Let us Remember
"Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time." - Ruth Bader Ginsburg
RIP RBG.
An overwhelming sense of loss filled me as I returned from dinner tonight. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was no more. And as I felt the grief, I wanted to rejoice for a few moments reminiscing, looking at her wonderful legacy and remember all the wonderful changes she brought about in this country. She was a phenomenal woman and I am so proud to have had a living role model like her in my life.
However, the feeling of grief & nostalgia gave way to outrage as, within hours of her passing, news begins to make way that the Senate is planning to appoint a new Justice as soon as possible. It was this shallow, heartless behavior that brought to mind another piece I had written a couple of years ago, but never published.
I want us to take a moment and remember the legacy of this brilliant woman, “Notorious RBG”, before we get political. Let us remember and not let political divide make us lose sight of the loss of the phenomenon that was Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Here is my piece from 2 years ago. A very different situation. And yet eerily similar.
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LET US REMEMBER (written in October 2017)
We live in a world of ‘now’. From leaders to the media to the people, everyone seems to have a short-term memory loss.
It was day after my wisdom tooth removal, I was working from home. The date was September 27th. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was giving a testimony & I was watching the farce unfold on the television.
Sitting on a couch, alone in my Manhattan apartment, I was in physical & emotional pain together. I watched the testimony in despair, screaming in anger & frustration at the indifference in that room. There was no one to hear me. Ironically, there was no one to hear Dr. Ford either. And then, I forgot. And so, did the world.
One month later, many other incidents have happened, none less important than the other. Jamal Khashoggi was brutally assassinated, Hurricane Michael claimed 45 lives, bombs were sent to Democratic leaders, scientists drew a line in the sand for irreversible climate change, 11 Jews were shot to their deaths in a synagogue.
The list goes on. And the world moves on with it.
Brett Kavanaugh is forgotten, Dr. Ford has gone back to anonymity.
How indifferent have we become if we are unable to still feel the pain, still feel the relevance what happened, a mere 4 weeks ago? How have we moved on to other pieces of news, forgetting all that happened? And why is it all just ‘news’? Why does the anger not stay? Why do we keep forgetting each past horror as soon as a newer, more ‘sensational’ horror story comes to the fore?
The gross injustice to a woman who dared to be victimized, humiliated, harassed so that this country made the right choice in selecting a moral & just person to the highest court, should have galvanized the people. And it did. For a second.
‘They’ (you know who) breathed a sigh of relief that this was over so quickly. And that happened because we forgot. We forgot because we saw no visible recourse once ‘he’ was confirmed. We became silent.
But we shouldn’t have.
If you feel the pain, voice it. Don’t become immune to this hurt. Remember what courage & sacrifice it took for one woman to stand in front of a charging train, and be blown to smithereens, making no difference to the train whatsoever.
The bad has become so frequent that we get angry on the latest wrong and forget the past ones. The purpose of this article is just to say that let’s not. Let us continue be the voice of justice. Let us not let them get away with what they did. Let us be human. Let us remember.