Ruth BG
When I heard the news today about Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, I was still. I was numb. I was fearful. I was hopeful. Let me explain. While the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is devastating it’s also vividly clear that not only is it up to us, it always has been. That makes me hopeful.
When you think it can’t get any worse, count on it that it will. The question is, are you going to let this break you or make you?
Should you grieve? Definitely. Build upon that grief, fear, anxiety, hopelessness and turn it into the undeniable ferocity that you have within you that, perhaps, you never seemed to trust and held back for too long. Unleash her. I say her because it’s the RBG in all of us. Trust yourself enough to understand that the power lies within you. It’s always been there. No Supreme Court Justice, celebrity, philosopher, politician you may admire is going to fix it for you. It’s going to be you. It’s going to be me. The hot messes, no-names that we are. That is the most powerful at all.
“Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.” - RBG
At this moment we are all Ruth Bader Ginsburg. While I respect that everyone grieves in their own way, I also challenge you to rise to the occasion. If you’re risen, rise higher. Sleep better at night because you know that you will not fail you. You and your reaction to everything good or bad are the only things you have control over. Focus there. That is your Ginsburg. We are all her now.
Summon your inner Ruth, move out of your comfort zone and sign up to call voters. It’s what Ruth would want you to do; it’s what your country needs and it’s the unglamorous hard work that will save us from ourselves. Here are some excellent resources to get you started:
Progressive for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
“We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us.” - John Lewis