The Women

RBG is the woman who started it all for this project. As soon as she died, I began to see all of these stories about what she did with her life that I had no idea existed. My interest in  paying attention to why she was inspirational to the world led me to wonder what other idols of mine had stories that I didn’t know about. After attending Cornell University, RBG married and had her first child. Once her husband returned from a two year tour of active duty, Ruth decided to continue  her education at Harvard Law in 1956. One of nine females in a 500 person class, she endured heavy amounts  of gender discrimination and bias. She transferred to Columbia Law with one year left to follow her husband to his new job at a law firm. In 1959, Ruth graduated first in her class from Columbia. Despite her academic success, it was very difficult for a woman to find a job in the 60s. Only when her professor refused to give any other recommendation did Ruth land a job clerking for Judge Palmieri. After two years, she turned down multiple offers from law firms and decided to pursue her passion of civil procedure. Some years later, she was the first female professor at Columbia Law to receive tenure. Appointed by Jimmy Carter, she served on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for 13 years until Bill Clinton nominated her to the Supreme Court. Her effective tactic of fighting against gender discrimination consisted of going after specific areas and limitations as to set precedents instead of making sweeping general laws. 

As climate change protests persisted throughout the  spring of 2020, one name kept popping up in all of the headlines. Time magazine claims that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) is the second most talked about politician other than the President. In just one year, she went from 49k followers on Twitter to over 3.5million. By pushing a New Green Deal and Medicare for All campaign, she has gained a significant amount of support from many millennials and even Gen Zers. Time even goes as far as to say her star-power rivals that of former President Donald Trump’s. After announcing her signature red lipstick color, the product sold out online right away. To be Hispanic woman pushing progressive ideas in a congressional setting is to have a combination of obstacles in your way, but that hasn’t fazed AOC. After Senator Yoho verbally harassed AOC on her way into the Capitol building, her response went viral. The power of her voice was demonstrated not only in her speech, but also in the tidal wave of support she received afterward. 

Like many others, I found out who Malala was when the Taliban boarded her school bus and shot her in the head. At the time, I was probably not as attuned to who she is as a person as much as I was more struck by the pure veracity of the act. Malala has been a very strong advocate for women's education in Afghanistan and other underdeveloped countries. Even as young as 16, Malala was protesting and standing up for what she believes in. This summer I remember seeing her make statements on Twitter from her hospital bed in Boston as the Taliban was overthrowing the Afghan government. Malala inspires me to make my voice heard and not allow other people to keep me down.