2020 was the year where we lost two giants who led in the pursuit of justice and a more perfect union. Representative John Lewis who fought for civil rights and voting rights to the point of shedding blood and nearly dying on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and Ruth Bader Ginsberg who fought for women’s rights and fought gender discrimination for her entire life. It’s daunting to realize that it’s only been 100 years since women gained the right to vote, and in 1920 that franchise was only extended to white women. It would take another 87 years for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to pass that would actually make the rights guaranteed in the 15th Amendment a reality. The amendment itself only applied to black men so for African-American women it was 95 years until they gained the right to vote. And my god, have they voted and led the way. They are the conscience and soul and driving force of the Democratic party.

When I read about Justice Ginsberg’s life story I am grateful and inspired but I also get angry all over again when I read how she was denied the opportunity to clerk for Justice Frankfurter at the Supreme Court because she was a woman. How when her law school class at Harvard, which had only 9 women enrolled, were asked by the dean why they were their taking a place that should have gone to a man? I know that rage and frustration when you have to be better than to even get a basic shot. I remember being seven years old and being asked, “So what do you want to be when you grow up?” And when I answered the response was indulgent laughter and the condescending explanation that girls couldn’t be astronauts, jockeys, president of the United States. Thank god that was never my father, he assured me I could be and do anything I wanted.

Flash forward a number of years and I’m entering law school which had been my father’s most fervent wish. We were the largest group of women to ever walk through those impressive doors at UNM. Our classes were small — only a hundred students per class, and if memory serves about 40 of us were women. We were there because of women like Ruth Bader Ginsberg who had paved, no fought their way through the swamps and thickets of a society that assumed that those places were reserved for the lords of creation and not those of us who were perceived as merely their helpmates — never as their competition.

In due course I graduated, passed the bar and went to work at a corporate law firm in Albuquerque. But I wasn’t a colleague — I was a curiosity. On my first day on the job I was in my tiny office reading over an estate file when I heard male voices in the waiting room. “I hear Charlie’s hired himself a girl! Where the girl? I want to see the girl. Within second there was a gaggle of middle aged men peering in the door of my office all jostling for the opportunity to see this unicorn, this mythical being, this curiosity. Since I felt like an animal in a zoo I responded in kind. I pretended to scratch at my side, and made ook ook noises as if I were The Librarian in a Terry Pratchett Discworld novel. I suddenly wasn’t quite so much fun then and they all slunk away.

The beautiful thing about Ginsberg was that her opinions and her dissents are readable and understandable by everyone. You don’t need a law decree to understand her powerful voice as she called for justice and equality in this country for all its citizens — POC, LGBTQ, women, men, workers — and fairness and decency toward those who might not yet be citizens, but longed to live in a country that at least tries (or did try prior to Trump) to honor the principles that form the foundation of this nation and its Constitution. I admired her for her charm, her wit, her brilliance, her fierce desire to right wrongs. I also loved her because, like me, she loved opera. One of the best moments of my life was getting to see her one evening at the Santa Fé opera, and be part of the audience that gave her a standing ovation.

What is happening today where Trump will nominate a justice who will tip the balance of the court to a forty year conservative majority is heartbreaking, and I share the fears of those stand to lose health insurance, the curtailment of voting rights for vulnerable populations, young women who may well lose the right to make their own decisions regarding their bodies, workers who will lose the right to bargain collectively, climate change will be allowed to continue unabated as the court favors corporate profits over the survival of the human race, where weapons that are appropriate only for the battlefield are allowed to be carried openly in what is supposed to be a civil and peaceful society. I think history has shown us that a country awash in guns has not in fact proved to be a more polite society.

But that’s where we are and there is nothing that can stop Trump from appointing a thirdjustice to the Supreme Court. And you know why that happened? Because 100 million Americans didn’t vote in 2016, because a significant minority voted third party in a system that is, for better or worse, a two party system and that is not going to change in any of our lifetimes. People who didn’t think a single vote matters. Yes, every vote f’ing matters. Because —

Voting is fundamental.

And not every four years when people might be more interested because we’re picking a president. No, voting in every election is essential. There are more of us who want a just and pluralistic society than there are of those who want to slam the doors, strength the glass ceiling, discount people’s love because this toxic minority does not approve of their gender alignment. But we have to be heard and the only way we can peaceful make our voices count is at the ballot box. It is imperative that we begin to develop the habit of voting in every election no matter how minor it might seem. Want to keep politics and religion out of science classes? Vote for school board. Want to see your city or town adopt more eco-friendly policies? Vote for mayor and the city council. Want to see the police held accountable? Vote for your district attorney. Want to make sure voting rights are protected in your state? Vote for the judges if you live in a state where judges are popularly elected. Want to make sure another right wing ideologue doesn’t end up on the Supreme Court? Vote for the senate candidate. Want to protect social security and not see it gutted? Vote for the congressional candidate.

People have died and John Lewis bled so we could all vote.

So please if you’re not registered, get registered. Make a plan for this election. I’ve made the decision to do early in-person voting because I fear there might be an attempt to stop the count of absentee and mail in ballots. Read up on the candidates. Take a friend or 5 with you (appropriately socially distance of course) to the polls. If you can safely do so volunteer to be a poll worker. It’s usually done by older retired people, but with this pandemic there is a desperate need for people to man the polls.
I have listed a couple of useful links at the end of this post.

And now, let’s do this! Let’s do this because Black Lives Matter. Because our planet cries out for relief. Because women are people too. Because kids shouldn’t be afraid they’ll die while at school. Because everyone should have access to healthcare.

Let’s do this in memory of John Lewis and the Notorious RBG.

https://progressive.org/dispatches/seven-ways-to-volunteer-election-laser-200807/, https://www.powerthepolls.org/