凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊周四，当她宣誓成为历史上第一位担任美国最高法院法官的黑人女性时，标志着美国代表权的一个里程碑——正式获得了大法官的头衔。

首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨在最高法院的一个简短仪式上为杰克逊主持了宪法宣誓，即将退休的斯蒂芬·布雷耶大法官主持了司法宣誓。杰克逊大约20年前曾在斯蒂芬·布雷耶大法官手下工作。

她的丈夫帕特里克·杰克逊博士拿着两本圣经——一本家庭圣经和一本哈兰圣经，后者是詹姆斯国王于1906年捐赠给最高法院的圣经——杰克逊咧嘴笑着重复了誓言。

“我代表法院的所有成员，很高兴欢迎杰克逊大法官来到法院，加入我们共同的召唤，”罗伯茨说，其他七名出席的现任大法官鼓掌，杰克逊面带微笑。

布雷耶握了握她的手，低声说，“恭喜，”然后拍拍她的背。

杰克逊在一份书面声明中说:“我全心全意地接受支持和捍卫美国宪法以及公正司法的庄严责任，上帝保佑我。”。"我真的很感激能成为我们伟大国家承诺的一部分."

她感谢她的新同事“热情而亲切的欢迎”，并说她“特别感谢首席大法官和布雷耶大法官给予我的时间和关注。”

“在过去的20年里，布雷耶大法官一直是我的私人朋友和导师，除了是今天官方行为的一部分，”她写道。“在他堪称楷模的服务之后，在我的家人和朋友的支持下，并时刻牢记促进法治的责任，我已经做好了为美国人民服务的准备。”

布雷耶在他自己的声明中说，他“今天很高兴”——为“科坦吉”，“为我的法官同事”，“为美国”。

“她的努力、正直和智慧为她赢得了在这个法庭上的一席之地，”他说。“他们获得了一个感同身受、体贴和合群的同事...凯坦吉将明智而公正地解释这部法律，帮助这部法律更好地为它所服务的美国人民服务。”

罗伯茨说，在仪式上将有一个正式的授职仪式，但周四的宣誓将允许杰克逊承担她的职责，“她一直渴望得到他们，没有任何进一步的拖延。”

杰克逊在她的参议院确认后在白宫说，“这花了232年和115次事先任命，但我们做到了。”

“我们的孩子告诉我，他们现在比以往任何时候都更清楚，在美国，一切皆有可能，”她说。

她加入最高法院也是第一次有四名女性同时担任高等法院法官。

乔·拜登总统1月宣布布雷耶在法院工作了27年后将在任期结束时退休，实现了不愿等待的进步人士的愿望，并启动了长达一个月的过程名字杰克逊她还需要42天的确认时间。

三名共和党人最终加入了参议院民主党人的行列，标志着重大的政治胜利拜登的长期遗产和他激励民主党人的短期努力。

拜登说，当他考虑被提名人时，他正在寻找一个具有布雷耶司法哲学和“对法律必须为美国人民服务的务实理解”的人。随着杰克逊的提名，他兑现关键承诺从2020年竞选活动开始，在至关重要的南卡罗来纳州初选之前，他将提名法院的第一位黑人女性。

“这将让这么多的阳光照耀到这么多的年轻女性，这么多年轻的黑人女性，”拜登今年4月在杰克逊和副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯(美国第一位女性和第一位黑人副总统)旁边说。“我们将回首过去，把这视为美国历史上真正变革的时刻。”

杰克逊，51岁，出生于华盛顿特区，从华盛顿特区巡回上诉法院出来，被认为是除最高法院之外最重要的联邦法院。她在联邦法院有超过八年的经验，走过了在她之前许多被提名者走过的司法道路。

像其他大法官一样，她毕业于哈佛法学院，但她标志着她在历史上的地位从多方面来说，他也是第一位前公共辩护律师和第一位佛罗里达州长大的最高法院法官。她也将是自瑟古德·马歇尔以来第一位有刑事辩护经验的法官。

问她什么给美国年轻人的信息她向参议院司法委员会回忆说，她在哈佛的第一个学期感到格格不入，当时一个陌生人给她上了一堂关于适应力的精彩课。

“晚上我在院子里散步，一个我不认识的黑人妇女在人行道上从我身边走过，她看着我，我想她知道我的感受。当我们穿过时，她靠过来说‘坚持住’”，杰克逊说。“我会告诉他们要坚持下去。”

她还动情地讲述了自己是奴隶的后代，她的父母在南方吉姆克劳长大。

“在我的家庭中，从种族隔离到美国最高法院只用了一代人的时间，”杰克逊在白宫说在她被证实后。“对我来说，这是一种荣誉，一生的荣誉，有机会加入最高法院，促进最高水平的法治，并尽我的一份力量，将我们共同的民主项目和法律下的平等正义推向未来。”

她的两个女儿，21岁的塔利亚和17岁的莱拉，也出席了这个简短但具有历史意义的宣誓仪式。

Making history, Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as Supreme Court justice

Ketanji Brown Jacksonmarked a milestone in American representation on Thursday when she was sworn in as the first Black woman in history to sit on the nation's highest court -- officially taking on the title of justice.

Chief Justice John Roberts, in a brief ceremony at the Supreme Court, administered the constitutional oath to Jackson, and retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, who Jackson clerked for some 20 years ago, administered the judicial oath.

Her husband, Dr. Patrick Jackson, held two Bibles -- a family Bible and the Harlan Bible, a King James Bible donated to the Supreme Court in 1906 -- as Jackson smiled broadly and finished repeating the oaths.

"On behalf of all the members of the court, I'm pleased to welcome Justice Jackson to the court and to our common calling," Roberts said as the other seven other sitting justices attending applauded while Jackson beamed.

Breyer shook her hand and whispered, "Congrats," before patting her on the back.

"With a full heart, I accept the solemn responsibility of supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States and administering justice without fear or favor, so help me God," Jackson said in a written statement. "I am truly grateful to be part of the promise of our great Nation."

She thanked her new colleagues "for their warm and gracious welcome," and said she is "especially grateful for the time and attention given to me by the Chief Justice and by Justice Breyer."

"Justice Breyer has been a personal friend and mentor of mine for the past two decades, in addition to being part of today's official act," she wrote. "In the wake of his exemplary service, with the support of my family and friends, and ever mindful of the duty to promote the Rule of Law, I am well-positioned to serve the American people."

Breyer, in his own statement, said he's "glad today" -- for "Ketanji," "for my fellow Justices," and "for America."

"Her hard work, integrity, and intelligence have earned her a place on this Court," he said. "They gain a colleague who is empathetic, thoughtful, and collegial... Ketanji will interpret the law wisely and fairly, helping that law to work better for the American people, whom it serves."

Roberts said at the ceremony there will be a formal investiture in the fall but the oaths Thursday will allow Jackson to undertake her duties, "and she's been anxious to get to them without any further delay."

Jackson said at the White House after her Senate confirmation, "It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments, but we've made it."

"And our children are telling me that they see now, more than ever, that here in America, anything is possible," she said.

Her joining the court also makes it the first time four women will sit on the high court bench at the same time.

President Joe Bidenannounced in Januarythat Breyer would retire at the end of the term after 27 years on the court, fulfilling the wishes of progressives wary of waiting, and setting off what would become a month-long process toname Jacksonand another 42 days for her confirmation.

Three Republicans ultimately joined Senate Democrats in confirming her,marking a significant political winfor Biden's long-term legacy -- and his short-term efforts to energize Democrats.

Biden said, when he was considering nominees, that he was looking for someone with Breyer's judicial philosophy and "a pragmatic understanding that the law must work for the American people." And with Jackson's nomination, hedelivered on a key promisefrom the 2020 campaign trail, before the all-important South Carolina primary, that he would nominate the court's first Black woman.

"This is going to let so much sun shine on so many young women, so many young Black women," Biden said in April, alongside Jackson and Vice President Kamala Harris, the nation's first female and first Black vice president. "We're going to look back and see this as a moment of real change in American history."

Jackson, 51, born in Washington D.C., comes off the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, considered the most important federal court next to the Supreme Court. She has more than eight years of experience on the federal bench, following a path through the judiciary traveled by many nominees before her.

Like other associate justices, she is a graduate of Harvard Law School, but shemarks her place in historyin multiple ways, as also the first former public defender and first Florida-raised judge to sit on the Supreme Court. She'll also be the first justice since Thurgood Marshall to have criminal defense experience.

Asked what hermessage to young Americanswould be during her Senate confirmations, she recalled to the Senate Judiciary Committee feeling out of place at Harvard in her first semester -- when a stranger provided a remarkable lesson in resilience.

"I was walking through the yard in the evening and a Black woman I did not know was passing me on the sidewalk, and she looked at me, and I guess she knew how I was feeling. And she leaned over as we crossed and said 'persevere,'" Jackson said. "I would tell them to persevere."

She has also spoken with emotion about descending from slaves and her parents growing up in Jim Crow South.

"In my family, it took just one generation to go from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States," Jackson said at the White Houseafter she was confirmed. "And it is an honor, the honor of a lifetime, for me to have this chance to join the court, to promote the rule of law at the highest level, and to do my part to carry our shared project of democracy and equal justice under law forward into the future."

Her two daughters, Talia, 21, and Leila, 17, were also present for the brief but historic swearing-in.