I come from a long line of very strong, tough women. We stick to

Hear the resolute words of Letitia James, a guardian of justice in our own time, who declared: “I come from a long line of very strong, tough women. We stick to our principles and stand up for what we believe in, which is fundamental fairness, which is my raison d’être.” These words are not merely a declaration of personal heritage, but a hymn to endurance, to legacy, to the eternal fire passed from mother to daughter across generations. In them echoes the truth that strength is not born in a moment—it is woven into the fabric of a people, carried forward by those who refuse to bow to oppression.

The origin of these words lies in the story of James herself, the first woman of color to be elected Attorney General of New York. Her career, marked by fierce battles against corruption and injustice, has been shaped not only by her own will but by the unseen hands of ancestors who taught her to stand firm. When she speaks of strong, tough women, she invokes the memory of foremothers who endured poverty, racism, and exclusion, yet whose faith in justice never withered. Their example became the soil in which her own calling took root.

Consider the long history of women who lived by principle, refusing to yield even when the cost was great. In ancient Rome, Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, raised her sons to pursue justice for the common people, though it led to their deaths. In America, Sojourner Truth stood before hostile crowds and declared her humanity with the immortal words: “Ain’t I a woman?” These women, like the foremothers of James, stood up for what they believed in, knowing that justice demands not comfort but courage.

The heart of James’s words lies in fundamental fairness. This is no shallow notion of equality, but the deep truth that every human being deserves dignity, justice, and opportunity. To live for fairness, to name it as one’s raison d’être, is to dedicate one’s life to a cause greater than self-interest. It is to walk the path of sacrifice, for fairness often threatens the powerful and comforts the weak. It is the same principle that guided the suffragettes, who faced imprisonment for the right to vote; that moved Martin Luther King Jr. to march in the face of hatred; that inspires leaders like James to confront entrenched systems of injustice.

Yet her words also carry a challenge to us. It is not enough to admire the tough women of the past, nor to honor their legacy in silence. If their principles are to live, we too must practice them. We must not shrink when fairness demands that we speak against prejudice, exploitation, or corruption. To forget this duty is to betray the sacrifices of those who came before. But to embrace it is to join the long chain of the strong—the women and men alike who make justice their inheritance and their gift to the future.

O seeker, the lesson is clear: strength is not measured by comfort, nor toughness by domination. True strength is the ability to stand firm when fairness costs you something, to hold to principle when compromise would be easier. This is the fire of which Letitia James speaks, the fire carried by the women of her lineage, the fire that must be tended in our own lives if justice is to prevail.

And what actions must we take? Look first to your own sphere: practice fairness in your dealings, in your judgments, in the way you treat others. Stand beside the vulnerable when the powerful press them down. Do not compromise with injustice for the sake of convenience. Teach your children that principles are treasures worth suffering for, and that courage is not the absence of fear but the will to act in spite of it.

Thus remember James’s words: “We stick to our principles and stand up for what we believe in, which is fundamental fairness.” This is not only her inheritance, but an inheritance open to all who dare to claim it. Let every generation take up this banner, so that when history looks back upon us, it will say: they, too, were strong; they, too, were tough; they, too, made fairness the reason for their being.