Having grown up in a single-parent family in the Bronx, Sonia Sotomayor has forged a brilliant career for herself as a lawyer. Now, in a historic move, she has been appointed to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama. "It was an incredible moment as a Puerto Rican woman, as a Latina, to see that our first African American President was nominating the first Puerto Rican, the first Latina, to the Supreme Court," says Melissa Viverito, a Puerto Rican councilwoman in Spanish Harlem. Not all are so optimistic, however: conservatives are worried that her appointment signals a move to the left. Nonetheless, the Latino community is jubilant: "Our President is saying we are all part of the United States. He's opening that up and he's saying 'this is America, America is not just white men.' "