Who is Jessikah Inaba, Britain's first Black female blind barrister?

Who said blind people can’t be a part of the legal system? Jessikah Inaba, a 23-year-old woman, has created history by becoming Britain’s first black and blind barrister.

To achieve this milestone, Inaba studied her entire law course in Braille. Crediting her success to friends and family, Jessikah, who is lovingly called ‘Jess’, has joined the Bar as the country’s first black and blind barrister.

On her success, Inaba said, “I know I can do this job well, and the more people like me who go through training the easier it will become. I know I’m giving hope to others in similar situations.”

“There’s a triple-glazed glass ceiling. I’m not the most common gender or colour, and I have a disability, but by pushing through I’m easing the burden on the next person like me,” she added.

Let’s take a closer look at her life and struggles.

Early beginnings

Jessikah Inaba was born with an eye condition called bilateral microphthalmia, where a baby’s eyes are smaller than usual.

She grew up in southeast London’s Lewisham with her parents and siblings. Now she has moved to Camden.

She spent her primary school years in local mainstream schools and completed her secondary education at a school in Surrey, all of which had units to support pupils with visual impairments.

She kickstarted her career in law by getting a degree in September 2017 following which she pursued a master’s in 2019 alongside a professional training course. She has studied at the University of Law in London Bloomsbury.

After getting admitted to the Bar, Jess says she now dons her gown and wig with pride after having worked so hard to earn them.

However, she also said that owing to a fewer number of black barristers in the country, no one has actually wondered how difficult it is, for a black woman, to wear a wig over their hair. For this very reason, she has platted her wig.

The barrister now plans to apply for pupillage in January – a system where newly qualified barristers get placed in chambers for the first time.

She said, “I feel because of disabled access problems my results aren’t a true reflection of my ability. I reckon as a black person I have to work 10 times harder than others just to be accepted by society.”

She further said that in order to see a client, she has to prove herself as a lawyer as well as justify her need for special equipment.

Currently, Jessikah is using a tiny electronic machine with a Braille keyboard which has one key for each dot and a small screen where the symbols appear.

A life full of challenges

For Jessikah, everything didn’t come easily.

During her educational life at Law school, she read in Braille from a special computer screen or from specially printed books.

However, Jess said that it took as long as seven months for her university to arrange one of her two key books while the other one took five months. Adding to her troubles, the Braille screen on her computer often missed huge chunks of tables or picture materials.

There were times when she resorted to making her own Braille materials from lecture notes and relied on friends for reading books to her, along with one-to-one tuition at the university.

Jessikah Inaba, congolaise de 23 ans est devenue la première avocate aveugle et noir du Royaume-Uni