Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born in the 1930s. A vastly different time than today. Considering that, it is remarkable that her mom left savings for Ruth to go to school before she died at a young age of cancer, that Ruth went on to be a lawyer (and was one of nine women in a class of 500 at Harvard Law), and that her husband took care of the cooking and as Ruth said, “was the only young man I dated who cared that I had a brain.”
As a law professor at Rutgers, she co-founded the Women’s Rights Law Reporter which was the first law journal about women’s rights. She and another female colleague won a complaint they filed about equal pay to ensure they earned the same amount as their male counterparts. She was also the first woman to be on the Harvard Law Review and the Columbia Law Review.
Appointed by President Bill Clinton, she was the second female and first Jewish justice on the Supreme Court. A position she held for 27 years. Before joining the Supreme Court, she argued six cases there about gender discrimination and won all but one. Along with fighting this cause, she also spoke out for LGBTQ rights, voting rights and to protect those who are undocumented and those with disabilities.
She was incredible in her decisions and in her dissents. She paved the way for all women to buy a home, have a credit card, sit at the table and be treated equally.
Her passing is a great loss and left huge shoes to fill. But may we all live our lives inspired by her light. As Ruth said, “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”