Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, September 19, 2020

THE CONVERSATIONS.. Talking About The Things That Are On Our Mind

14

 Mountain Views News Saturday, September 19, 2020 

A TRIBUTE TO RUTH BADER GINSBURG 

 1933-2020

"We've lost another great warrior for equality 
and justice for all" S. Hendeson/MVNews

PORTRAITS OF OUR NEIGHBORS

By Stuart Tolchin

AMANDA MACIEL ANTUNES

 

As unforseen as these times are, so was my meeting with Amanda Maciel Antunes. 
Ten days ago she and another woman, both masked, walked past my house. Taking 
them to be mother and daughter, I commented that their masks were probably 
unnecessary if they were family living together. I learned that they were just 
neighbors living at the entrance to the canyon. I asked the younger woman if she 
was familiar with the famous writer Anais Nin who lived in that same area a few 
decades earlier. I maintained the superior attitude of an older man who had lived 
in the canyon for forty two years, but my attitude quickly evaporated never to 
return in the presence of this amazing young woman. She nonchalantly explained 
that serendipitously she lived in the very apartment where Anais Nin had lived! 
Amanda had become, in addition to many other things, a Nin scholar.

 It would take many books to describe the life and person of Amanda Maciel 
Antunes. After another chance meeting I asked to interview her. A few days later 
she came bearing tasty homemade Brazilian cheesebread that she had awakened 
early to bake. Despite the heat she was wearing a long dress that covered her from 
neck to foot. When I remarked upon her clothing I learned that she always makes 
her own clothes generally from materials that come from her native Brazil. Amanda 
explained that she was from a partly indigenous family that lived in an isolated area 
in Salto de Pirapora, Brazil. In order to go to school she took long bus rides to a 
larger city. Although she was something of a prodigy she was unique among the 
other students who called her “the girl from the farm” or “the girl from the past.” 
With a divided family blessing she fled Brazil at the age of fourteen to follow the 
life of an artist ending up in Boston, learning English by studying an Anais Nin 
diary. It has taken ten years to settle her immigration problems but now married 
and living in Sierra Madre she has become an LA based multidisciplinary artist 
working in painting, costuming, performance, writing and installation art. While 
living in Sierra Madre she began each morning by climbing part way up the Mount 
Wilson Trial where she sits on a bench creating a tapestry on which she embroiders 
a poem. On the way back down the trail she picks up assorted items storing them 
in her backpack to later to be used in her other art projects. Somewhere along the 
trail she has created her own sanctuary.

 
Still, I have told you nothing about her person. To me she seems like a kind of 
Angel with a bit of an accent and some very strong opinions. She is a Feminist who 
asserts that a great part of Western hemisphere and European history involves the 
continued suppression of women largely because men are frightened of feminine 
power. 

In a Zoom presentation in which Amanda was interviewed by two older Feminist 
poets she spoke of her need to be an artist. She explains that every moment of her 
life she lives her art, living her life with integrity and continuing to enrich her soul. 
She is very interested in the underlying connections between our deepest selves 
which mere words cannot reach. The continued presence of the obscured past and 
the often unnoticed present is an underlying theme. She looks for a safe place to be 
to feed her soul and is, for now, disinterested in forming a family. Nevertheless, she 
is a very loving person, willing to fly across country to aid a troubled friend or to 
check on new friends in the canyon.

Even with all this, she looks just like any other person walking in the canyon 
sometimes with her backpack. In her bag is the ongoing living piece of art. As I 
hoped to emphasize in these articles, every person you pass along the road has a 
new story to tell, and the more stories you hear the richer your own world can be. 

Go to https://www.sos-siren.com to see Amanda’s Zoom interview.

“With the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, America has lost one of the most extraordinary 
Justices ever to serve on the Supreme Court. She was a magnificent judge and a wonderful 
person -- a brilliant lawyer with a caring heart, common sense, fierce devotion to fairness 
and equality, and boundless courage in the face of her own adversity. , Former President Bill 
Clinotn who appointed Ginsburg in 1993

“Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature. We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished 
colleague,” Roberts said. “Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations 
will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her -- a tireless and resolute champion of 
justice.”, Supreme Court Justice John Roberts

Ruth Bader Ginsburg embodied justice, brilliance and goodness. Her passing is an incalculable 
loss for our democracy and for all who sacrifice and strive to build a better future for 
our children., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "Tonight, the flags are flying at half staff over the 
Capitol to honor the patriotism of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Every woman and girl, and 
therefore every family, in America has benefitted from her brilliance."

"Justice Ginsburg paved the way for so many women, including me," former Secretary of State 
Hillary Clinton said on Twitter. "There will never be another like her. Thank you RBG."

Senator Joe Biden: "Ruth Bader Ginsburg stood for all of us. She was an American hero, a 
giant of legal doctrine, and a relentless voice in the pursuit of that highest American ideal: 
Equal Justice Under Law. May her memory be a blessing to all people who cherish our Constitution 
and its promise."

Senator Kamala Harris: "For all who believe in the power of the law as a force for change, 
Justice Ginsburg was and will always be a titan. She was a relentless defender of justice in our 
country and a legal mind for the ages."

Writer and director Janet Mock called Ginsburg "a feminist icon and American hero" on Twitter 
and thanked her for "working well beyond retirement until the very end because our 
country needed you."

"Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the kind of scholar and patriot you get excited about explaining to 
your kids," tweeted actress Mindy Kaling. "The kind of person who you say 'who knows, one 
day you could be HER'. I hope you rest well, RBG, you must have been tired from changing 
the world."

Ginsburg devoted her career to chipping away at discriminatory laws and policies, inspiring 
reactions like the tweet from former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams: "May we 
continue fight for Justice here with her passion, brilliance and extraordinary mischief. Until 
good is done."

"Even had she not become a Supreme Court Justice, Ginsburg earned a place in history for 
what she did to win equality for American women," said "RBG" directors Betsy West and Julie 
Cohen in a joint statement. "When we asked her several years ago how she wanted to be 
remembered, she said with characteristic modesty, 'Just as someone who did whatever she 
could, with whatever limited talent she had, to move society along in the direction I would 
like it to be for my children and grandchildren.'"

Ruthie was my friend and I will miss her terribly. The t-shirts simply labeled “RBG” made her 
notorious. But it was her wit, her tenaciousness, and her skill as a jurist that made her an icon. 
As a young mom heading off to Rutgers law school, I saw so few examples of female lawyers 
or law professors. But Ruthie blazed the trail. I’m forever grateful for her example — to me, 
and to millions of young women who saw her as a role model., Senator Elizabeth Warren

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one of the great justices in modern American history and 
her passing is a tremendous loss to our country. She will be remembered as an extraordinary 
champion of justice and equal rights., Senator Bernie Sanders

Rest in peace Ruth Bader Ginsburg - a true legend, an iconoclast, a glass ceiling breaker, and 
a feminist icon. She changed the world in so many incredible ways. Prayers, love and strength 
to her family during this dark time. I hope you have fun with Antonin Scalia in heaven... 
Meghan McCain

And News Anchor, Commentator and Author, Dan Rather:

Please let's save the politics for another day. The rank hypocrisy, outrage, and vote counting. 
Justice Ginsburg was a towering figure, a fighter. Time and time again she beat the odds. She 
wouldn't want anyone to give up or be deterred from fighting for the dreams she embodied, 


A HEARTFELT

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Please note that this is only a partial listing. 

Susan Henderson, Owner/Publisher/Editor

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com