Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I am dedicating this blog to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Ginsburg was a trailblazer. Though she was small, she is a giant for all of us. Women especially, there are so many aspects of our lives that we don’t even realize until we actually paid attention that Justice Ginsburg is not only instrumental, but the reason why we are able to do what we do. And I think about how we make decision on our every day basis, especially women, are able to make certain decisions because of Justice Ginsburg. Often times I think that when we try to go forward in our lives, in our professional lives, in our personal lives, there could be a tendency to think “why, why am I doing this? Why am I fighting so hard? What’s the point?

Justice Ginsburg worked until the day she passed. She was an incessant committed, dedicated woman who fought for what she believed was right. So when I was living in New York, I was looking to sign a lease in my own name without a male guarantor – husband, brother, father. Because of Justice Ginsburg, I was able to open a bank account when I first got to college because of Justice Ginsburg. I was able to be employed at Morgan Stanley without consideration of my gender because of Justice Ginsburg. If I had a child when I was working at the county attorneys office in Miami, I would have been able to continue to work without discrimination because of Justice Ginsburg.

We as women owe so much to Justice Ginsburg. The men in our lives, our fathers, our brothers, our husbands, our sons, our friends, our colleagues also owe much to her because we are all raised by women and have women in our lives that continue to empower us. As I think about the decisions we make daily and how we continue to move forward in our lives, I want to honor Justice Ginsburg in how she lead her life. She never let anyone tell her “no.” She was not intimidated by others or forced to think a certain way. When someone said “it can’t be done this way” she said “no” and found a way to get it done. She wasn’t scared to be the only woman in the room. To be the only woman arguing something that has never been argued before in front of a male judge. She convinced him years, decades ago, so that women now can have liberties and freedoms that we don’t even realize weren’t available before we were born.

Rest in peace Justice Ginsburg. You have inspired me, empowered me. I was lucky enough to have Justice Ginsburg’s daughter as my first law professor at my first day of Law School at Columbia. I know how much Justice Ginsburg meant to professor Ginsburg and the rest of the Columbia Law School. Justice Ginsburg was a loving mother, grandmother, and mentor to so many. She was such a role model to all of us. We honor you Justice Ginsburg and we will continue your fight.