First and foremost, I want to acknowledge Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her lifelong work towards justice… May her memory be a blessing and a revolution. (h/t Califa Witch for sharing this Jewish prayer of mourning with me)
In this week’s Radical Reflection, I’m sharing two quotes from the Honorable and Notorious RBG:
“Fight for the things that you care about. But do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
“I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability.”
These quotes remind me of the responsibility I have to show up for the movements and communities that matter to me, and to show up with all the skills and tools I have to fight for what I believe in.
When I heard that RBG had passed, the only thing I could think was “Oh Fuck
Just an hour before, I had been on a call with a friend sharing my concern about the upcoming election, with one of my top concerns being RBG’s health and the terrifying potential for another Supreme Court Justice appointment by number 45.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a proud Jewish woman who’s vision for change was informed by her ancestral roots.
She has been a force for the feminist movement for most of her career, and she has been a warrior in the effort to create more gender equality into our culture.
In 1996, she was the leader on a decision that ensured all state funded schools allowed women to attend.
And she also fought for the requirement that women be included in juries. Until 1979, it was considered optional for women to participate in civic duty.
Before RBG’s work on this issue, it was common for juries to be filled with men only.
And… she was imperfect.
Her legacy is nuanced, and some of her decisions were incredibly harmful for marginalized communities in the US, specifically Black and Indigenous peoples.
She played a role in enforcing the Doctrine of Discovery (thank you Jaqueline Keeler and Mark Charles for teaching on this)
This truth does not negate the brilliance of RBG’s work for women’s rights and gender equality, and naming these facts is not an attempt to shame her.
Nor does this truth diminish the sadness I feel for this loss of a great woman, leader and warrior.
What I am getting at is that even those of us who are fighting for justice with every fiber of our being have biases and blind spots that may lead us to cause harm.
RBG, in all of her dissent and hard work, was just a human like the rest of us.
A human that was doing their best in a system designed to oppress certain people.
RBG is a symbol for strength, truth, and progress… And she wasn’t perfect.
My prayer today is that her memory will fuel each of us to show up for what is right, even if we’ve made mistakes in the past.
Even if we have been complicit in systems of oppression and injustice.
And even if we’re imperfect.
I want to close by stating that I’m so grateful for the work RBG did throughout her life and I pray that her legacy of equality will continue to flourish and expand for many years to come.
Love + Liberation
Lauren Elizabeth
PS
RBG’s final wish was that she not be replaced until a new president is installed, and if we’re going to make that happen we have to VOTE.
And while I don’t believe that the two party system will solve our problems, getting more Democrats elected to the Senate will help ensure that RBG’s legacy isn’t bulldozed by hyper conservative agendas.
You can click here to find out more about flipping the Senate this November.