Thank You, Senator Booker, For Restoring My Faith in Humanity
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The confirmation hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson have been troubling and triggering for me as a Black woman. They have also been troubling and triggering for many Black women across the country who have watched the three days of abuse and disrespect heaped upon Brown Jackson. I have fielded several phone calls from my mother as she called to tell me the latest disgusting thing that had been said to Brown Jackson. In fact, the first day I refused to watch the confirmations as I knew what to expect. Brown Jackson, a brilliant mind and outstanding woman, would be ripped to shreds by the white senators who could not stand to see her about to ascend to the highest court in the land. As others have described it, it feels like a confirmation lynching.
From being yelled at by Senator Ted Cruz who stupidly asked her did she think babies were racist, enduring Senator Lindsay Graham’s storming off and attempting to right wrongs he felt were committed against Kavanaugh and Barrett during their confirmation hearings by degrading Brown Jackson, being asked by Senator Marsha Blackburn to provide a definition for the word woman, and enduring Senator Josh Hawley’s obscene fixation with child sex abuse and painting Brown Jackson as light on its offenders, it was enough to make you sick to your stomach.
In the midst of all this, there was a ray of sunshine, and this sunshine came from New Jersey senator, Corey Booker, when he told Brown Jackson, “don’t worry my sister…God has got you.”
Instead of questioning her, Senator Booker spoke to Judge Brown Jackson’s soul. He watered her, nurtured her, uplifted her, covered her, and gave her reprieve during a tumultuous time.
Senator Booker took us to church, saying precisely “nobody’s going to make me angry, especially not people that are called [by a conservative magazine] demagogic for what they’re bringing up.” He gave us a much needed break from the anger we were feeling, reminding us that Black joy is an act of resistance. He reminded us that this was the Honorable Ketanji Brown Jackson’s moment and she would be confirmed. He invoked the church, the ancestors, Venus Williams, and Beyoncé.
Corey Booker knew what Brown Jackson needed. He knew what Black women at home needed. He knew…
