MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis native has a new position in the Biden administration. Jasmine Bolton will be President Biden’s new senior counsel for the office of Civil Rights.
She is from Memphis, but as of last Wednesday, Jasmine Bolton is working in D.C. for new President Joe Biden.
“We were excited. We were real excited,” Julian Bolton said.
Her father, former Shelby County Commissioner Julian Bolton, couldn’t be prouder.
“She shot her arrow into the sky and it struck the moon,” Bolton said.
He says his daughter has always excelled from St. Mary’s Episcopal School to finishing Harvard University with honors and then to Columbia Law School.
“She is our scholar and a fine daughter and has made me proud all her life,” Bolton said.
But it’s in her chosen field of law that she found her passion which is helping people. From a senior attorney at the Bail Project to focusing on educational equity at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
She also worked the rural communities for Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign. The 31-year-old has done plenty.
“I feel very positive about her ability to contribute to Education from that position,” Bolton said. “I encouraged her to go private to make the money. She said no. I intend to pay back, to help the country.”
Jasmine Bolton saw it in her family. Her father, a 30 year attorney, spent 24 years on the Shelby County Commission where he pushed for school equity. Her mother caring for patients as a nurse. And her grandmother who went from entrepreneur to acting at age of 75, with parts in several movies including The Help.
Now at a time when Civil Rights is center stage…Julian Bolton thinks his daughter is in just the right place.
“I think she is going to sit very well because she has a fire in her belly to deal with disparity and civil rights,” Bolton said. “She is pretty much well prepared we think and we are praying for her. We are very proud of her.”
WREG-TV spoke to Jasmine briefly by phone today. She says she is settling in to D.C., and getting adjusted to her new job.
