Ruth Bader Ginsburg, better known as RBG, was an American supreme court justice leader who fought for the equality of women until the end. She was born in 1933 in Brooklyn, where her parents always emphasized education. She finished high school at 17 at the top of her class and went on to get her bachelor’s from Cornell. Shortly after she graduated, she married Martin Ginsburg and had a baby together, while they both pursued law at Harvard Law School. She was one of nine women out of 500 men at Harvard Law. Towards the end of her second year at law school, her husband got diagnosed with cancer and they had to move back to New York City where she later finished law school at Columbia.
After law school is when Ginsburg started questioning why women weren’t being treated the same and had the same independence as men. She co-founded the women’s rights organization at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). During her time there she made it so employees cannot discriminate against hiring women in the workplace. She also gave women financial independence from men. Before her, women couldn’t get a credit card or make financial decisions without a man. From 1973-1976 she argued six gender discrimination cases in front of the supreme court and won five of them.
On June 30, 1980, former President Jimmy Carter appointed her to be on the U.S. court of appeals. 13 years later former President Bill Clinton appointed her to be a judge on the supreme court. On the supreme court, she did many things that will change U.S. history forever. She fought for the equality of women in politics. One of her most famous quotes was “a woman should be in all places that decisions are being made.” She said that after she demanded that all juries must include women.
Through all the amazing things that she has done, she has done it while fighting cancer three separate times. During the time in 1999 when she was fighting colon cancer and getting radiation every day, she never missed a day of work. She later recovered and went into remission, but then in 2005 was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. While fighting for a couple of years she thankfully went into remission again. Unfortunately, she got a tumor in her pancreas and has been battling cancer on and off since August 2019. She kept working until she couldn’t anymore and passed away on September 18, 2020, at the start of the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a trailblazer for women’s rights. No one would have the courage to undermine her and her power. She was highly respected and loved by many. She inspired many people, including me to fight for equality for women. May her memory be a blessing.