So... what the hell we gon' do now?
I'm not going to front and act like I'm the most up--to-date on political issues and the like, but I know that I was extremely upset to see the passing of Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg on my social media feed. So much so, in fact, that I immediately felt this sense of impending dread for what (might) become of the United States political system.
*NOTE* This is not an attack on ANY political view or party preference; although I like to identify myself as a political "moderate" (because it's in the middle and again, I don't pay the MOST attention to politics), I want y'all to keep in mind that the main affecting my political opinions is the fact that I am a Black woman.
What I know about the notorious RBG is that she was a warrior for woman's rights; after doing some research to find out the extent of her influence, I learned that she was the main fighter against policies that discriminated "on the basis of sex," including the assurance that the 14th amendment's Equal Protection Clause included women. If you don't understand that, let me simplify: the 14th Amendment of the United States was the Amendment that freed the slaves. Formally, it states that anyone born in the US is granted equal citizenship, meaning that they're allowed to do things like vote and own land. The Equal Protection Clause, which was a part of A14, prevented the government from enacting any criminal laws that would discriminate unfairly. One of the things that RBG was responsible for was making sure that this clause applied to women by fighting policies that discriminated against women unfairly. In order to keep her achievement list brief, I'll only go into detail about this one topic, but it's also important that she worked hard to make sure that the ruling of Roe v. Wade (which made abortion legal) was upheld.
Now, I know that doesn't even describe all of the hard work that she did in order to fight for women's rights, a tweet from a Republican senator stating that he wanted to remove Roe v. Wade (which was tastelessly made a only a short period after RBG's death) can give you just a small hint of the mindset that our remaining "leaders" have. And as if I already didn't have to worry about my safety as a young Black woman in America, now I additionally have to worry about MORE of my rights being at risk.
This really made me think about the state of America (and bare with me, again I'm not the most knowledgeable of some topics *yet*). With over two hundred thousand deaths due to COVID-19, a civil rights movement with no clear end in sight, and now one of the few women in politics who was fighting for my rights gone, I was feeling a little hopeless. I'm not even past young adulthood yet; if things are already shitty, what do you think the next 5 years will look like? And it's not like it's spectacularly better anywhere else in the world; there's racism, disease, and unfair politics everywhere you turn. So what do you do?
While scrolling on Twitter, I had found an encouraging tweet that was liked by a mutual of mine; in this thread, she explains that yes, it's okay to feel a little hopeless/scared/angry right now, but more than ever we need to readjust ourselves in spite of grief and get to work. Of course, this work might be a lot harder, but if we don't do it, who will? So, I started to think about how I could fight harder for my individual rights as well as the rights for my fellow women (Black and otherwise). Here are some steps that I thought of below:
Become Educated. You know how I said that I don't pay the most attention to politics? Well, that has to stop; there are too many white men in politics who don't know, understand, or care about my rights for me to blindly trust them with how policy caters to me. Maybe I don't have to go as far as actually running for an office chair myself, but I'll start with learning about everything that RBG did, as well as the current policies that affect Black citizens and women.
VOTE! I know that some of y'all have probably heard this one-million-and-one times, but I'll say it again because you only think I'm talking about the presidential election. You do understand that the president mainly just approves or denies laws... right? We can also vote for members of the judicial and legislative branch. So if we want a chance at ANYTHING changing, then we need to start showing up more often than once every four years in the fall.
Speak Up. Again, you don't have to go as far as being at the front lines of a protest, but it's important to speak up when you're being treated unfairly. Everyone has higher ups, and whether it's over an offensive joke or a discriminative behavior based on your appearance, those higher ups are the ones that need to hear about it, ASAP. I know it might seem scary because your colleagues or coworkers *might* have more power or influence than you in an area, but remember that you deserve to be just as comfortable in that space as they are, regardless of your race, gender, or anything else. Make sure they remember that.
Educate. Whether it's your children, family, or best friends, maybe it's time that you also use your voice to let them know that they should learn about certain things, too. It's one thing to hand hold and walk someone through why something is important, and I'm not advising that. However, if a family member is complaining about something that's wrong in the world of politics, or they can't understand why some things in society just aren't going their way, now is a great time to direct them to resources that could educate them further. Talking about voting or other forms of civic engagement can increase the amount of the general public who actually pay attention to what's going on, and this could also increase the amount of people who speak up about the injustices that happen in certain areas. Don't just sit there with your information; make sure it spreads faster than any disease could.
I'm sure that there are many more ways that people could "get to work," and I'm hoping that y'all could drop any other tips in the comments below. But as far as the state of things in the United States now, I'm really hoping that RBG's memory will be a part of the revolution that America needs. Because boy, do we need something to change.