My friend and I were sitting in her sister’s apartment in Fairfax, VA when our phones alerted us to the breaking news: Ruth Bader Ginsberg has passed away. Definitely not the headline we were expecting to see. We sat on the couch in shock, reading the news articles as they came in, no longer paying attention to the show we were watching.
My emotions were (and still are) a mixture of sadness and fear. RGB was an incredible woman who paved the way for so many. She fought tirelessly for women’s rights. Will that now be taken away? What will happen to my reproductive rights? What about my sister and her girlfriend? What rights of theirs could be taken away? These are just some of the questions that flashed through my mind and it would be easy to let them spiral but I’ve chosen the outlook of hope instead.
On Saturday night, my friend and I drove into DC to go to the Women’s March candlelight vigil in front of the Supreme Court. To say it was incredible is an understatement. The line-up of speakers was so diverse. From senators, to activists, to nonprofit heads. People of every race and religion. A choir sang and one of the speakers lead the crowd in song.
The crowd was incredibly diverse as well. Every race, religion, gender, and age group was represented. There were older couples holding hands (my newest requirement for a man is that he will attend social justice functions with me), families, individuals, it was amazing. Everyone wore a mask, many people were holding candles (someone had a Christmas scented candle near us and it was great), and there were so many signs honoring RGB.
The overall message of the night was that we are going to fight. Fight for justice, for our rights, for the rights of others, and I believe that we will succeed. Throughout history, the good always prevails. It might take decades of fighting and setbacks but eventually progress is made. Standing in that crowd of people, next to my friend who cares so deeply about the U.S despite not being a U.S citizen, made it impossible not to believe that.
My friend, Mannat, is an Indian citizen. She grew up in Zambia and India before coming to the U.S for college. She can’t vote in this election, even though, as a Poli Sci major she’s probably more educated than most Americans on the U.S government. It amazes me that she cares more about what’s happening in this country than some of its citizens do. When I mentioned this to her, she simply said, “How could you not?” As in, how could you not care about the rights of others and the experiences that they’ve had?
Ruth Bader Ginsberg embodied what it means to be a strong woman. She is the reason that I can open a bank account. The reason I can’t be discriminated against by an employer if I decide to have kids. The reason I can’t be paid less than a man for doing the same job. She is an example of a woman who fought wholeheartedly for what she believed in. She started law school with a 14 month old. When her husband got sick, she went to her classes and his. She was truly a superwoman and an inspiration to so many.
Personally, she has inspired me to fight for what is right and to be persistent in the pursuit of it. Now more than ever, I feel so lucky to be a part of the nonprofit sector. It’s grassroots organizations, made up of individuals who care, that are going to make the changes this country so desperately needs. The fight for this change won’t be easy but like Ruth said, “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”
Hugs,
