This Black History Month, we are pleased to highlight Jessica Sanders, a legal practice assistant in the firm’s Washington office. Jessica shares her thoughts on observing Black History Month and a moment in history that shaped her life.

“Black History Month is a decisive statement that Blackness — but more specifically, Black history — is inextricably woven and a firmly entrenched part of American history. And that history is a bittersweet mixture of both the triumphant and the tragic parts of humanity.

A moment in Black history that influenced my life was the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court. I never thought I would see a Black woman sitting on the highest court in the land.

I plan on observing Black History Month by practicing strategies of resistance and resilience: practicing an attitude of gratitude, celebrating victories and resting, which is an act of resistance in itself.”