- I owe her a lot. Without Justice Ginsberg, my life as a female would be very different than it is. I am a 48 year old single woman with no plans of marriage. When I bought my home 18 years ago, I did not have to have my loan cosigned by my father or brother or any other man. This was not true when Ruth was born and in fact, only became possible two years before I was born. Because of her work (and the work of others like her), I am able to live the life God has call me to live. I wear this tribute to her to remind myself that I stand on the shoulders of giants.
- She lived a life of thought. I weirdly have a memory of the first time I heard of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. As a college student home for the summer, I happened to be watching tv on the June day that Bill Clinton announced his nomination of the tiniest woman I had ever seen. There are two things I most remember about his speech. First, she had been unanimously approved to the position she had prior to her nomination to the Supreme Court. While things were not quite as divisive then as they are today, that was still an unlikely feat; and it communicated to me how immensely qualified she must be. The second thing I remember was that he described her as thoughtful, but he was using it in a different way than I had ever heard before. I had only heard the word thoughtful as a synonym for caring. And while she certainly was that, he was using it to mean "full of thought." He was describing her as an intelligent woman who put a great deal of thought into her rulings. Since then, I have read some of her writings, and they are filled with deliberation rather than simple ideology. I have so much respect for that, even when the end result of that thinking would be different than the end result of mine. I don't want to be a person who just believes the party line without asking myself serious questions first, and I appreciate that about her character as well.
- She lived a life of kindness and humor. If you have never watched the segment that Stephen Colbert did with RBG, do yourself a favor and watch this 6 minute clip. While Justice Ginsberg took her job very seriously, she didn't take herself too seriously. She joked about her online cult following having dubbed her Notorious RBG, saying "It's not all packed auditoriums and standing ovations." Even the fact that she wore this "dissent collar" showed a subtle cheeky side to a serious thinker. By all accounts, she was an extremely kind woman. She did the work she did for the community and for those less fortunate than herself. She said "To make life a little better for people less fortunate than you, that’s what I think a meaningful life is. One lives not just for oneself but for one’s community.” Since she saw anger, envy, and resentment as a waste of energy, she invested in loving those around her, including those with whom she disagreed.
- She showed us that an opponent was not an enemy. This may be the most important reason I wear this necklace. Do you know who the closest friends of the Ginsburg family were? You may be shocked to find out that it was the Scalia family. I don't mean they were generally cordial. They bonded over their love of classical music and food. Their families went on trips together. There is legitimately an opera based on their friendship. Most importantly, they both respected that the other was devoted to the constitution, in spite of the fact that they interpreted it in completely opposing ways. I wear this tribute to a woman with whom I disagreed to remind myself that disagreement doesn't have to mean disrespect.
We are affected by the culture in which we live, but we are also responsible for creating it. If we remember to be kind, humorous, full of thought, loving to those we disagree with, and remember that we leave a legacy for the future, we will live better lives.
How can you remind yourself of these things today? How can you communicate then to your students tomorrow?
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