Supply: CHIP SOMODEVILLA / Getty
Supreme Court docket Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson didn’t simply attend the 2025 presidential inauguration—she made a press release. And persons are nonetheless speaking about it.
Poised, highly effective, and intentional, Justice Jackson despatched a message along with her major accent of alternative: a daring, layered cowrie shell necklace paired with matching earrings. In opposition to her black ceremonial garb – and the backdrop of one of the polarizing political moments in trendy historical past – Ketanji’s necklace spoke volumes.
Ketanji reminded the world who she is: the primary Black lady on the Supreme Court docket, unapologetic, unfazed, and unstoppable.
Supply: Paul Morigi / Getty
Why everybody’s speaking about Ketanji Brown Jackson’s cowrie shells
Cowrie shells maintain a deep historic and cultural resonance in Black and African heritage. These small, stunning shells have been as soon as used as African foreign money, praised for his or her portability and resistance to counterfeiting. They symbolized wealth and energy, and their significance prolonged past economics. The Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition says cowrie shells have been tied to non secular safety and prosperity, typically worn as pendants or amulets to chase away hurt.
At this time, we witnessed this historical past layered across the neck of the primary Black lady to sit down on the Supreme Court docket. Justice Jackson’s necklace wasn’t simply stunning; it was armor. It carried the burden of her cultural previous and the silent rebel.
Supply: Chip Somodevilla / Getty
Justice Jackson didn’t cease at one cowrie shell. She layered them, making a dramatic, nearly regal impact. The shells curved round her neck and framed her crown of locks like an embellished protect. She regarded flawless—but in addition about prepared.
Prepared for the scrutiny, the strain, and the burden that comes with being a trailblazer. What higher manner to try this than with a contact of ancestral energy?
Ketanji Brown Jackson’s inauguration picture goes viral – and we’re right here for it.
The photographs of Ketanji from the inauguration went viral nearly immediately. Justice Jackson’s headshot—face card by no means declining—circulated throughout social media, along with her loc’d crown glowing in opposition to the magnificence of her cowries.
“That is America,” actress Natasha Rothwell captioned her repost of Ketanji, pairing it with the enduring Infantile Gambino monitor. Comic Loni Love additionally joined in, shouting out Jackson and highlighting the significance of the intentional accent alternative.
This second didn’t occur in isolation.
Black girls have made daring, quiet statements all through this inauguration season, resisting conformity and demanding respect. Michelle Obama and Consultant Ayanna Pressley’s choices to skip the occasions have been a stark reminder that typically, not displaying up may be its personal sort of protest. The better context of the inauguration falling on Martin Luther King Day additionally has that means for a lot of.
Additional, cowrie shells have been utilized by Black girls to make daring trend decisions many instances. Whereas slaying BET’s 2022 Awards, Sistas star Novi Brown wore a gown lined within the shells.
Social media praised Novi’s match for femininity, model, and heritage. We do the identical at present.
Black girls in every single place paid consideration to Ketanji’s Inauguration trend decisions. Amidst adversity, Sis spoke of historical past, id, delight, and excellence with out saying a single phrase.
SEE ALSO:
Learn Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Full Dissent After SCOTUS Ends Affirmative Motion
‘Testomony To What Is Attainable’: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Celebrated With Miami Road Renaming
At Inauguration, Supreme Court docket Decide Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Cowrie Shell Necklace Despatched A Daring Message
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