the Historic Confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

For Immediate Release
April 7, 2022

EMILYs List Statement on the Historic Confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm the appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. Laphonza Butler, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement: 
 
“Today we celebrate the historic confirmation of the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court in its 233 year history. While I am ecstatic for this historical moment, I also applaud the vast experience, distinguished service, and the immovable grace that Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson brought during her hearings and is bringing to the court. 
 
“Justice Jackson knows all too well that being the first isn’t easy and the road is perilous, but Black women deserve to be in every room where decisions are made. For the first time ever, her voice on the Court will be representative of Black women who helped build this country, kept it running and have seen too little power throughout history. But even greater, she will serve as a role model to America’s daughters, encouraging them to reach for the highest heights.  Today, I am reveling in the making of history and the shattering of a glass ceiling that for too long kept Black women out of the highest court in the land. And to ensure Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson isn’t the last Black woman pioneer we celebrate, EMILYs List will continue to support Black women candidates on their own journeys to making history.”

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect Democratic pro-choice women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 159 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.