At 71, the Supreme Court justice is using children’s books, civic education, and her own life story to deliver a simple message: Democracy only works if we refuse to sit it out.
You probably know Sonia Sotomayor as the first Latina Supreme Court Justice, the third woman on that bench, and a passionate voice of dissent in recent times.
But did you know that the Bronx-born jurist also writes uplifting children’s books and serves as an ambassador for civic education through the nonprofit iCivics, founded by her Supreme Court predecessor Sandra Day O’Connor?
Now 71, Sotomayor is applying her courtroom gravitas toward something quieter but just as radical: inspiring the next generation to care. That might be our best bet, all things considered.
I had the chance to hear Sotomayor speak about her latest book at a public presentation last fall. Her illustrated children’s books condense hard-earned wisdom into easy-to-understand messages. In that spirit, her life story offers a handful of lessons I took away from Sotomayor’s own inspiring life story.
At a moment when many feel disillusioned by the tone of national debate, Sotomayor’s reflections—on forgiveness, resilience, and civic duty—feel refreshingly grounded. And surprisingly hopeful.
The Hard Work of Forgiveness
Sotomayor’s latest book, Just Shine! How to Be a Better You, offers a collection of vignettes from her mother’s life, focusing on her ability to bring brightness to other people’s lives. She said she found writing it cathartic as she grieved her beloved mother’s death in 2021. Yet in typical mother-daughter fashion, their relationship hadn’t always been so smooth. “I spent half my life … angry at her,” she admitted. “I didn’t perceive her as a loving person.”
For Sotomayor, it took honest conversations about her mother’s own difficult upbringing and marriage to an alcoholic (Sotomayor’s father, who died young) to resolve resentments held since childhood. “We both learned that we had to forgive each other” to rebuild the relationship, which they did beautifully until the end of her mom’s life. “We are imperfect as human beings. And we, too, grow.” Amen.
The Power of Vulnerability
Can Supreme Court judges show vulnerability? In Sotomayor’s case, her life depended on it. She was diagnosed at age 8 with diabetes but said she grew up at a time when such illnesses were considered a curse, something to hide. So that’s what she did—keeping it secret from even her closest friends, until that secret threatened to jeopardize her own health.
When she finally opened up about it, she discovered what many women raised to power through pain learn: Vulnerability isn’t weakness, it’s survival. Her admission improved her own well-being, as well as the quality of her relationships. “That began my openness about my condition, once I was able to get past my own pride and say, ‘Your friends love you, they want to help. They can’t help if you’re not open.’”
Remember Where You Came From
Sotomayor’s 2019 book Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You, invites kids to see strength in their differences—a theme rooted in her own story. Appointed to the Supreme Court by Barack Obama in 2009, she rose from the Bronx housing projects to Princeton, Yale, and the nation’s highest bench. “She’s faced down barriers, overcome the odds, lived out the American dream that brought her parents here” from Puerto Rico, Obama said at her nomination.
“Even as she has accomplished so much in her life, she has never forgotten where she began.” That’s the real lesson: Pride in where you’re from doesn’t hold you back. It keeps you grounded when you rise. “Each of us has unique powers to share with the world and make it more interesting and richer,” she wrote. “What will you do with your powers?” Provocative query, coming from a Supreme Court judge.
Courage Isn’t Convenient
That underdog background may explain her inspiration to go to law school. She cited the work of civil rights lawyers and judges in the 1960s, many of whom grew up in southern families comfortable with segregation, who faced down threats and risked ostracization to stand up for what they believed in and the Constitution. “That’s why I became a lawyer,” she said.
“Throughout our history, we’ve had people … who have been heroes in seeing the wrong in our society and getting up and fighting for what they thought were losing problems at the moment—but laying the groundwork for a future that was better.” In other words, no matter the obstacles of the day, keep focusing on the possibilities for a better future.
Teach the Next Generation to Show Up
That same foresight now drives Sotomayor’s work with iCivics. She speaks regularly with schoolchildren and college students about their “obligation to participate in society.” Her message? You can’t fight “to make this country better” if you don’t “understand your government … what it stands for and what it means and how it should function.”
“The mistakes we’re making today as adults are going to change your lives,” she said, calling on younger generations to “stand up and be counted in making sure that our world doesn’t change in a way that’s worse for you kids.” Her 2022 book Just Help! How to Build a Better World underscores the idea of civic participation in everyday life, starting from her mother’s daily question to her: “How will you help today?”
“Do not be bystanders,” Sotomayor insisted. That’s advice we can all heed.
