When a President Drops in

Not every day when a President drops in on a Zoom Call and begins with an image description of himself. #CripCampVirtual @BarackObama "This is Barack Obama.And I am joining you from my home in Washington, D.C. I'm sitting at my desk. I'm wearing a denim shirt and behind me is a book case with books and photos of my family and there's a picture of me swimming in Hawaii which is where I was born and my hair is much grayer than it was just a few years ago.

And then President Obama brings on his guest, the only and only Judy Heumann

Absolutely unexpected appearance but absolutely amazing. Read on....

When a President does an Image Description on a Zoom call

Hari Srinivasan 

It's not everyday when a President drops in as a surprise guest on a zoom webinar and begins with an image description of himself. Image Description is an important and much needed accessibility feature for many in the disability community. 

“This is  Barack Obama and I am joining you from my home in Washington, D.C. I'm sitting at my desk. I'm wearing a denim shirt and behind me is a bookcase with books and photos of my family and there's a picture of me swimming in Hawaii which is where I was born and my hair is much grayer than it was just a few years ago.”

The event on May 28, 2020 was the Crip Camp 2020, the official Virtual Experience, a webinar series focusing on community building for activists and advocates in the disability justice space. The virtual crip camp experience is considered almost an extension of the documentary Crip Camp, which in President Obama’s words is the “story of a bunch of teenagers at Camp Janed who left camp thinking they could lead a worldwide movement for disability rights...saying to each other that if we worked together, we can make a difference and create the kind of world that treats us with the dignity and the respect that we deserve and recognize as our talents and our gifts and our power and our ability to achieve extraordinary things” 

And these teenagers did just that with the likes of Judy Heumann who led the longest sit-in US history at the SF federal building in 1977 to get the Section 504 regulations signed. Barack and Michelle Obama were executive producers for the film Crip Camp under their Higher Ground Productions banner. 

President Obama said the movie had been important to both him and Michelle Obama as they had wanted to give a platform to lift new voices that were underrepresented in the media, inspire people to get involved in their communities and pass the torch to the next generation of activists and city leaders. President Obama stressed that every movement begins with ordinary people coming together to make their voices heard. He pointed to the last few months as a testament to the fact that young people are still ready to make a better America and a better world. When people get involved they recognize their own power. 

President Obama had celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (or ADA) while in office and reminded everyone of the hard work and sacrifice it took as we approach the 30th anniversary of the ADA this year. 

“Most of the problems we face are not going to be solved by any single individual or even any single group. We're going to have to work together. The question is then how do we find those bonds and that sense of common purpose that allows us to really have an impact and make a difference,” said President Obama during the Q&A session that followed. 

He went on to add that the starting point in building allies and movements was to recognize our first identity as that of a human being.  Tapping into this empathy, this commonality of fellow human beings, would be what compels you to regard a fellow human being to be of equal worth as you and make common cause to make sure that person isn't feeling that way. Progress happens when this perspective spreads to the entire nation and is reflected in our values and public policies.

President Obama was quick to acknowledge that being from a majority community he could not possibly understand everything a person with a disability could go through, but he hopes to be a fellow traveler on this planet as we all figure out how to promote more justice and kindness in the way we treat each other.

On the issue of balancing activism work with the practices of self care for longevity, President Obama had some advice. The first was to recognize that we cannot do this alone, we cannot sustain our task unless we develop and maintain relationships of friends outside of work; the people who laugh with us and will support us and pick us up when we are down.  

The second was to recognize that you will not be effective if you are run down. Even if you have greater demands on your time to maintain health it is not a sign of weakness, rather a sign of strength that you recognise what it takes to make you more effective. 

The third thing was while people in the fields of public policy, organizing and social work were not in it for the money, it was important to not be taken advantage of by the organizations you worked for. You are working hard, so you need to be paid a living wage, you need to be able to pay your bills, have health care and be able to take a vacation. 

The final piece of advice by President Obama was maintaining perspective for, as he points out, change rarely comes quickly. He stressed that you have to work on what is immediate but also have that longer term perspective which will help you be more forgiving of yourself. Change is not a sprint, rather a marathon relay where you will have setbacks, and may even have to compromise at times. We take the baton from people before us, run the best we can with it, and then pass it on to the next person. 

President Obama then brought his own guest to the webinar, Judy Heumann, who he introduced as, “somebody I have admired, who has helped to make unbelievable change …[and] who's resume is too long to list.” 

He went on to ask Heumann to give her perspective on the relationship between social activism and the government passing legislation as she has worked in both areas. President Obama felt both were a continuum though he acknowledged that young people often feel disappointed at the seeming slowness of government. 

For Heumann, the stories told in Crip Camp showcased the great potential which society had not seen or let happen. According to her, people don’t know these stories because the media has not been covering disability appropriately or involving people with disabilities in telling these stories - whether in advertising, children’s books, television shows, documentaries or movies. 

She added that what was valuable about these Crip Camp sessions was that people were speaking to each other and sharing information which can have a powerful impact. She also stressed the importance of collaboration and coalitions, cross-disability, cross-civil-rights and human rights in this process. 

Heumann also underscored the importance of inclusion of people with disabilities in both the private and public sectors. “It was one thing to be able to talk broadly about the types of discrimination we were experiencing but then we needed also to be able to become specialists. We needed to learn how laws were made. How policies are developed. How they're implemented,” said Heumann

She really appreciated that the Obama Administration had seen the importance of inclusion and bringing disabled people into the government.  Both Heumann and Obama expressed their disappointment at the failure of the 113th congress to ratify the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (or CRPD) during her time in the State Department under the Obama Administration.  Heumann hopes that if a new administration is voted in, one of the first issues that will be worked on is to get the CRPD ratified so that the US can join the other 181 nation signatories. 

As exciting as the presence of the distinguished guests had been, it was time to move on. Part of the Crip Camp experience included fireside chats led by disability Inclusion specialist and Camp director Andraea LaVant, where participants were asked to reflect and journal questions such as, “When did your disability advocacy journey start and how can able-bodied folks be better accomplices in disability advocacy?”

LaVant brought on camp guides Neil Carter and Sarah Blahovec to speak on the topic of civic engagement and your role in this movement. Carter is the founder of Nu View Consulting which has been spearheading political outreach campaigns. Blahovec is a disability advocate and political consultant from Elevate, which focuses on disability civic participation and voting rights.

The guides explained that civic engagement is essentially anything you do to make a difference to the civic life of your community and is valuable whether it happens from the comfort of your home or in public. Civic engagement can happen both inside the system such as by government officials or outside the system such as political campaigns that try to effect change. In order to decide which type of civic engagement to choose, you may have to look to your passion, your skillset, whether you are an introvert or extrovert who likes talking to people and how much free time you have without burning the candle at both ends. 

Carter and Blahovec gave practical examples on how to engage in civic engagement beyond registering to vote and going to vote. Write to or meet your legislators, as legislators are supposed to listen to their constituents, volunteer for community organizations, write an op-ed for your local newspaper or national paper, attend local government meetings such as the city council and school board. 

You could also join a political campaign from the local to national level and get involved in activities like phone banking or join committees. You could share and sign petitions through change.org, or join mutual aid groups to help your community as we have seen during this pandemic. 

An idea that is central to civic engagement is relational organizing - which means talking to your family and friends and getting them to do something. Both camp guides stressed that when it came to civic engagement there are roles for literally anyone. 

You could also run for political office. If you are a first time disabled candidate, there are programs like the Elevate program for training. They advise first timers to get involved in other campaigns to understand how it works as it is a tremendous undertaking. You could even start small like running for your local school council. 

A case study both Carter and Blahovec wanted to highlight in light of the recent protests was Black disabled lives who have endured police brutality. Unfortunately even in discussions of popular stories the fact of them being disabled is not mentioned. 

Carter and Blahovec then spoke of the obstacles to civic engagement. A lack of civility, yelling and lack of reasoned discussion only alienates the public. Lack of access to buildings or awareness leaves many people disillusioned. Then there is informed engagement, for instance some people are inaccurately saying that ADA allows you to not wear masks. Then of course for people with disability, there is a dearth of role models.

There is also a lack of civic and political skills which is tied to our underfunded education system, so children are not learning about what is happening in the country. Which is what makes the non-partisan #CripTheVote movement, so important, so that we can engage in an important and productive discussion about disability issues in the US. The hashtag, which went viral, is used to promote policy ideas and engage with elected officials both at the national and local levels. 

The Camp series which started in June and continues till August, covers a wide range of issues and speakers. Information on how to participate and recordings of previous camp sessions can be found at https://cripcamp.com/officialvirtualexperience/