To my friends in faith--sisters, siblings and brothers in spirit:
With tonight's news, we are reminded how fragile we are as a nation, as a community, as a democracy. For too long, cruel and narrow interests have worked tirelessly, dismantling and destablizing our institutions and freedoms. As we grieve Justice Ginsburg's death today, we worry for the future and what might come next.
I hope you are angry. Her legacy--one of dignity, compassion and (most significantly) brilliant jurisprudence--requires that we invest our anger in nonviolence, civil disobedience, thoughtful organized movements for justice and democratic renewal. This is not a partisan project: it belongs to all of us. Ruth Bader Ginsburg's spirit is the spirit of this country, the spirit that makes it a place refugees risk everything to find, the spirit that shines light even in the shadowy season we're now in.
We will press on. We are compelled by faith, animated by hope, strengthened by our love for one another. We will fight to protect the right of every woman, every sister, every daughter, every sibling among us--to choose her own course, to protect her own body and future, to honor her life as a temple of the divine. We will fight to protect the right of every targeted community--our queer friends, people of color among us, siblings of different abilities--to live freely, boldly, as fully empowered members of democratic villages and institutions. Her spirit is the spirit of this country. We will press on.
And if we don't see ourselves in these struggles--men who've never had to get an abortion, white folk who've never faced lynching in the streets, able-bodied friends who've never been mocked or rejected out of hand--if we don't see ourselves in these struggles, we'll have to do better. We'll decide to do better. We'll put our bodies on the line, see our futures in theirs, and come to realize that a woman's right to choose is, after all, our own freedom protected. And racial justice is our democracy preserved.
So we grieve tonight, friends in faith, but we receive too the promise of this new year. Rosh Hashanah. Despair does not define us. Authoritarianism doesn't determine our future. The Creator of the Universe stirs in every vision of justice, every movement for liberation, every gesture of kindness and mercy. And by love and grace, with compassion and courage, the people united will never be defeated.
We will press on.
DGJ
9/18/20
