Seattle greets Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as the “Abuelita” (Grandmother)
Seattle – Applause and standing ovations greeted Sotomayor as the “Abuelita” (Spanish term for Grandmother) of all ethnicities in the room and World Wide. The Monday 10th at Seattle’s Town Hall was quieted by interviewer, Eric Liu writer living in Seattle & author of Guiding Light, with a gesture to her towards her chair as a way to let the audience know the interview was starting and subtlety quieting them.
She prefaced her book, “My Beloved World”, explaining the content, “It provides an introduction to family, her route in life, interactions of career with family, and her own personal story.” She added, “No book is whole. In most cases, it’s a 9 month journey. In my case it was a 9 year journey for her book.”
She shared a key component leading to success and encouraged all to do, “The biggest holdbacks of most people are having an ability to ask for help and admission to say, I don’t know. I never am never ashamed to admit, I don’t know.”
She encouraged all attendees to strategically seek mentors and to choose these mentors strategically. She went on to say, “Choose mentors whom you admire, reflect who you want to be and share your integrity. Mentors see your potential, want to share their knowledge, and help build your success and want to help you bloom into the individual they see you can be.” ” She continued by sharing, “Establish a game plan. Take a step by step and be proud of your achievements. Don’t try to forget your background, embrace it.”
She slowly and briefly looked around the room, provided eye contact to all and said about her book, “My story is your story.”
Among questions posed at the near the end of the event, the highlight of the evening was the question posed by an 8 year old, Andrea Cruz Munoz, asked. Liu read the question out loud to the audience and to Sotomayor, “If I were a Justice like you, I would make a law that parents don’t need to work but work at home. If you were my age, what law would you choose and why?” Sotomayor had a look of surprise, pleasure and invited Andrea to the stage for an answer directly for her. Andrea did not initially want to approach the stage so her Abuelita Patricia Carrion Moras accompanied her. Sotomayor smiled as she looked straight at Andrea and shared her answer, “Education. Education is the most important thing I have. If you could learn something new every day, it is such an adventure and I want that adventure with every child. And unfortunately, we have a system where we fund schools differently and some kids have more of an adventure than others, and some kids can’t better in life than others, and so if I could change that, that’s what I would change. And if I could bring my Abuelita back, I would.”
The the end of the interview, the audience provided a standing ovation, whistled loudly, clapped even harder and parted with the knowledge of the Spanish name “Abuelita” can be applied to all grandmothers regardless of which ethnicity.
Sotomayor’s book, “My Beloved World,” is now available in stores and online now.
