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From the BBC (May 11):
Nazis' disabled victims honoured
The UK's first memorial to the one million disabled people who were persecuted, sterilised or killed by Nazi Germany has been unveiled.Survivors, celebrities and disability groups were at the event, where a rose and plaque were dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust's disabled victims.
Plans for a permanent sculpture were also revealed at the Holocaust Centre in Laxton, Nottinghamshire...
...Read more.
From The Chicago Tribune (May 21):
Excerpts from:
Blind victory may change feel of cash
Is it $1 or $20? Fingers can't tell. But a federal ruling paves the way for different sizes or other clues
By Monique Garcia...The judges found that because different denominations of paper money are indistinguishable by touch, the government is discriminating against blind people. The decision could force the Treasury Department to make significant changes to currency, such as printing different-sized bills for different amounts or giving them raised markings.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued the 2-1 ruling in a lawsuit by the American Council of the Blind. The government has been fighting the case for about six years and could appeal the ruling. Officials said Tuesday they were reviewing the decision...
...Read more.
From the International Herald Tribune (May 16):
Panel backs amputee sprinter's Olympic quest
By Joshua Robinson
Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee sprinter who was barred from able-bodied competition in January, will be allowed to pursue his dream of qualifying for the Olympic Games after an unexpected decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Court, an international panel which has final say over legal matters in sport, overturned the International Association of Athletics Federations' ban, ruling in effect that Pistorius' carbon fiber prosthetic blades do not give him an unfair advantage...
...Read more.
On April 30, 2008, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church passed a resolution by which the United Methodist Church acknowledges and repents of its past support of the eugenics movement.
This resolution marks the first denomination based in the United States to repent of its past support of eugenics.
READ MORE:
Download the resolution
and read about the role the Methodist Church played in the Eugenics movement, how they characterize "New Eugenics," and how they repent of their past actions.
Darren Jernigan, a man with C 5-6 quadriplegia, was recently elected to the Metro Nashville City Council. Jernigan, 38, ran for the open seat against two other opponents in a District with a population of about 38,000. To read more about Jernigan and his recent victory, read an article in Home Care magazine.
From the article, regarding Jernigan's goals for office:
"...I would like to see greater accessibility outside the home and to see individuals with disabilities get out of nursing homes and into society as productive tax payers,” he says, noting that the council's airing of its own meetings “requires and needs closed captioning. Those are just a few, but I have many more ideas related to different subjects,” he adds...
From The New York Times (April 21):
A Blind Governor Adjusts, and So Does Albany
By JEREMY W. PETERS
ALBANY — It is a phone number that just a handful of the governor’s senior aides know.
At the end of each day they call in and record briefings, laying out what he needs to know about the following day.
They recite his schedule, read talking points and explain the intricacies of issues likely to come up. They read memos from staff members and relate biographical details about the people he is likely to meet.
Lots of governors rely on thick briefing books and helpful e-mail notes from their staffs. New York’s governor, David A. Paterson, who is legally blind, has his ears and what his aides call his Batphone...
...Read more (account registration required)
Beating The Odds: Beauty Queen With Cerebral Palsy (CBS News - wcbstv.com)
LAS VEGAS (CBS) ― The Miss USA pageant gets underway Friday night in Las Vegas, and while it's a dream come true for all the contestants, it's a heroic accomplishment for one participant in particular. 
Miss Iowa, 20-year-old Abbey Curran, made it a longtime goal of hers to compete in a pageant that some may have thought would never be possible.
"This is such a dream come true, bigger than a dream come true would be," she says.
It's a dream that's bigger for Curran because the college sophomore has cerebral palsy... (Read the rest).
Guest Column
By Anita Cameron
Activist
Rochester ADAPT
25 Years of Direct Action! Celebrate with Us!
ADAPT is having its 25th
birthday! This April will mark the 25th anniversary of the first
national ADAPT action. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of
my first national ADAPT action. I’d been hanging around ADAPT since 1986, always
on the fringes -- a shy, quiet young thing, totally unremarkable, except that I
was Dennis Schreiber’s attendant and interpreter. Almost anybody around back
then remembers Dennis, but probably doesn’t remember the mousy little Black
girl with unruly hair who was his attendant. That was me.
What is ADAPT, you ask? Well,
ADAPT is a national, grassroots disability rights organization that began in Denver, Colorado.
It was started by 19 people with disabilities who wanted access to public transportation
and public places in their community. Many of them had been incarcerated in a
nursing home for most of their lives, and had only been out a relatively short
time. One of their first big battles was with the Regional Transportation
District (RTD), Denver’s
transportation authority. After countless meetings and negotiations that went
nowhere, the group had had enough, and staged a two-day protest where they
blocked the intersection of Colfax and Broadway, the busiest streets downtown,
blocking buses, and getting out of their wheelchairs and lying in the street.
That was the “shot heard ‘round the world”, if you will, and people with
disabilities in other cities wanted to learn how to do direct action to bring
about change.
You can’t even begin to talk
about ADAPT without talking about Wade Blank. Wade was once an activities
director in a nursing home called Heritage House This was the place where the
original group that started ADAPT was incarcerated. Wade’s history of working
for social justice and social change began long before then, but while at Heritage
House, he listened to the dreams of the young folks trapped there, and
ultimately helped them to free themselves, and move into the community. They
founded Atlantis Community, the second oldest independent living center in the
nation.
Once the Gang of 19 was out
in the community, they realized that there were many barriers—inaccessible
public transportation, restaurants, stores, and other places. Wade imparted his
knowledge of community organizing and activism to the budding activists, and
they began the daunting task of fighting for the right to go where everyone
else could go.
Today, ADAPT has grown from
the “Gang of 19” to a grassroots network of thousands of people with
disabilities and our allies, with at least 500 people from over 30 states, and
sometimes other countries, continually showing up at each action. We are a
diverse group...by disability, by politics, by gender and orientation, by race,
by ethnicity, by age (literally cradle to grave, and even having had people die
at actions), by geography, by ability to communicate and/or use assistive
communication, by income (though most of us are at or below poverty level), by
marital status or arrangement, by work experience or former occupation, or inability
to work, by institutional history, and so much more! We are a real community,
even family, that celebrates births, and the lives of those who have passed on,
and celebrates the achievements of each of us, be it personal or systemic.
Though we have no bylaws, elected officials, or directors, we have managed to
realize many significant achievements.
We have gone from being
considered rag-tag “militants”, “radicals”, and “hippies” to being a powerful
force to be reckoned with. We represent the cutting edge of disability rights
and activism, and have gained the respect of many elected officials and other
powerful people. Some may not like ADAPT, but they do respect us, and it is
much easier to get to the table to help shape policy.
I, too, have grown. I
started out as a shy, mousy 21-year-old, who rarely spoke, and when I did, it
was barely above a whisper. I desperately wanted to work for social justice and
social change. Having been born only three years before the death of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., I felt guilty for not being able to fight for the civil
rights of African Americans. I had been involved in several peace and justice
movements, but I never felt at home, and never felt as if I were a real part of
things. Also, I often was the only African American taking part in the
activities.
I joined ADAPT near the end
of 1986. At the time, I was living in ,
, my home town. A friend of my
godmother, a Sister in the order of the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND),
called her to see if there was anyone that she knew who would be interested in
working as an attendant for a man who had a disability. The man belonged to a
disability rights organization and traveled, and needed someone as a back-up
staff. My godmother immediately thought of me, and suggested that I apply for
the job. I did, and the rest is history. For the first year, I just hung out,
quietly participating in local actions. I was so amazed at the work that ADAPT
was doing locally with transportation issues. I also felt at home because here
were people who either looked like me, or had similar experiences. Then, in
March of 1988, I was finally able to go on my first national action—DC Siege/DOT!
I was forever hooked, and from then on, I went with Dennis on ALL of the
actions.
Shortly after I joined
ADAPT, I met Wade Blank, and we hit it off immediately. In December, 1988, I
moved to , to work with Atlantis/ADAPT. They had
recently opened a new office in Colorado
Springs. We often went to to participate in actions or meetings,
so I saw a lot of Wade, and was able to learn more about organizing and
activism. In 1991, I moved to
to work in the main office as a community organizer, working directly with Wade,
who became my mentor. Though Wade passed away only two years later, I felt
enriched and blessed by being able to work with him. The pearls of wisdom that
he sent my way were countless!
Over time, I grew from the
aforementioned mousy chick, to a fiery activist. I have become a ham, of sorts,
in ADAPT, singing, chanting, and helping to keep up our troops’ spirits. I have
also become a leader, sometimes helping with negotiations, and stuff, but
mostly helping to keep people informed, safe, and pumped up during the actions.
I now live in , and usually help to plan our local
actions.
ADAPT has changed my life. I
learned how to be an activist, and catalyst for change. I have learned (and am
still learning) the political process, and policymaking. Through ADAPT, I have
done some really cool and amazing things like help to plan a successful
two-week vigil in
to protest budget cuts that could have sent hundreds of people with
disabilities back into institutions. I participated in the Free Our People
March, where 210 people wheeled and walked from Philadelphia, PA, to
Washington, DC, to bring awareness of, and to call for the passage of MiCASSA
(Medicaid Community-based Attendant Services and Supports Act), now the
Community Choice Act (CCA). I was one of 50 ADAPT members who met with President
Bill Clinton in the East Room of the White House. I wouldn’t have been able to
do these things had I not been with ADAPT.
That is why I am so excited
about ADAPT’s 25 anniversary! We will be in
from April 26-May 2, 2008. There will be some amazing stuff happening for this
celebration:
April 27
National Fun*Run
ADAPT will hold its 2nd Fun
Run/Roll, with the incomparable Marca Bristo as the Honorary National
Runner/Roller.
April 30
When You Remember Me
Showing of the movie, “When
You Remember Me”, a made-for-TV film starring Jeff Savage, Kevin Spacey, and
Ellen Burstyn that chronicles Wade Blank's work freeing youth from a nursing
home...work that morphed into the creation of both Atlantis, and ADAPT, will be
shown in the evening. For a synopsis of the movie
StoryCorps— if
you listen to NPR, then, you are familiar with StoryCorps, where people record
their stories for the Library of Congress, and some of these are aired on NPR.
StoryCorps will be at our hotel recording stories from ADAPT folks. I am so
excited!
ADAPT Museum--There
will be two huge rooms of multimedia ADAPT historical displays, including
blow-ups of 50 of Tom Olin's incredible photos, every T-shirt from every ADAPT
action over the past 25 years, artifacts, memorabilia, first person accounts of
every action, videos, slides, music. The folks from are bringing most of the items, news
clippings, etc.
ADAPT Jeopardy—this is Jeopardy! ADAPT style!
Tales Around The Campfire—with Mark Johnson
The Show
The Barbeque
Several dignitaries have
been invited. Representative Pat Shroeder, who came to the first action back in 1975
will be there!
This is only a partial list
of what is happening, so come join us for this magnificent celebration of 25
years of activism. I’ll see you there!
From The Baltimore Examiner (April 10):
Blazing new trail
By Dave Carey
April 10, 2008
BALTIMORE - Atholton senior and wheelchair athlete Tatyana McFadden has won races against some of the best competition in the world, but her most recent victory came away from the track.
McFadden’s testimony in front of the General Assembly was pivotal in it unanimously passing a bill that requires schools to provide disabled students with access to high school sports teams, either among themselves or with able-bodied students...
...Read more.
From The New York Times:
Op-Ed Contributor
April 6, 2008
The Last Wish of Martin Luther King
By TAYLOR BRANCH
FORTY years ago on March 31, at the National Cathedral, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered what would be his last Sunday sermon, on his way back to Memphis. That same night in 1968, President Johnson shocked the world by announcing that he would not seek re-election.
I was a senior in college. My mother was visiting four nights later when all conversation suddenly hushed in a busy restaurant. A waiter whispered that Dr. King had been shot.
Civil rights, Vietnam, Dr. King, Memphis — these are historic landmarks. Even so, this year is a watershed. Because Dr. King lived only 39 years, from now on, he will be gone longer than he lived among us. Two generations have come of age since Memphis...
...Read more.
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