Tribute to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 1933- 2020, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America by Isaac Neequaye, AkooBooks Audio
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG), the recently departed U.S. Supreme Court judge was an amazing woman, to put it succinctly. Petite and slight, her 5 foot frame belied her toughness, incredible energy, wit, wisdom and tenacity. Possessing a fine mind and acerbic tongue she employed these attributes to powerful effect in the pursuit of causes to which she was deeply committed, as many of her adversaries across the aisle learned over the years.
By all accounts Judge Ginsburg was a successful and effective advocate for women’s rights and gender equality. She was also a passionate advocate for reading and writing well, and this was reflected in some of her utterance that were captured over the years.
In her own words, “Reading is the key that opens the door to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams and more reading helped me make my dreams come true.” She was known to compose her opinions tightly with straightforward declarative sentences and a minimum of jargon, a skill inspired by studying literature under Vladimir Nabokov at Cornell.
I am personally honoured to pay tribute to Ginsburg and also to continue doing my own small bit to further her legacy, bringing to children the gift of reading and the African stories that they so cherish in audiobook format via AkooBooks Audio.
Ginsburg was keenly aware of the many sacrifices that women have had to make due to societal mores and expectations, starting with her own mother. During her swearing in as a justice of the U.S Supreme Court, she remarked to President Bill Clinton, “I pray that I may be all that (my mother) would have been had she lived in an age when women could aspire to and achieve, and daughters are cherished as much as sons,” which brought tears to the President’s eyes.
Ginsburg’s words reflect the experiences and observations of many of us who hail from underdeveloped countries where traditionally families have placed greater emphasis on educating boys and providing them more opportunities for education, advancement and employment than girls. Many of us have mothers and other female relations who were shepherded into careers and vocations considered suitable for females not because they were incapable or less brilliant than their brothers, but simply because of their gender.
AkooBooks as you might be aware, was founded by a female CEO, Ama Dadson, and has an all-female board comprising Esi Tawiah Addo-Ashong, Eibhlin Ni Chleirigh, Akosua Busia and Amba Mpoke-Bigg. The company’s advisory board comprises Prof. Esi Sutherland-Addy of the Mmofra Foundation and Elliot Agyare of Smartline Publishing. The passion that drives these women to bring the gift of reading and reading well, and of being confident in imbibing and understanding the written and spoken word was also reflected by Judge Ginsburg.
Upon finishing top of her class at Columbia Law School, Ginsburg remarkably, did not receive a single job offer. No one in the entire New York City would employ her, a Columbia Law School valedictorian, mainly because she was a woman, a mother, and Jewish. I am mentioning this aspect of her story to remind girls and young women that whatever obstacles they face now are not new. Women who’ve gone before them have faced similar obstacles wherever they come from, in generally more hostile circumstances and have had to overcome. This is not to justify or in any way trivialize the struggles that women and girls face today, but to show that the determined and focused can and do achieve; and therefore young women must be determined, know what they want, and work towards it knowing that you can and will overcome and achieve.
Ginsburg struggled against blatant sexism throughout her career and particularly as she climbed the rungs of her profession becoming the second woman ever to serve as a judge on the U.S. Supreme Court. Physically she may have been diminutive, but she had the mind of a colossus, never to be underestimated, never to be brushed aside, and always to be considered.
Ginsburg had major run-ins with cancer starting in the 1980s and it was this disease that eventually took her. Despite her obvious fragility, she fought valiantly, telling herself, “I will live. Not that I hope to live, or I want to live, but I will live.” Thanks to her, some doors that were hitherto shut as a result of gender discrimination have been pried open a wee bit. There is much more to do, and she has shone a light on how to get it done.
I hope to one day be able to eulogize a Ghanaian female personality as I am doing for Ginsburg. In expressing such a desire I am acutely aware of the need to document the struggles, achievements and successes of our own female icons, and I am confident AkooBooks wills step up to this task.
May Ruth Bader Ginsburg rest in perfect peace.
Isaac
AkooBooks Audio Blog 