Remembering Lifelong Advocate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg On Sep. 18, 2020, the Howard community joined in a moment of national sadness at the news of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing. In her 87 years of life and 27 years of service on the United States Supreme Court, she was a tenacious champion of equality – for women and for all underrepresented and marginalized communities. Standing at only five feet tall and weighing in at only 100 pounds, she was a relentless fighter on behalf of her judicial philosophy and moral barometer, proving again and again that one’s stature is not determined by the shadow we cast, but by the power of our voice and the causes that compel us to use it. Later in life, her legacy seemed to finally catch up to the impact she had throughout a monumental and groundbreaking legal career. Known as Notorious R.B.G, she became a cultural icon. For years, her no-nonsense expression and the legendary collar that adorned her black justice robes became ubiquitous across social media and emblazoned on the backpacks and t-shirts and bodies of the young people who idolized her. Justice Ginsburg’s titanic influence, however, could not be reduced to Internet memes; her importance and relevance persisted beyond the typical transience of contemporary popularity. Culminating with two feature films in 2018 – one documentary and one fictionalized account of her life – her widespread fanbase learned more of her life and the true essence of the change she helped to usher into the legal profession and our society at large. Before she ever sat on the Supreme Court or the United States Court of Appeals, she was a trailblazing lawyer who fought for discrimination on the basis of sex to receive the same standing and legal recognition as discrimination on the basis of race. By combining her brilliant legal intellect with an understanding of how to persuade the male justices who sat on the bench before her, she was able to win crucial and hard-fought rights for women that paved the way for their greater participation in our society, our economy and our country.
PAGE 24 | Bison Beat Monthly Newsletter OCTOBER 2020
