I Dissent Too: Time to Mourn and Organize
By Eric K. Ward
“If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.” ~ Harriet Tubman
We’ve lost a great friend and champion.
We’re reeling. It’s been body blow after body blow to the body politic.
We’re mourning. It can feel overwhelming.
The presidential election results will likely be contested in the courts this year, decided by the highest court in the land, the court now missing its strongest antiauthoritarian voice.
When I heard the news of her death, I heard the dogs, the shouting; I saw the torches in the woods. Those prophetic words came to mind: Don’t ever stop. Keep going.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, like Harriet Tubman, was a fighter. She fought all her life. Not just for herself. For others. For all of us.
She was tireless. She stayed longer than we had the right to ask for — but she never quit.
We don’t get to quit on her now.
I can’t speak for Ruth Bader Ginsburg — she needed no one to speak for her, especially not a man. But it’s hard to imagine she would want us to shut down right now, to go internal.
That was my biggest fear as the news settled like more burning ash from the forests on fire: that our mourning would take us internal.
Instead I saw message after message on social media, raising high the banner of her fight, our fight. Channeling her spirit. Honoring her memory.
Quoting RBG: “I’m dejected, but only momentarily, when I can’t get the fifth vote for something I think is very important. But then you go on to the next challenge and give it your all. You know that these important issues are not going to go away. They are going to come back again and again. There’ll be another time, another day.”
Recommitting: “You be sad tonight. But after that, we have to fight. No more ‘I can’ts’ or “Nooooos.’ We hitch our britches up and keep on going. For her, like she would have done for us. Like she did for us. Now is the time we bring the fight to them!”
Mourning through action: “May you never be forgotten. May we, who must go on without you, contend with our grief by engaging our capacity to stand up and challenge those who try to undermine what is just and proper.”
And one of my favorites, from Karol Collymore: “Y’all. She wasn’t the last hope. We are. We owe her that.”
That’s what I came here to say. It’s on us now.
For as much as RBG justifiably became an icon, was revered as a hero — what she stood for was equal opportunity, full participation. She would not want to be seen as a savior. She wasn’t perfect; she made her share of mistakes and then owned them. Got better. Fought harder.
When documentary filmmakers asked her how she would want to be remembered, she is reported to have said, “Just as someone who did whatever I could, with whatever limited talent I had, to move society along in the direction I would like it to be for my children and grandchildren.”
She stood for, fought for, the power of the people. Us.
We have to mourn her in a different way. We have to defend her memory. We honor her by recommitting to doing all we can do to stop authoritarianism from taking control of this country.
Between now and Election Day, that has to be our #1 commitment. Doing all the necessary things for ourselves so we can keep that commitment.
It’s okay to mourn. You still have to organize.
I loved the photo Joy Wilson posted of her daughter Piper. She wrote, “Thank you for inspiring my girls — inspiration that extends far beyond Halloween costumes and to real life professional aspirations. Thank you for showing us the power of dissent and how powerful one woman’s voice can be. You will be missed, but never forgotten.”
For those who want to honor RBG’s legacy in this way, join me in using this image. Commit to defending democracy, to dissenting from the authoritarian takeover. Take concrete action and then tell your friends what you’re doing with #IDissent.
In the coming days Western States Center will be sharing more ideas for how we can keep RBG’s movement to save democracy going. Make sure you’re on our email list, or following us on Facebook and Twitter.
This may well be RBG’s last gift to us: bringing us together, pushing us to do our part.
We may not be lawyers and judges but we can vote and we can make ourselves heard. This is our democracy. We won’t be silenced.
We have to take her place and pick up the fight.
Eric K. Ward is a Senior Fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center and Race Forward, and Executive Director of Western States Center.
