Ruth Bader Ginsburg, born Joan Ruth Bader came into this world on March 15, 1933 in Brooklyn and left us today, September 18, 2020.
Ruth received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Government from Cornell University, married and started a family after graduation and went on to attend Harvard Law, where she was only one of nine women in her class with nearly 500 men. Ruth to transferred to Columbia Law School after her husband Marty was offered a job in New York. She graduated and tied for first in her class. Following law school, Ginsburg entered into academia. She was a professor at Rutgers Law School and Columbia Law School, teaching civil procedure as one of the few women in her field.
Ruth spent most of her legal career as an advocate for the advancement of gender equality and women’s rights, winning multiple arguments before the Supreme Court. She co-founded the Women’s Rights Project and advocated as a volunteer attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. In 1980, Jimmy Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where she served until her appointment to the Supreme Court. On August 10, 1993 Ruth became the second woman to serve as a Supreme Court Justice.
You can read all about Justice Ginsburg, and you should. She has been a trailblazer since day one. The impact she has made on equal rights, gender discrimination, reproductive rights and international law (just to mention a few) will never be forgotten. Ruth, or RBG as I’ve often referred to her, has been my hero for a very long time now. She has inspired me to fight for my rights and the rights of all those that are marginalized. She has ignited a fire in women all over the country as those above us try to control and tame us. Her words in every scathing dissent sparked power among us.
In the nearly two hours of learning of her death I have dealt with a wave of emotions. I’m currently numb. I’ve been sad and angry. I’ve cried. I ate a big bowl of ice cream with caramel that caused my stomach to hurt. I really think I’m feeling broken. My husband has been sitting next to me as I work through this news. The first thing I said after crying was that we will all be fucking handmaids. I’ve reconsidered getting an IUD because I fear for what will happen with reproductive health. He told me I should do whatever I want and when I suggested drinking a bottle of wine and crying he didn’t bat an eye. So I wiped the tears away and headed to the liquor store.
On my drive over I thought about all the nights I stayed up reading “I Dissent” to my daughter. We would talk about all the powerful women before us and what we could do to shape the world by making it equal for all. I remembered running up the stairs to see her portrait with the other female justices in DC as soon as I could get there. I thought about how I needed to replace the RBG air freshener in my new car. I realized nearly every single room in my house has at least one RBG knick-knack. I thought about my dissent mug that I planned to use once I’m home and trying to remember if I had ice in the trays because I couldn’t find cold Chardonnay.
I was reminded again of something I saw as I was doom scrolling in the fetal position on my couch. She wouldn’t want you to wallow. Instead, RBG would want you to fight. She was a fighter, fighting for her right as a woman to be employed, fighting for rights for men and women everywhere. She fought until her dying breath.
Tonight I will mourn. I will drink my wine and maybe cry again. But tomorrow I will fight. I will speak until my voice is gone. I will write until my hands bleed. I will stand up. I will not be a handmaid and live in fear. I will give Mitch McConnell hell until he is no longer in power. I am too powerful to give up — in fact, I will only continue to persist until everyone is treated with respect and equality.
Here are a few ways you can fight too:
- Write, call, show up. Don’t let your Senator confirm a new Supreme Court Justice until after the election.
- Donate. A good start: Amy McGrath. She isn’t perfect but she’s after McConnell’s seat. Or perhaps the 22 other seats in close elections.
- Donate again. Perhaps to the ACLU or your local organization for reproductive rights.
- Vote as if your life depends on it.
- Understand the impact RBG has had on women everywhere. Know a woman at all? Don’t dismiss her feelings (ever) if she’s upset.
That’s all I’ve got for now. Like I said, I’m numb. I’m truly surprised I was able to even write what I did. But tomorrow we fight back even harder, for Ruth.