SAYING GOODBYE TO THEIR HERO
Solano County Democrats holds vigil to celebrate the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
As news spread of her passing, gatherings begin to spring up from Washington D.C. to the Bay Area celebrating the life and legacy of United States Supreme Court Associate Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Saturday night at the Solano Government Center in Fairfield a small group met to say goodbye to the woman who many said was their hero. The event was organized by the Solano County Democratic Central Committee.
Standing around the fountain in the plaza of the government center socially distant and in masks, Margie Olson, chairperson for the Solano Democratic Central Committee read from a statement by the Women’s
March Organization about the legacy of the justice affectionately know as “RBG.”
“Justice Ginsburg was a fearless, unflappable advocate for women’s rights. She gave feminism a voice on the Supreme Court, and with her vision, leadership, and moral clarity, transformed what was, and still is, possible for women in the United States. Justice Ginsburg fought for us for as long as she could. Now we must fight for her legacy. We must fight for all the women who will come after us. We must fight to defend our democracy,” the statement read.
Olson said that Justice Ginsburg was “a trailblazer for women’s rights and for the rights of the underprivileged.” and explained what she meant personally to her.
“I am old enough to have experienced restrictions for women in education, school sports, career paths, banking, and in many other areas,” she said. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a super-achiever who was admitted into law school against the odds. She, then, did not slam the door behind her. She used her position to advocate for the rights of all. Her death is a loss for our nation.”
“She was one of my heroes,” Stephanie Elliott of Vacaville said Saturday. “She was someone who was there for everyone.”
With tears in her eyes, Gloria Moreno of Vacaville remembered seeing her mother crying for days when both John F. Kennedy and his brother
Robert Kennedy died saying that Justice Ginsburg’s death has affected her.
“She changed so much for all of us,” Moreno said. “I like the way she started defending some men who didn’t have equal rights. She got us in through the backdoor because I don’t think the courts would have listened about giving women equal rights.”
Gloria del Rio of Vacaville brought her dog, “Lola” a 5-year-old Saluki who was wearing a collar that looks much like the lace collars that Justice Ginsburg wore when she was in dissent of a Supreme Court decision, said that she had planned to hold her own vigil Saturday even if there had not been one planned.
Cindy Clark of Fairfield echoed del Rio’s sentiments.
“She was my hero. I had to be here, as soon as I saw everybody across the country was having vigils. I had to be here,” Clark said. “Even if I would have been the only one, I would have been here.”