“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” – Remembering the Notorious RBG

It seems unreal to say she’s gone. She seemed invincible.

In the study of our country court cases have changed our history more than once. When I was growing up that fact about the Supreme Court always intrigued me. Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg were the only women who had ever served as justices at that time. They were my idols. They were women changing the world and making history.

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Justice Ginsberg, or RBG as she’s often affectionally known, attended Harvard and Columbia Law Schools. At Harvard she, with the few women other women accepted were reportedly asked by the dean why they were there taking the place of a man. This was the world in which she came of age.

A world where she was turned down for jobs such as clerking for the Supreme Court solely based on her gender. In our country women are only assured the right to vote by the wording of the constitution, any other rights have been extended through court decisions, or case law. Many of those that happened in the twentieth century were from cases that RBG argued.

We can own homes today without a man, we can work while pregnant or mothering children without retribution, and it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of sex, all thanks to one woman. One of her dreams was to live to see an Equal Rights Amendment that ensures rights for women through the constitution passed into law. It breaks my heart that she passed before this became a reality.

During her twenty seven years on the court she was known for her opinions, especially in her dissents and became a leader of court. Her death and vacancy on the court will inevitably lead to political mess as senate leaders have already stated their goals to rescind the precedent they set four years ago, but for today let’s honor the woman that spent her professional life fighting for all women.

The woman who worked tirelessly to make the world fairer and more equal for all women. She was truly a public servant to our country and forever dedicated to the law. She showed the world that a woman with a small, petite frame, and soft voice could be a force to be reckoned with. She will continue to be an inspiration for future generations.

Let her legacy be our revolution for equality and unity as we take solace in her powerful words to “fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”

 

Kimberly Peña
Hello AMB readers! I'm Kim, a working momma married to the love of my life, Marco. We welcomed our joy boy, Thomas, in 2013 who is hearing impaired and full of energy! I am a history teacher by day and blogger by night. I love staying busy and always have about a dozen projects in my head at any given moment. I love spending time with my boys, creating inquiry based learning units, and blogging about cooking, motherhood, marriage, and womanhood here and at www.thehillcountrywoman.com.

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