In retrospect, it makes perfect sense that late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born right in the middle of March, aka Women’s History Month.
Ginsburg, who became a feminist icon for her legal successes in cases that advanced women’s rights, died on Sept. 18 after a long battle with metastatic pancreas cancer. She would have turned 88 on March 15, and the occasion is being commemorated with a virtual event celebrating Ginsburg’s life and work.
The Women and Girls Foundation, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit, teamed up with the Brooklyn Museum’s Center for Feminist Art to put on “WE DISSENT ... AND WE ARE GRATEFUL,” an online program Monday at 6 p.m. featuring dramatic readings of Ginsburg’s most significant opinions — both majority and dissents.
Tickets are available via WGF’s website or through the Brooklyn Museum’s site as a direct donation to its Feminist Art Fund.
Those opinions will be dramatized by Broadway stars Kathleen Chalfant (“Angels in America: Millennium Approaches”) and Noma Dumezweni (“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”), performance artist Karen Finley and more, including someone Women and Girls Foundation CEO Heather Arnet would only describe as an “incredibly special guest” who also happens to be an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner.
Ms. Arnet had a preexisting relationship with Ms. Chalfant, who she directed in a staged reading of a Robert Meyers play at the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival several years ago. She adapted the script that Ms. Chalfant and the other performers will be reading from with the help of Anna Wan and Serena Zets, two alumni of the nonprofit’s GirlGov leadership program.
The event will be followed by a discussion about Ginsburg’s legacy featuring Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center; La'Tasha D. Mayes, president and CEO of New Voices for Reproductive Justice; and Catherine Morris, Sackler senior curator for the Brooklyn Museum’s Center for Feminist Art.
“It has been a wonderful experience working with all of these incredible actors, performance artists, the young women who worked on the script, the extraordinary curatorial team at the Brooklyn Museum,” Ms. Arnet said. “It’s been extraordinary to work with all these incredible women in all these different fields.”
Readings will include Ginsburg’s majority opinions for 1999’s Olmstead v. L.C., which helped protect folks with mental disabilities from discrimination, and United States v. Virginia, which forced the Virginia Military Institute to start accepting women.
One notable dissent included in Monday’s event will be Ginsburg’s musings on Shelby County v. Holder, a decision she believed weakened the Voting Rights Act. Ms. Arnet pointed out that this is a particularly relevant case to revisit as states like Georgia and Arizona attempt to pass controversial bills addressing access to voting.
Even though Women’s History Month “is every day for our organization,” as Ms. Arnet put it, she’s still excited to highlight Justice Ginsburg’s victories for women nationwide and why those accomplishments will always be worth honoring.
“I think it’s a really important time to be reflecting on Justice Ginsburg’s legacy ...,” she said. “We are seeing in the news today issues that are directly relevant to the work of Justice Ginsburg.”
Joshua Axelrod: jaxelrod@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jaxel222.
First Published: March 12, 2021, 10:42 a.m.
