Let's Celebrate RBG Day!

Why is today special? It's the birthdate of former Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and in her memory, let's celebrate her accomplishments and her passion for gender equality advocacy.

According to Kim Elsesser in Forbes, "How did Ruth Bader Ginsburg become such a feminist rock star? Ginsburg learned about gender discrimination firsthand at school and in the workplace. At Harvard Law School, Ginsburg and other female students were questioned by the dean as to why they felt they were entitled to take the spot of an aspiring male lawyer. Ginsburg realized that women could never achieve equality with men if outdated stereotypes were holding them back. Prior to her tenure on the Supreme Court, she challenged law after law where women and men were provided different rights due to gender stereotypes."

I've assembled five of my favorite RBG quotes below:

Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.

Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true.

Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn't be that women are the exception.

We are at last beginning to relegate to the history books the idea of the token woman.

When I'm sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court] and I say, 'When there are nine,' people are shocked. But there'd been nine men, and nobody's ever raised a question about that.

A few words about RBG:

No other justice in history has become a popular icon in the way RBG did. She modeled for all of us how to spend a life working to make society and individual lives better.  ~Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law

Lastly, here are three books that capture the spirit of RBG and deserve to be added to your to-be-read list:

I DISSENT - RUTH BADER GINSBURG MAKES HER MARK

Written by Debbie Levy and illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley, this book memorably chronicles the life of RBG. Its illustrations capture the imagination and bring RBG to life for young minds. It's a must-read for young girls.

RBG’S BRAVE AND BRILLIANT WOMEN – 33 JEWISH WOMEN TO INSPIRE EVERYONE

While written by journalist Nadine Epstein, the list of women included in this book was chosen by former Justice of the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg during the final year of her life. The women featured include Deborah, the first woman judge in the bible; Emma Lazarus, a poet whose words adorn the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty; Golda Meir, the first and only female prime minister of Israel; Anne Frank, whose diary during World War II became famous; and many more.

SISTERS IN LAW – HOW SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR AND RUTH BADER GINSBURG WENT TO THE SUPREME COURT AND CHANGED THE WORLD

Written by lawyer and cultural historian Linda Hirshman, this book is a story of law, women, and most of all, friendship. Here's the description in a nutshell, "The relationship between Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg – Republican and Democrat, Christian and Jew, western rancher's daughter and Brooklyn girl – transcends political party, religion, region, and culture. Strengthened by each other's presence, these groundbreaking judges, the first and second women to serve on the highest court in the land, have transformed the Constitution and America itself, making it a more equal place for all women."

How will you celebrate RBG's legacy today? Chime in and share.

Image Credit: Teepublic.