Welcome to the blog for Prof. John Talbird's English 101 class. The purpose of this site is two-fold: 1) to continue the conversations we start in class (or to start conversations before we get to class) and 2) to practice our writing, reading, and thinking on a weekly basis in an informal setting.
Pretty good article. Brought a smile to my face when she talked about her family up bringing along with the food and time share in front of the TV. I took when I was a kind enjoyed watching Cantiflas with the family (and the Chespirito), and a good game of dominoes with merengue playing in the background.
This article also brought up some interesting fact (brought on by Judge Sotomayor). How are minorities and women are represented in the circuit courts. How in some branches there is only a representation of women by 1%. I followed a website ( ) in where it posts as of 2016 it continues to show women and women of color a still have not caught up with the times. There continue to be certain court circuits when women have not served.
One good point Judge Sotomayor brings and is that there must be fair representation of all people and background in order to effectibly make changes in the law. I think she sums it up with this quote "First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."
I agree this article was really good and I also made that same connection with the dominos and merengue. Although I know who Cantiflas was, he was before my time but I still enjoy watching old cantiflas movies with my dad sometimes. Sonia's speech was very insightful and I loved the fact she starts off with her roots and explaining what made her a latina. One statement she made that really stood out to me was when she said"I became a Latina by the way I love and the way I live my life. My family showed me by their example how wonderful and vibrant life is and how wonderful and magical it is to have a Latina soul. They taught me to love being a Puertorriqueña and to love America and value its lesson that great things could be achieved if one works hard for it." This stood out to me because its the same way i was brought up and these lessons were also instilled into me growing up as a latino in america. There were also some very interesting statistics that I was not aware of and was very alarming . I was very surprised when I saw that there were still no women in some court circuits. You would think from 2001-2016 there would've been a greater increase in the number of women in the federal judiciary. After reading the information on the website you provided I'm in shock the numbers are still so low.
Nice point, Jean. That "wise Latina" statement came back to haunt her. When she was going through her confirmation hearings, several Republican senators brought that quote up. It seemed to be their point that her Latina background shouldn't matter for practicing the law (of course, they ignored the fact that since the birth of this country, nearly only white men have filled all these roles and that things haven't changed THAT much...)
Yes Jean this is a great article.I loved the fact that Sonia never forgets where she is coming from and is not ashamed to share her story in public. Even in her speech she speak about her childhood growing up and what it was like being a female back then. I love that Sonia Sotomayor spoke about women both African American and Latina now being in top careers slowly but it is happening. She is a great motivator every where she goes.
Her lecture was very informative. She spoke on the statistics of women and people of color that serve on the bench, not too many. What I found very interesting after reading the article was that although we have grown as a society,women and people of color are still judged. They are still looked down on. Sonia is so intelligent and she really is proud of who she is and where she came from. I truly believe she has beat the odds, but not by luck. Sonia has worked hard her whole life and continues to work hard. I really admire her strength.
Pretty good article. Brought a smile to my face when she talked about her family up bringing along with the food and time share in front of the TV. I took when I was a kind enjoyed watching Cantiflas with the family (and the Chespirito), and a good game of dominoes with merengue playing in the background.
ReplyDeleteThis article also brought up some interesting fact (brought on by Judge Sotomayor). How are minorities and women are represented in the circuit courts. How in some branches there is only a representation of women by 1%. I followed a website ( ) in where it posts as of 2016 it continues to show women and women of color a still have not caught up with the times. There continue to be certain court circuits when women have not served.
One good point Judge Sotomayor brings and is that there must be fair representation of all people and background in order to effectibly make changes in the law. I think she sums it up with this quote "First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."
I agree this article was really good and I also made that same connection with the dominos and merengue. Although I know who Cantiflas was, he was before my time but I still enjoy watching old cantiflas movies with my dad sometimes.
DeleteSonia's speech was very insightful and I loved the fact she starts off with her roots and explaining what made her a latina. One statement she made that really stood out to me was when she said"I became a Latina by the way I love and the way I live my life. My family showed me by their example how wonderful and vibrant life is and how wonderful and magical it is to have a Latina soul. They taught me to love being a Puertorriqueña and to love America and value its lesson that great things could be achieved if one works hard for it." This stood out to me because its the same way i was brought up and these lessons were also instilled into me growing up as a latino in america. There were also some very interesting statistics that I was not aware of and was very alarming . I was very surprised when I saw that there were still no women in some court circuits. You would think from 2001-2016 there would've been a greater increase in the number of women in the federal judiciary. After reading the information on the website you provided I'm in shock the numbers are still so low.
Nice point, Jean. That "wise Latina" statement came back to haunt her. When she was going through her confirmation hearings, several Republican senators brought that quote up. It seemed to be their point that her Latina background shouldn't matter for practicing the law (of course, they ignored the fact that since the birth of this country, nearly only white men have filled all these roles and that things haven't changed THAT much...)
Deletehere Is the website https://nwlc.org/resources/women-federal-judiciary-still-long-way-go/
ReplyDeleteYes Jean this is a great article.I loved the fact that Sonia never forgets where she is coming from and is not ashamed to share her story in public. Even in her speech she speak about her childhood growing up and what it was like being a female back then. I love that Sonia Sotomayor spoke about women both African American and Latina now being in top careers slowly but it is happening. She is a great motivator every where she goes.
ReplyDeleteHer lecture was very informative. She spoke on the statistics of women and people of color that serve on the bench, not too many. What I found very interesting after reading the article was that although we have grown as a society,women and people of color are still judged. They are still looked down on. Sonia is so intelligent and she really is proud of who she is and where she came from. I truly believe she has beat the odds, but not by luck. Sonia has worked hard her whole life and continues to work hard. I really admire her strength.
ReplyDelete