Spinning Your Gold Blog: Words that Open Hearts and Inspire Actions
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) wrote many briefs during her 27 years of serving our nation as a Supreme Court Justice (1993 to 2020).
For non-lawyer types like me, “A brief (Old French from Latin “brevis,” short) is a written legal document used in various legal adversarial systems that are presented to a court arguing why one party to a particular case should prevail.”
These briefs helped change and cement the votes of SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) for longer, life-changing issues, especially for women.
There’s no way that the accomplishments of RBG can be contained in one blog.
So, let me be brief.
Here are highlights that call us to pay homage to an extraordinary woman who left us for a Higher Court on Rosh Hashanah (one of the holiest days in Judaism), the evening of September 18, 2020:
If you are a woman who has, on your own, signed a lease or bought property, thank RBG. (Before, a male co-signer was needed.)
If you are a woman who has been able to keep your job while pregnant or if you are a working mom, thank RBG.
If you are a woman with a credit card in your name only, thank RBG.
If you are a female who has been admitted to a school or college which was once an “all-male” institution, thank RBG.
If you have benefited from Title IX (Protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs), thank RBG.
If you have benefited from the equal pay laws, thank RBG.
If you are a man who has been covered by your wife’s medical benefits, thank RBG.
If you are a man who has been able to receive survivor’s benefits from Social Security, thank RBG.
If you have appointed a woman to be the executor of your estate, thank RBG.
Two wishes.
To all Americans, it’s payback time. Not just those who claim to be “Red” or “Blue.”
It’s time to thank Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
It’s time to now honor her dying wish. Just days before her death, as her strength waned, Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera:
“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
This was included in Bader’s obituary written by National Public Radio’s Nina Totenberg, likely the best-known Supreme Court reporter in the United States, who had been friends with Ginsburg for five decades.
Wish #1. May her memory be a revolution.
Since we are Ruth-less, let us be ruthless in our determination to show resistance to naming a new Supreme Court Justice until January with the new president.
Take this simple, 10-second step. (No confidential information is needed.)
SNOPES verifies this to be true:
If you text RBG to 50409, Resistbot will send a letter to your Senators, from you, opposing the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice until after the election.
Women and men owe her a massive debt by expressing gratitude and voting to defend what she lived her life protecting: Freedom, democracy, and the Constitution.
Wish #2. “May her memory be for blessing.”
Those who die on the Jewish New Year holiday are considered “tzadik,” a title given to the righteous and saintly.
Heartachingly, millions around the nation and the world will sorely miss “The Notorious RBG.”
Amen
I can think of many times back in my 20's when I had to have my Dad co-sign for me to get a used car or an apartment because I was divorced. I will be forever grateful to RBG and the other pioneers for women's rights.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely a woman who has benefited from everything that she stood for. The grace and beauty I will stand the test of time. I remember in 1994 when I was barely 21 I was self-employed business owner by myself looking for a place to rent. I often looked back at that time in regards to sometimes the time that we live in now and see how different it may have been then. Which is quite interesting the progress that sometimes regress is in certain areas. I feel like it was easier for me to get an apartment or a place of my own back then then it might be now. I’m so grateful and thankful for the opportunity at that young age to be a business owner as a woman as well as having that opportunity to be a part of a community without being discriminated against in any way shape or form. I am thankful to my years as a teenager and even younger for the women who are in my life. The ones who emulated RBG. The ones who emulated everything that she stood for. I hope that grace and dignity will carry us through and then we will have better days ahead because of it. Thank you for this post, I really enjoyed it as well as appreciated it.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely a woman who has benefited from everything that she stood for. The grace and beauty I will stand the test of time. I remember in 1994 when I was barely 21 I was self-employed business owner by myself looking for a place to rent. I often looked back at that time in regards to sometimes the time that we live in now and see how different it may have been then. Which is quite interesting the progress that sometimes regress is in certain areas. I feel like it was easier for me to get an apartment or a place of my own back then then it might be now. I’m so grateful and thankful for the opportunity at that young age to be a business owner as a woman as well as having that opportunity to be a part of a community without being discriminated against in any way shape or form. I am thankful to my years as a teenager and even younger for the women who are in my life. The ones who emulated RBG. The ones who emulated everything that she stood for. I hope that grace and dignity will carry us through and then we will have better days ahead because of it. Thank you for this post, I really enjoyed it as well as appreciated it.
ReplyDeleteI love this so much. I am very concerned those women under 30-35 may or may not know of the privilege they have now. My first car loan needed to be co-signed. My first credit card needed a co-signer. I pray women realize what is on the line right now. Thank you for this tribute to RBG
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