Bronx Homegirl Sonia Sotomayor

It’s Hispanic Heritage Week, y’all!!! (I thought it was a month-long celebration from Sept. 15-Oct. 15?) I have been slacking, I know, but I’m ready to catch up.

So, what better place to start than a story (and video) from NY1 on our newest United States Supreme Court Justice (and Bronx Homegirl) Sonia Sotomayor?  Today, the first Monday in October, is her first day on the Supreme Court, as the court begins its new term.

Quick facts, just in case you haven’t been paying attention. Sonia Sotomayor was born in the Bronx in 1954 to two Puerto Rican immigrants. Her father, who did not speak English or have much formal, worked in a factory and her mother was a telephone operator and later a nurse. Sotomayor was diagnosed with diabetes at age 8 and her father died when she was 9.  She was raised in the Bronxdale Housing Projects where her family lived.

Sonia Sotomayor went to Princeton for college and graduated with the highest honors. She then went to Yale Law School. She married her high school sweetheart right before going to law school, but the marriage didn’t last. In law school, like in high school, she was an excellent student.

After law school, she worked as an assistant district attorney in NYC for five years, which began her distinguished legal career as both a prosecutor and a judge. In May of this year, President Obama nominated Sotomayor to the highest court in the country. She was confirmed, making her the first Hispanic judge on the Supreme Court, and the third woman, ever. Yes, you can. Or I should say, Si, se puede.

Read more about her, her experience, and views on controversial issues here.  And about her “wise Latina woman” statement (and effect on the culture) here.