This morning, I woke up to the tragic news that U.S. Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg has passed away. The first image that caught my eye was the powerful portrait of the second female Supreme Court Judge in her iconic black gown and white jabot, with a strong endearing stare, ready to take on all life-challenges coming at her. As I mourn an extraordinary woman and a legendary inspiration to all (and personally to myself), I realize that surrounding all of us, there are equally inspiring women who, oftentimes, do not receive the recognition they so deserve. The story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg reminds me that I have an equally inspiring woman in my life: my extraordinary, exceptional, strong, resilient, and loving mother. On this day that we tragically mourn a feminist icon, I hope that a story of my own female inspiration could spark a light to the darkness. There are, and always be, women surrounding us who constantly inspire others and who make all of us want to become inspiring to others one day.
My mother has never failed to impress others both at work and at home. Recently, she together with her team took on a “mission impossible” to organize a repatriating flight for Vietnamese students, their family, as well as her colleagues at RMIT University (Australia) to come back to Vietnam. These students were under immense economic and mental hardships as they were stuck in Australia despite having finished their coursework in Melbourne. Due to the continual effects of COVID-19, the Vietnamese government has not allowed international commercial flights to land at Vietnamese airports; only chartered flights are allowed. Understanding the situation at hand, my mom decided that she needed to help the students stuck in Melbourne somehow. And, beyond all of our expectations, she pulled it off. My mother, with the help of her team and the local authorities, successfully organized a repatriating flight to bring almost 300 people home to Vietnam from Melbourne on September 5, 2020. Not only am I proud of my mother and “wowed” by her “super-powers”, but I am also profoundly inspired by her. And, this morning, reading the news about RBG, it dawned on me that the stories of all inspiring women have quite a few things in common.
RBG inspires me because of
how willing she was to fight for others as fiercely as she would for her own
.
Her strength to fight gender discrimination might have been inspired by herself as a woman, by her daughter and grand-daughter, but her resilience in fighting for women’s rights was so fierce might be because she knew she had to fight for all other women suffering from the same or worse than the discrimination she faces. She dedicated her life to living “not just for oneself, but for one’s community” (Ruth Bader Ginsberg Speech at Stanford University). Similarly, my mother was “inspired” to help because I was in the exact same shoes as those students in Melbourne and she was one of the nervous parents waiting for their children to come home. However, she would never have had the strength to continue the “fight” for the repatriating flight, facing different levels of bureaucratic challenges and social pressure, if she had not been willing to fight just as fiercely for other parents and their children as she would for me. She never considered this flight “just a job.” She spent the time calling nervous students to make sure they were okay. She was up until 3 A.M. making sure the hotel rooms were ready for their quarantine period. She held her breath as the flight took off the ground in Melbourne, only to break into tears as the flight landed safely in Van Don airport, Vietnam. The fact that RBG and my mother are both so willing to sacrifice themselves fighting for the rights of others inspires me to do the same for others. Because of such willingness, people were helped, lives were saved, and the world became a better place. All because of inspiring women.
RBG’s story reminds me of an
incessant unwillingness to give up
. RBG’s generation of women faced an impossible challenge to break the ceiling of gender discrimination. RBG herself was not taken seriously; until she made it clear that she needs to be taken seriously. When my mom said she wanted this flight to save her students, everyone came near to laughing at her face. Some people said that these students did not need to be saved (because they were “rich enough” to study abroad), others said that the government would never approve of such an exception. As RBG has put it herself, “when a thoughtless or unkind word is spoken, best tune out.” If my mom had listened to such discouraging comments, or if she had succumbed to the bureaucratic “hoops,” she would have given up on even just the idea of a repatriating flight just for her students. However, her strength and her unwillingness to give up drove her to jump through all challenges and pull through. Because of her unwillingness to give up, tomorrow, 300 people are coming home to their families. RBG and Mom inspire me to never give up on fighting for the right thing, and on doing things that needed to be done.
Most importantly, RBG reminds me that
women are powerful and women’s power could change the world.
She believed in her power and utilized such power to leave us with a legendary judicial legacy that changed the world’s perspective on women and gender discrimination. Her power also transfers to her daughter — a respected Law Professor, and her daughter, who recently graduated from Law school. They are following her footsteps to empower the future of other women. My mom showed her power by making things come true — a perfect example would be the repatriating flight. Her power inspires the government, as well as other organizations beyond her university, to sit together and seriously consider finding an easier way for students to come home when they need to. As soon as September 15, the government decided to follow the methodology with which RMIT (where my mom works) organized their repatriating flights and also decided to increase the number of repatriating flights to relieve the pressure of Vietnamese overseas, as well as professionals and expatriates who need to come to Vietnam for business purposes. The government felt the need to change because my mom made a difference.
RBG and my mother are definitely not the only two inspiring women in this whole wide world. In fact, a strong and loving woman inspired me to write this article (thank you, Ms. Britt Hysell). However, to me, they both give me the fortune of feeling deeply inspired and remind me of my own mission to live fearlessly so that I will (one day) inspire others. And, if you also have an inspiring woman in your life, please don’t forget to cherish her and acknowledge her. My mother never asked for any acknowledgment of her work; however, I think she deserves the acknowledgment that none of my words could ever describe. On this day that we lost such an amazing inspiration to all women out there, I want to urge everyone to give applause to your own female inspirations, and once again feel inspired by them. Personally, I would also promise to myself that I will continue to work to the best of my power to hopefully be inspiring one day.
Information about the flight:
https://www.rmit.edu.vn/news/all-news/2020/sep/rmit-vietnam-students-returned-home-through-bamboo-airways-partnership
