On behalf of the Kings County Courts Black History Month Committee, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bruce Jackson, the associate general counsel and managing director of strategic partnerships for the Office of the President at Microsoft, and author of “Never Far From Home, My Journey from Brooklyn to Hip Hop, Microsoft and the Law.” This book informs this year’s theme, “African Americans and the Arts.” Bruce Jackson paints a colorful, inspiring and transparent memoir of perseverance and hard work.
Bruce is, in fact, never far from home. He has lived in the Amsterdam Houses Projects at several intervals during his life, including while he was a general counsel for Microsoft, whose office was less than 20 minutes away.
Photo courtesy of Hon. Genine Edwards
He opens his book with one of his encounters with the police, after closing a hundred-million-dollar deal for Microsoft. He was going home to celebrate with his family and friends when he was stopped while driving his BMW X5. A Black man driving a luxury vehicle in the housing projects always raises suspicion. Bruce had to spend the night in jail because it was close to midnight when his prints were taken.
When he shared this experience with his colleagues, they did not believe it until he told them he was the person who was arrested. Bruce let them know that they leave Microsoft’s office after closing a hundred-million-dollar deal to return to their privileged lives, and he leaves as a Black man in America. This account inspired many of his colleagues at Microsoft to participate in diversity and inclusion efforts to provide equal access to resources for all.
Another time, when he was 10 years old, at the Utica Avenue subway station going to his grandmother’s house, a White man pointed him out, saying,…
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