It’s Wednesday, which means we’re here for another #WomanCrushWednesday during Women’s History Month! Over the last two weeks, we’ve highlighted amazing women who are making an impact in society and local communities.
To continue the series, we’re crushing on a certain New York City-raised, history-making Latina woman who made waves in the judicial system. That’s right, our #WomanCrushWednesday is Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court.
Sonia Sotomayor is a true New Yorker, born and raised in the Bronx. Sonia gets her hard work and dedication from her mother. Being widowed when Sonia was only 9, she worked 6-7 days a week to provide for the family. It was when Sonia was 10 and watching an episode of the legal drama Perry Mason, that she decided to pursue a life in the legal system. She worked tirelessly and was awarded when she graduated top of her class from Princeton University. After, she received her Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Yale.
Sonia was always rooted and went back to her Puerto Rican history, serving as co-chairman of Princeton’s Puerto Rican activist group, advocating for Puerto Rican hiring rights, and even played an active role on the board of directors for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.
In 1979, she was hired as assistant DA in New York, where she helped to put the most heinous criminals behind bars and worked on the Tarzan Murder case, a violent crime spree that had terrorized central Harlem for more than a year.
In 2009, Sotomayor’s hard work and dedication was recognized; Former President Obama appointed her as a court justice, where she became the first Latina Supreme Court Justice in U.S. history. Sotomayor has been recognized across the nation as a trailblazing role model for Latinas. She has written a book as well as spoken to countless audiences on topics ranging from legal education to diversity in the court. She has even been featured on Forbes Power Women List.
Sotomayor was and continues to be a 21st-century role model to girls all over the nation. There’s no doubt as to why she is this week’s #WomanCrushWednesday ! With only 2 weeks left in Women’s History Month, our next features are sure to inspire and educate on the amazing women we truly have in history!
Sonia Sotomayor. (2020). [Photograph]. https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/justice_pictures/Sotomayor_9841-001-Crop.jpg
Ernst, & Reuters. (2017). US Supreme Court justices pose during a group photo [Photograph]. Thenation.Com. https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/supreme-court-justices-rtr-img.jpg?scale=896&compress=80
