September 18th, 2020 is a day of mourning for the legal community around the world. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away, aged 87, after serving on the Supreme Court of the United States for a little over 27 years.
She was the daughter of a Russian Jewish immigrant and her mother was also born to Jewish immigrants but from Austria. In her early years the Holocaust was happening to her people, even though she was far away from the place in which this awful event took place, she must have suffered because of it.
Not many years before her birth, the 19th Amendment of the United States Constitution was passed, and women just gained the right to vote in the United States. She also lived through times when anti-miscegenation laws prohibited interracial marriage and interracial sexual relations among other things. She saw many things change through her lifetime.
To make a career as a lawyer, or any profession for that at her time as a student and at the beginning of her career, she suffered from discrimination for the simple fact that she was a woman. Not much was expected at the time professionally for women and nevertheless she kept fighting.
She had a strong belief in equality, certainly on human rights but also on discrimination in general. She was in favor of affirmative action programs and believed in respecting the law, all the law, including international law which she cited many times.
She believed that affirmative action programs would lead to equality and advance specially for vulnerable groups affected by unemployment, lack of health care and quality education as well as poverty. She believed that everyone has the same rights regardless of their nationality, race, religion, among others.
The African Promise has a value that is certainly in line with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s principles. She achieved, against the odds not only to be a Justice in the Supreme Court of the United States but an icon in equality and a warrior against discrimination.
I’m sure that one day, a letter like this will be written praising the African Promise results. Because something has been wrong for a long time, it does not mean that it cannot be changed. Courage is needed to step up and gain a place in the world. The world is becoming smaller with technology and every day we gain more access to knowledge and people we didn’t have before.
I know that the day in which everyone will be included and considered in the arbitration world is very near, there’s still much to do, but also much has been done and the African Promise will always be remembered as a cornerstone of this achievement.
Dr. Ernesto Briseno, MCIArb.
Abogado, Ispayur, Madrid, Spain
Email: eb@ispayur.es
On a visit to the Supreme Court of the United States of America in 1998, I witnessed Justice Ginsburg presiding on a full bench with the other justices (not to mention Justice O’Connor( rtd)
I had then been on the Eisenhower Fellowship (1998)and was attached to Justice Kennedy who invited me to witness the proceedings of the Supreme Court. I was truly impressed.
What an achievement by Justice Ginsburg for social society, women and the rights of all. Her willingness to stand up for equal rights before she came on to the bench is commendable. Even in her illness she continued to work from her hospital bed delivering her opinion virtually. What dedication.
She will always be remembered by women,not only in Africa but all over the world, as achieving the possibility of making a difference in this world for positive change.
My heart felt condolences to the family during this trying time for them.
Sincerely,
M. Ang’awa
FCIArb
Arbitrator
Mediator