Andrea Jenkins On 'Amazingly Emotional, Inspiring Experience' Of Watching Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Confirmation Hearings In D.C.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - History was made in the nation's capitol on Thursday as the U.S. Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.

Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins says watching Jackson get confirmed is something she will never forget. Sen. Amy Klobuchar gave Jenkins two tickets to the first day of Jackson's confirmation hearings. Jenkins attended with her granddaughter Aniyah.

"I just thought witnessing this history would inspire and motivate her," Jenkins said. "It was just an amazingly emotional, inspiring experience."

Watching Jackson - who will be the 116th justice on the United States Supreme Court - was beyond motivating to both Jenkins and her granddaughter.

"It literally has inspired me to want to be more productive, more engaged," Jenkins said. She herself is the first Black trans woman to be elected to office in the United States, and also made history becoming the first trans woman elected as president of the Minneapolis City Council.

"You don't get to these heights without overcoming lots of challenges and obstacles, particularly as a Black woman, and even more so as a Black trans-identified woman," Jenkins said.

She hopes the new Supreme Court justice serves as an inspiration for girls and women all over.

Jenkins says she wishes she could have taken a bus load of young people to Washington to witness history.