Scores of people gathered in San Pedro on September 21 to honor Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a candlelight vigil.
The gathering was one of many across the country to celebrate the life of Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
Ginsburg has become an icon in recent years and was the most prominent member on the Court.
Speakers included LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn, Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell, LA Councilmember Joe Buscaino, LA Harbor Commissioner Diane Middleton and ILWU Local 26 President Luisa Gratz.
Middleton said that Ginsburg served as a role model for women. “When I graduated law school in 1971. there were four women in my class,’ she said. “Today in law schools, women make up 40 to 50 percent of the classes. When I arrived in San Pedro in 1978, there were only six women on the waterfront. Justice Ginsburg stood for all of these women. It wasn’t just about her landmark dissents; it was about what she showed us that could be possible.”
Gratz challenged the crowd, which included many ILWU members, to continue Ginsburg’s fight. “What is going on in the Supreme Court today is the result of our silence over the last few decades. If we don’t organize, we will live with the results,” Gratz said. “Ruth Bader Ginsberg was a unique human being. She also was a woman. She had integrity, courage, brilliance, tenacity, humility, intelligence, and was driven by factual analysis, and context that drove her perspective in the name of justice for her clients, her country, for the judicial arena, and process we evolved to, and most of all, she knew no men are free unless women are equal without litigious, economic, or structural limitation. She was amazing and unfortunately rare. She left an abyss that many don’t yet understand. She will be and is already missed.”