Growing up, Jessica Childress saw few images of Black women in the legal world, she said. As the Petworth resident made her way through law school in Virginia and then passed the bar, she was often the only one in the room.

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       So when Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court this week, Childress watched with awe at “the most historic moment” of her own legal career.

       “To be born here and then come home and sit in the highest court of the land. Isn’t that the essence of the American Dream?” asked Childress, 37. “She is part of a community of Black women who overcame immense challenges to get to where she is today.”

       Childress was all smiles on Saturday afternoon as she celebrated that achievement at a block party in Northwest Washington. The block party was organized by the Office of the Mayor in partnership with She Will Rise, which had been pushing to get a Black woman onto the Supreme Court since the summer of 2020.

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       Their campaign had included a mural depicting a nameless Black woman in her legal robes. So it was only natural that their victory party include a new work of art, one with the face of Jackson looking over S Street NW.

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       “This commemorates how important this moment is for the country, not just for Black women,” said April Reign, one of the She Will Rise organizers. “We know representation matters. It is true that you cannot be what you cannot see.”

       A sprinkling of light rain could not stop the celebration Saturday afternoon. Before a lively crowd, speaker after speaker lauded the historic nature of her confirmation. A double Dutch team whirred ropes around elementary-schoolers, and teams of college rollerskaters spun in loops and figure eights on the asphalt.

       Nia Keturah Calhoun had worked on the first “She Will Rise” mural and took on this piece as her first solo project. She tried to mix a feeling of joy, she said, with a recognition of the racism and sexism that Jackson faced after being nominated.

       “To be the first of anything, you have to break through a glass ceiling. Ouch, right? Your head will get bloody,” said Calhoun, a third-generation Washingtonian. “Anyone watching that confirmation hearing can speak to that pain and that discomfort.”

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       Jagged shapes woven throughout the piece to represent the glass shattered by the future justice, Calhoun said. Dark yet playful tones are a callout to the coloring book that Jackson said she would scribble in while her father studied for the bar at their kitchen table.

       “I wanted little Black girls and little kids in general to look at it and really feel like it was fun and familiar and something that could grow with them and grow with this block and the city at large,” Calhoun said.

       A series of rainy days last week kept Calhoun from completing work on the mural in time for the block party. But Saturday afternoon, her goal of inspiring children, especially young Black girls, seemed well in reach.

       Off into the road, Serena, 6, stood in line to get her face painted with her mom, Maria Valderrama, 30, a bright pink scooter and fluffy stuffed dog, Puppy.

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       “I want her to celebrate the achievements of Black figures in history,” said Valderrama, a paralegal and law student. “I want her to remember she was here when it happened and that she has role models she can see herself in.”

       The pair twirled in the street. They used chalk to scribble pink heart on the asphalt. Beside their sketches, another drawing, this one in cool greens and blues, depicted the face of a new role model for Serena, alongside the words “Justice Jackson.”