Zeita Merchant’s first uniform was a Girl Scout’s uniform. Her first oath had her promise to make the world a better place.
Today, Merchant wears a Coast Guard uniform and promises to serve the nation while commanding the Port of New York. Come April, Merchant will dawn a new uniform as she steps into the rank of admiral, the first Black woman to achieve this title in the Coast Guard’s 233-year history.
Merchant may spend her day-to-day life in New York, but her roots are planted firmly in Jackson, a city she still considers home.
Born in Chicago, Merchant moved to Jackson with her family in the mid-80s when she was in third grade. It was a homecoming for her mother, raised around Yazoo City, and her father, raised in Pocahontas. The couple had left for Chicago to escape the challenges of a late-60s Mississippi.
Merchant’s family of five was tightly-knit from the beginning despite economic challenges. Her parents taught her and her siblings that values like family and community service were more important than money.