Honoring RBG and the Brooklyn She Grew Up In

Like RBG, I grew up in Brooklyn in a time when young people like us- the children and grandchildren of once despised immigrants- had hope that the country would finally welcome us and that we could change it for the better. People like Carol King, who went to the same high school as RBG, used music as their vehicle of expression; people like Bernie Sanders( also a Madison grad) found their mission in electoral politics; Ruth Bader Ginsburg transformed the nation through the practice of law Although I went to different high schools than they did, I was swept up in the optimism of post war America and saw no contradiction between my own dreams of upward mobility and my vision of the US as a more just society. Today, as dreams of upward mobility fade in an increasingly unequal society, and racism and white supremacy have returned to haunt us in the ugliest forms, we should take the time to honor Justice Ginsberg for devoting her life to bringing out the best in this country, and the best in all of us. We may no longer have Justice Ginsburg as a daily presence, but we have to work extra hard to keep her dreams and her legacy alive If we don't do this, we may see the US become a place that people of conscience have to leave, rather than a place which dreamers from all over the world see as a place to fulfill their destiny