March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020
I have had this blog post in draft form since August 1, when I finally got around to watching the documentary about her, and something always came up to push it back. Sadly, it can no longer be delayed. With all the strength, intelligence, grace, tenacity, wisdom, courage, and fierceness she displayed throughout her life (fighting cancer multiple times, falls incurring broken bones, etc.), RBG finally did something we honestly never thought would happen: she died, from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer, at the age of 87.
From The New York Times (full obituary here):
Remembrances for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg poured in.
SONG: Free to Be You and Me by Lawrence/Hart, sung by Sara Bareilles
BOOK: Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon, Shana Knizhnik
POEM(S): Justice by Amber Tamblyn
A love letter to our supreme court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Dear Ruth, you ruthless
justess of justice,
with your hair bun tighter
than a T on the chest of a wrestler,
and your face giving negative triple F’s
about wrinkles,
and your record
on women’s rights
on fleek,
and your record
on men who want to be on record
on women’s rights
but have no right
also on fleek,
and that one time, back in ’00,
when you ruled Boy Scouts should allow gay Scoutmasters,
and back in ‘03,
when you ruled that the LGBTQ community
should be a constitutionally protected class,
and that in ’00,
when you wouldn’t allow prison sentences to lengthen retroactively,
And then in ’07, when you said states could regulate
polluters and greenhouse gas omissions,
and that other time,
when you said tax payers shouldn’t have to pay for church materials in school
not because you didn’t believe in The Divine,
but because you didn’t believe in forcing The Divine
on anyone,
especially children,
and even that one time, in ’11,
when I didn’t like your stance
on church rights to picket gay funerals,
I still loved you,
because the 1st amendment
is your 1st priority,
and that is so HOT to me,
and those many times
you gave Scalia the hand
and Roberts the finger
and that one time,
when you voted to let rape victims
sue their attackers as a gender-bias crime,
and when you were all,
“Women will only have true equality
when men share with them
the responsibility
of bringing up the next generation.”
And when you were like,
“That’s the dissenter’s hope.
That you are writing (law) not for today
but for tomorrow.”
And then, when you just went,
“The state controlling a woman
would mean denying autonomy
and full equality,”
then dropped the mic,
and walked off stage,
your black gown flowing
to the sounds of applause
for generations to come.
Dear Ruth, you ruthless
Justess of justice,
you gavel witch,
you lovely heart
you protector extraordinaire,
you golden icon of grace,
I have just one question,
Will you marry me?
In case you haven’t heard,
it’s legal now.
QUOTE: "Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you." ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Justice Stephen Breyer called her “a great justice; a woman of valor; a rock of righteousness.” President Trump said “whether you agree or not — she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life.” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lauded Justice Ginsburg and said the fact that her death had touched off a political furor was a sign of an unhealthy democracy.
Americans paid their respects to Justice Ginsburg from the Supreme Court, where a crowd recited the Jewish prayer for the dead, to the steps of her Brooklyn high school and courthouses across the U.S. A mother who urged her to constantly be independent. Teachers who encouraged her. Having selective hearing in a marriage.
Justice Ginsburg, the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court (in 1993), earned her late-life stardom with pointed and powerful dissenting opinions.
Ginsburg dictated this statement to granddaughter Clara Spera in the days before her death: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."
I know this sounds dramatic, but the fate of the free world is at stake, making the difference between a 6-3 and a 5-4 power balance of conservatives vs. liberal judges. The fight is on. My daughter Sarah, her friends, and I were brainstorming yesterday morning via text as to what we could do to honor RBG, and potentially stop a Supreme Court nomination/appointment until Biden is elected. I supplied the quote, and Sarah's friend Didi, a Photoshop genius, came up with the graphic below. Please share liberally, and call the number listed to protest. Let's tie up those phone lines. We can do this!
P.S. If you have not yet seen RBG, the documentary, find and watch it immediately (I believe it's on Hulu, and CNN has been running it the last few days as well).
SONG: Free to Be You and Me by Lawrence/Hart, sung by Sara Bareilles
BOOK: Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon, Shana Knizhnik
POEM(S): Justice by Amber Tamblyn
A love letter to our supreme court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Dear Ruth, you ruthless
justess of justice,
with your hair bun tighter
than a T on the chest of a wrestler,
and your face giving negative triple F’s
about wrinkles,
and your record
on women’s rights
on fleek,
and your record
on men who want to be on record
on women’s rights
but have no right
also on fleek,
and that one time, back in ’00,
when you ruled Boy Scouts should allow gay Scoutmasters,
and back in ‘03,
when you ruled that the LGBTQ community
should be a constitutionally protected class,
and that in ’00,
when you wouldn’t allow prison sentences to lengthen retroactively,
And then in ’07, when you said states could regulate
polluters and greenhouse gas omissions,
and that other time,
when you said tax payers shouldn’t have to pay for church materials in school
not because you didn’t believe in The Divine,
but because you didn’t believe in forcing The Divine
on anyone,
especially children,
and even that one time, in ’11,
when I didn’t like your stance
on church rights to picket gay funerals,
I still loved you,
because the 1st amendment
is your 1st priority,
and that is so HOT to me,
and those many times
you gave Scalia the hand
and Roberts the finger
and that one time,
when you voted to let rape victims
sue their attackers as a gender-bias crime,
and when you were all,
“Women will only have true equality
when men share with them
the responsibility
of bringing up the next generation.”
And when you were like,
“That’s the dissenter’s hope.
That you are writing (law) not for today
but for tomorrow.”
And then, when you just went,
“The state controlling a woman
would mean denying autonomy
and full equality,”
then dropped the mic,
and walked off stage,
your black gown flowing
to the sounds of applause
for generations to come.
Dear Ruth, you ruthless
Justess of justice,
you gavel witch,
you lovely heart
you protector extraordinaire,
you golden icon of grace,
I have just one question,
Will you marry me?
In case you haven’t heard,
it’s legal now.
In the Steps of RBG by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.
—Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as quoted in Notorious RBG
So let me take one step right now,
one step toward respect.
And give me strength to take another
toward clarity. And though
my feet might feel like stones, let
me take another step toward justice.
And another toward equity. And another
toward truth. And though my legs
may feel leaden and slow, though someone
else may step on my toes, may I inch
toward forgiveness. May every step
be toward a bridge. Enough divisiveness.
And as I go, may I find joy in the stepping,
grace in the edging toward great change.
But if there’s little joy, let me step anyway.
Then take another step. And another. And another.
QUOTE: "Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you." ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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