WASHINGTON — Attorney Jotaka Eaddy and thousands of others formed a metaphorical circle of protection around Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as she traipsed down the snake pit on Capitol Hill during the contentious SCOTUS confirmation hearings.
Jackson is poised to become the first-ever Black woman U.S. Supreme Court jurist, but the path has been rife with obstacles, and deliberately so, some would say. Eaddy leveraged the interstate influence of the collective she convened, #WinningWithBlackWomen, to help fill some of the veritable potholes along Jackson’s road to confirmation.
The intergenerational and interactive organization WWBW was founded in 2020 and meets on most Sundays via social media. It is comprised of thousands of Black women in the realms of business, civil rights, and social justice as well as politics, high tech, and in the fields of entertainment and sports.
Eaddy said #WinningWithBlackWomen is designed to “speak out against the racism and sexism that’s often hurled at black women. I think we’ve seen that much (during) this confirmation hearing,” Eaddy pointed out to rolling out. “Number two, we work within our personal capacities to elect black women in the office. And thirdly, we work to uplift the collective agenda and image of black women and particularly focus on supporting the work of black women-led organizations.”
Eaddy is not new to being in political foxholes or spearheading campaigns. She is the founder and CEO of Full Circle Strategies, a social impact and political consulting firm that aims to enact transformative change on a national and international scale. She is also the co-host of the award-winning OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network Television series “Speak Sis!”
With that in mind, Eaddy came armed with her virtual crew to bring muscle to Melanie Campbell’s National Coalition of Black Civic Participation organization. She and her crew made phone calls to members of Congress and hosted rallies and events in support of Judge Jackson’s nomination.
“This is where I need to be. Personally, am deeply committed to doing everything I can within my professional and personal capacity to ensure the confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, as a black woman, as an American, and as someone who cares very deeply about the rule of law.”
This attorney has a long and deep relationship with the law as she spearheaded the Supreme Court case, Roper vs. Simmons, that abolished the death penalty for juveniles. The Supreme Court candidacy of Judge Jackson becomes another career highlight that has profound future implications.
Overall, as Eaddy expressed eloquently, #WinningWithBlackWomen is tantamount to “a collective love letter from black women to ourselves.”
