One pant suit at a time

One pant suit at a time
by Talia Rodríguez

First day of my internship at the United States Supreme Court and the tour guide stops in front of the portrait of Justice of Sandra Day O’Connor, and says “When she got here, WE (the women) were allowed to wear pants”.

I was wearing a skirt of course, but it was the way (the tour guide, a New Yorker and Columbia grad) looked at the portrait. The look of admiration stayed with me. I decided success was having other women believe in your leadership. And then immediately spotted the cafeteria.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor served our nation as a jurist, as leader, and as a living example of justice, you know how hard that is when you have a bad hair day and the same hairspray as everyone else?

If you ever WORE a full suit but FELT like a Denim Jacket, you know service is the personal commitment to transform yourself, in the interest of others.

As a Justice service is a commitment made forever. All-American Hero, big like her Texas heart, her impact on the law is immeasurable.

As Latinos we are often encouraged to feel distance between ourselves and the judicial branch and the courts, but that distance is in fact proximity. You know more than you think.

The first Latina, a Boricua, intern to staff the Supreme Court Clerk’s Office hailed from the innovative SUNY Brockport Washington Internship program, Jody, who works at John Jay.

The second was me, part of the same program. The first Latina Supreme Court Justice was Justice Sotomayor, and the day I mean the actual day she opened her chambers (office), I was in attendance in a thrift store sourced suit, eating a bagel, thinking “WOW-this is big stuff?”

As a member of the Supreme Court Intern Family my privilege is to lift Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and sing the praise of a country girl who fought for us, women.

A home-school kid, turned Stanford graduate, Presidential Medal recipient, Female senator and the first woman to serve as majority leader for the Arizona Senate, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court. She was something.

I feel and will always feel a part of the institution that Sandra embodied. My boss told me “We are a family at the Supreme Court” so when I was exploring DC, when I felt lost or hit the wrong button on the google directions button, I knew I could call them at any time.

The Supreme Court itself is an institution that thousands of us have invested in. Its authority is self-evident in our shared belief that the common good can be determined by a select few, who are trusted.
That trust is well placed and the American servants that are today’s jurists are navigating a new world of challenges with the same dedication as the old-world traveling court justices (before we had a building the Supreme Court would travel from place to place via carriage) with the visibility of modern stars/attorney like Kim K. Humbly we pray God claims their heart for righteousness. At the end of her life, Sandy (her country name) wrote children’s books.

Her Amazon book review of “Finding Sandy” reads in part: “Sandra’s parents let her learn for herself that these animals are best suited to the wild, though it is often hard to let them go.”
As Latinas and as Americans, many of our lessons are learned at home like this one and Sandys, I think of the important role many of us play in educating the future Sandy’s of America.

Tell them her story, tell them she did it so we could wear pants, the literal and physical ones. And buy these cute books amazon and honor her journey which laid the path for our one pant suit at a time.

#RIH #Justice #Sandra #Day #O’Conner

You changed the world with your big Texas smile you are #Latinaherstory January 2024

Photo of the supreme court by Phung Touch from pexels.com and Photo of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor provided by Talia Rodriguez

Talia Rodriguez is a bi-racial, bi-cultural, and bi-lingual Latina from Buffalo. Ms. Rodriguez’s mission is to write about Latina’s, who have shaped the face of our city and our region. It is Ms. Rodriguez’s believes that our own people should inspire us and in telling our collective stories, we push our community forward. Ms. Rodriguez is a community advocate and organizer. She is a 5th generation West Sider, a graduate of SUNY Buffalo Law School, and an avid baseball fan. She lives on the West Side with her young son A.J… Ms. Rodriguez sits on the board of several organizations including the Belle Center, where she attended daycare. Ms. Rodriguez loves art, music, food, and her neighbors.