NATIONWIDE — Grace Ritchie attributes all of her activism against gun violence in America to one iconic woman: Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Ritchie was 14 when she first watched The Notorious RBG documentary with her mom, dad, and younger sister, Violet. The documentary about the late Supreme Court justice, who died Friday after battling cancer, told the story of a young female law student who became a trailblazer for women’s rights and a fierce dissenting voice on the nation’s highest court.

But it was the photos of Ginsburg standing in a crowded class of male law students that really inspired Ritchie. She attends a math and science magnet school in Tacoma, Wa., where “there’s a lot of dudes in my classes. Always a lot of dudes,” she said. 

“The fact that she had the bravery to stand in those rooms with all men and share her opinions when it wasn’t the norm for a woman back then to speak her opinions,” Ritchie said. “I was just like...wow.”

Across the United States and indeed other parts of the world, Ginsburg inspired generations of people, particularly women, for her pioneering work to enhance the rights of women. Ginsburg was 87.

In recent years, a series of documentaries and books for young readers helped introduce a new generation of girls to the achievements of the Supreme Court justice. 

Their mothers lived through Ginsburg’s battle to protect affirmative action and minority voting rights, and their grandmothers witnessed the young lawyer break down barriers to reproductive rights. Today, a younger generation has been inspired to learn about the Supreme Court justice’s work through the explosive popularity of Ginsburg themed T-shirts, coffee mugs, and dolls bearing her image.

“Justice Ginsburg often spoke of how important it was for girls — and boys! — to be able to imagine a whole range of possibilities for their lives,” said Irin Carmon, who wrote The Notorious RBG and later, a version of the book for young readers. “The book was intended to bring her inspiring story to everyone, including people who might never otherwise read a book on the Supreme Court. So, bringing that to young readers was a joy.”

There are several other books as well as a comic book about Ginsburg written specifically for young readers.

Ginsburg-inspired Halloween costumes have become popular, as young trick-or-treaters don oversized glasses and black robes with a lace collar mimicking the justice’s court garb.  

After watching the Notorious RBG documentary, Richie said she took her motivation to the streets, where she and her sister took part in protests at home in Tacoma demanding action on gun law reform as part of the Students Demand Action, a youth group focused on reducing gun violence in the U.S.

In 2019, when the Tacoma City Council was considering introducing an ammunition tax, the then 16-year-old Ritchie lined up two hours early outside the city hall to register her name to be heard at the council meeting. 

She waited for two more hours until it was her turn, at which point she addressed the packed room with a short but powerful speech advocating for the passage of the new tax. 

“I respect people’s Second Amendment rights. However, in the face of this gun violence crisis, we all must do someone and remember the words by Eleanor Roosevelt, ‘with freedom comes responsibility,’” she said in her closing statement.

The city council passed the bill later that month. 

“When Grace decided to speak at the city council meeting, she said she was inspired by RGB to use her voice for what she cared about,” said Tamara Sloan Ritchie, about her daughter. 

Grace Ritchie is now 17 and a senior in high school. After the shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in August of last year, Grace and Violet, 14, asked their parents to go to Washington, D.C., to participate in a march against gun violence. 

Was it intimidating to speak out as a young, 16-year-old in front of a room full of adults, many of whom were strongly against Tacoma’s proposed ammunition tax?

“No, I’ve done this a lot now. They all know me,” Grace Ritchie said. 

Harper Bamsey, 9, of Roswell, Ga., said she has “a lot” of books about Ginsburg as well as a doll. She was saddened when she heard that she had died. She was important because she fought for both women’s rights and human rights, the fourth-grader said.  

“She dissented. She did it first,” she said.

Harper Bamsey, 9, of Roswell, Ga. (Photo courtesy Ben Bamsey)

Beata Borja-Westin, 11, of Indianapolis, is keenly aware of the political tug-of-war that will now ensue in the process of filling Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court. She’s worried about what comes next and if the new justice would pass laws that “won’t be good for us.”

The seventh-grader can’t remember when she first became familiar with Ginsburg, but she remembers dressing up as the justice for Halloween six years ago when she was in first grade. Now 11, Borja-Westin says she briefly considered going again as Ginsburg since this year, her grandmother gave her a replica of the justice’s famous “dissenting collar.” In the end, she’ll probably wait until the last minute to decide what her costume will be, Borja-Westin said.

Meanwhile, Borja-Westin has been jotting down the names of other women who inspire her in the ways that Ginsburg has. She’s drawn two columns each on two pages of a notebook and written down as many names as she can think of.

“The names were all in my head anyway, and I just didn’t want to forget them, so I started to write them down last night,” she said.

She is sad that Ginsburg has died and worried about what it will mean when she’s replaced on the bench, but there’s still plenty of people who can inspire her, Borja-Westin said. 

There were 48 names on her list as of Saturday afternoon.