Ruth Bader Ginsburg dedicated her life to the pursuit of justice. She was a trailblazer who fought vigorously for gender equality as a lawyer. RBG not only changed the law, but she also altered the fabric of society. And during her 27 years on the Court, she became an unlikely pop-culture icon, influencing an Oscar-nominated documentary film, and even her own action figure. Sadly the beloved hero passed on Friday from pancreatic cancer. She was 87 years old.

RBG initially began her life-long battle against sexism when she faced gender-based discrimination during her time at Harvard Law. She was continuously chastised by her male classmates and high ranking authorities for taking a man’s place at the school. This didn’t deter her from becoming the first female member of the Harvard Law Review. When RBG’s husband accepted a position at a law firm in NYC, she had one year left of law school, so she transferred to Columbia Law School. During that year she served on their law review as well and graduated first in her class in 1959. But even RBG’s unprecedented academic record couldn’t shield her from the gender inequality women endured in the workplace in the 1960s.

Instead of joining a firm, RBG chose to pursue her other legal passion, civil procedure. She decided to join the Columbia Project on International Civil Procedure. This project completely engrossed her; she moved abroad to do research for her book, Swedish Civil Procedure Practices. After returning In 1963, RBG accepted a job as a professor at Rutgers University Law School where she taught until 1972 when she was asked to teach at Columbia. She became the first female professor to earn tenure.

Simultaneously RBG directed the inspirational Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union during the 1970s. As the commander-in-chief, she led the battle against gender inequality. She successfully argued six landmark cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, not only fighting for women’s rights but for men who were discriminated against as well. And in 1980, RBG accepted Jimmy Carter’s appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington D.C. She served on the Court for 13 years, until Bill Clinton appointed her to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1993. It was then that RBG became an iconic feminist figure, fighting for women’s rights. However, her pop-cultural stardom wasn’t secured until 20 years into her tenure on the Court, after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor retired in 2006, leaving RBG as the only woman on the Court.

This was a pivotal turning point in her judicial career. In 2013 she read two biting dissents aloud before the bench, with utter contempt for the Court’s decision in the Shelby County v. Holder case. Her impassioned disagreement with the decision sparked the “Notorious R.B.G.” Tumblr page and meme, comparing RGB to rapper Biggie Smalls aka The Notorious B.I.G. The term, as noted by The New York Times, would "be remembered as the time when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg found her voice and used it." The Notorious B.I.G. was also a Brooklyn native. He was both a large imposing rapper and an extremely powerful figure. Though RBG was barely five feet tall and clocked in at 100 pounds, the comparison is a celebration of her power and influence. Her image as The Notorious R.B.G. became as recognizable as the moniker, as she was depicted having a cheery yet severe manner, a frilly lace collar embellishing her black judicial robe, oversize glasses, and a gold crown perched at a skewed angle on her head. The image, as well as her name, became iconic. The contrast of the two figures made the Notorious R.B.G. nickname comical and the internet ran with it. A proliferation of memes and merchandise rapidly gained popularity after another dissenting sentiment from RBG in the 2014 Burwell v. Hobby Lobby case bolstering the viral sensation.

Her iconic status was permanently cemented in 2016 when Donald Trump was elected president. As the oldest justice on the bench, and the leader of the Court's left-leaning faction, RBG became a champion for liberals who feared Trump’s ability to influence the future of the Court. She went from being a judicial hero to a symbolic barrier against the historically conservative Supreme court majority.

In an interview, RBG expressed her hope and faith in women to follow the trail she blazed. “The more women who are out there doing things, the better off all of us will be for it," she stated. "That’s something that my dear colleague Sandra Day O’Connor often said: the more women who are out there doing things, the more young women will have the courage to go on. And I am heartened by the number of women who will be in races for our Congress and governorships and state legislative positions. It was a favorite expression of Martin Luther King, Jr: ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.’” That's the true legacy of the Notorious R.B.G. She did her best to bend that arc toward justice and influencing others to act on behalf of equality. Whether that be through memes, dissents, or otherwise.

Rest In Power - Notorious R.B.G.