By Debora Ragland Buerk
The Write Stuff
Looking at life from a different point of view.

Groundhog Day 1976.

Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in such a way that will lead others to join you.”

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Forty-eight years ago this month, on Groundhog Day specifically, I had a defining moment in my life.

What was it? My high school newspaper was censored.

Don’t laugh; being named one of the editors-in-chief was a big deal at seventeen. A scholarship-making deal.

I was taken unawares when called into the vice principal’s office. The principal said she’d be approving all of the stories henceforth. I said, “Isn’t that our job as editors-in-chief?”

As FDR said of the attack on Pearl Harbor, “That day would live in infamy.” Was this my day of infamy?

It was though a defining moment in my life. A time of finding my voice and learning to use it. Building leadership and teambuilding skills. Deciding what was important. Acting with integrity was important. So was advocating for others and their voice when they had none. It was the deciding factor in my choice of college majors. And I’d like to think I used my career for good.

My Dad was a high school teacher in another school district, and when I came home from school upset, he asked me what I wanted to do. I said fight it. He said the correct word was appeal. And that I’d need to appeal it before the school board.

He suggested inviting the entire editorial team to our house that evening to discuss and plan our next steps. Dad didn’t influence as much as he advised how the real world operates.

We talked late into the night. Planning, strategizing, troubleshooting, writing. While we were working, a significant snow and ice storm descended over St. Louis, making the roads unsafe to drive home. Mom handed out pillows and blankets, telling us to grab a spot on the floor to rest. Dad drove to the local bakery to pick up donuts when we awoke.

It was my first slumber party. We talked late into the night. Sharing dreams. We started the evening as fellow students and teammates. We woke up as friends. And friends, we would remain forty-eight years later.

The Rest of the Story.

As radio commentator Paul Harvey used to say, “Page two—the rest of the story.” Here’s the rest of my story. After a frustrating parents-principal meeting, my father likened the outcome to a “pregnant nun who drove an Edsel and voted for McGovern.”

We appealed our case to the school board, and the principal’s decision was overruled.

But I paid a price. The principal blocked me from the scholarships I was eligible for. He handed me my diploma at graduation and said, “Debora, I’m deeply disappointed in you.”

Despite the principal’s efforts to punish me, I did receive a scholarship. I graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri–Columbia in 1980.

. . .

I am reminded of the extraordinary life of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. In 2024, we face challenging issues. Roe v. Wade. Trump and the upcoming election. Ukraine. The Middle East.

Our charge is to pursue justice as best we can.”

—Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Whatever injustice you would make right, I hope you feel inspired to speak out and be a voice for change.

—Debora

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