Got to be co-moderator at a webinar conversation for AAC users with the one and only Judy Heumann for AAC users organized by Communication First.
What can I say - she is just too incredible.
My Introduction of Judy Heumann at the Webinar (complete with image description).
Hi. I’m Hari Srinivasan. I’ll begin with an image description of myself as that is another important accessibility feature for the disability community at large. Just another illustration of how accommodations come in many shapes and forms depending on your specific disability.
I’m a young college going male in his 20s of Indian American origin and with brown skin. I have short black hair and am wearing a yellow and blue cap with the word cal on the front. I’m wearing a dark blue shirt with the word Berkeley on it. I am sitting at my desk in front of my mac laptop in my room at my home. Behind me on the wall and on my closet door are various college banners and posters with words like University of California, Berkeley, Cal, Golden Bears, or catchy phrases like This is Bear Territory or Bear Den. Enter at your own risk.
We have with us today Judy Heumann, who in President Obama’s words, has helped bring about incredible change in this country and around the world. Judy is also featured in the recent documentary, Crip Camp, produced by the Obamas. During a surprise appearance at one of the virtual crip camps that are now going on, President Obama described the film as the story of a bunch of disabled teens who by getting together, awakened to their power to start a global movement for a world that would treat us with dignity and respect.
What had begun as a personal journey for Judy to overcome the obstacles in early education turned into a civil rights crusade, where she led 150 people with disabilities in the 5 o 4 Sit-in, the longest sit-in in U.S. history, lasting 28 days at the San Francisco federal building.
Can you just imagine?. Till then disability rights were not even thought of as civil rights!.
Section 5 o 4 is widely regarded as the first disability civil rights legislation.
Judy helped set up both the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley as well as the World Institute for Disability which focuses on policy issues.
Judy was also involved in the passing of most of the important disability legislation we know today such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, and United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Section 5 o 4 of the Rehabilitation Act.
If my generation has a shot of being included in the education system today, it was because of laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that was set in place by giants like Judy.
Judy has been both an activist and government policy maker, serving kee roles in both the Clinton and Obama Administrations as well as the World Bank. Her social media platform, The Heumann Perspective explores intersectionality in disability rights.
And earlier this year Judy published her long awaited memoir, “Being Heumann, an unrepentant memoir of a disability rights activist.” The book is a must read. What is remarkable is that so much of her story is our story too. For example on page 21 is a line that goes. “I was conscious of feeling dismissed, categorized as unteachable and extraneous to society.” That experience is unfortunately still a reality for many of us A A C users today.
In the movie, Crip Camp too, Judy remarks, “We are being sidelined,” and I remember thinking, that’s still so true. It's deja vu!!.
I will just echo President Obama’s words when he said that Judy’s resume is just too long to list.
I have to add that I am so super proud to attend U C Berkeley, where giants like Judy created disability rights history. Last year I had the privilege of interviewing Judy for the Daily Californian. Not wanting to make an utter fool of myself, I was preparing by reading everything I could about her. There are over 460 pages of just her oral interviews alone in our library’s disability history archives. And a ton of other information online. Wow. I even had my questions looked over by my disabilities studies Professor, Victor Pineda, just to be sure I was not putting my foot in my mouth.
Any conversation or interview with Judy is never one way, she asks you questions right back. So it was a good thing I had done some homework. Along the way I was not quite sure who was interviewing who. I walked away in a daze that day. The final 2200 word article could not quite do justice to the conversation we had that day.
Judy had described fortitude as her personal strength during the interview. OMG, she is very much the Chingona or bad-ass girl that her husband calls her.
How do you manage to pull together this incredible non-stop amount of energy, Judy?.
And isn’t Judy’s virtual zoom background so appropriate and mysterious. She came riding in from the infinity of space. At the end of the call, we will see her ride back into that infinity
We hope to bring you all into this amazing conversation with Judy today. I expect she will have questions for the audience today as well.
====
What can I say - she is just too incredible.
My Introduction of Judy Heumann at the Webinar (complete with image description).
Hi. I’m Hari Srinivasan. I’ll begin with an image description of myself as that is another important accessibility feature for the disability community at large. Just another illustration of how accommodations come in many shapes and forms depending on your specific disability.
I’m a young college going male in his 20s of Indian American origin and with brown skin. I have short black hair and am wearing a yellow and blue cap with the word cal on the front. I’m wearing a dark blue shirt with the word Berkeley on it. I am sitting at my desk in front of my mac laptop in my room at my home. Behind me on the wall and on my closet door are various college banners and posters with words like University of California, Berkeley, Cal, Golden Bears, or catchy phrases like This is Bear Territory or Bear Den. Enter at your own risk.
We have with us today Judy Heumann, who in President Obama’s words, has helped bring about incredible change in this country and around the world. Judy is also featured in the recent documentary, Crip Camp, produced by the Obamas. During a surprise appearance at one of the virtual crip camps that are now going on, President Obama described the film as the story of a bunch of disabled teens who by getting together, awakened to their power to start a global movement for a world that would treat us with dignity and respect.
What had begun as a personal journey for Judy to overcome the obstacles in early education turned into a civil rights crusade, where she led 150 people with disabilities in the 5 o 4 Sit-in, the longest sit-in in U.S. history, lasting 28 days at the San Francisco federal building.
Can you just imagine?. Till then disability rights were not even thought of as civil rights!.
Section 5 o 4 is widely regarded as the first disability civil rights legislation.
Judy helped set up both the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley as well as the World Institute for Disability which focuses on policy issues.
Judy was also involved in the passing of most of the important disability legislation we know today such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, and United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Section 5 o 4 of the Rehabilitation Act.
If my generation has a shot of being included in the education system today, it was because of laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that was set in place by giants like Judy.
Judy has been both an activist and government policy maker, serving kee roles in both the Clinton and Obama Administrations as well as the World Bank. Her social media platform, The Heumann Perspective explores intersectionality in disability rights.
And earlier this year Judy published her long awaited memoir, “Being Heumann, an unrepentant memoir of a disability rights activist.” The book is a must read. What is remarkable is that so much of her story is our story too. For example on page 21 is a line that goes. “I was conscious of feeling dismissed, categorized as unteachable and extraneous to society.” That experience is unfortunately still a reality for many of us A A C users today.
In the movie, Crip Camp too, Judy remarks, “We are being sidelined,” and I remember thinking, that’s still so true. It's deja vu!!.
I will just echo President Obama’s words when he said that Judy’s resume is just too long to list.
I have to add that I am so super proud to attend U C Berkeley, where giants like Judy created disability rights history. Last year I had the privilege of interviewing Judy for the Daily Californian. Not wanting to make an utter fool of myself, I was preparing by reading everything I could about her. There are over 460 pages of just her oral interviews alone in our library’s disability history archives. And a ton of other information online. Wow. I even had my questions looked over by my disabilities studies Professor, Victor Pineda, just to be sure I was not putting my foot in my mouth.
Any conversation or interview with Judy is never one way, she asks you questions right back. So it was a good thing I had done some homework. Along the way I was not quite sure who was interviewing who. I walked away in a daze that day. The final 2200 word article could not quite do justice to the conversation we had that day.
Judy had described fortitude as her personal strength during the interview. OMG, she is very much the Chingona or bad-ass girl that her husband calls her.
How do you manage to pull together this incredible non-stop amount of energy, Judy?.
And isn’t Judy’s virtual zoom background so appropriate and mysterious. She came riding in from the infinity of space. At the end of the call, we will see her ride back into that infinity
We hope to bring you all into this amazing conversation with Judy today. I expect she will have questions for the audience today as well.
====
Icing on the cake.... she remembered me... 💕
And Hari, you are an emerging star.
You are so great with your words, and when you ask me to be -- when you asked me to be interviewed for your article, I was not knowing what was going to happen, and it was a great experience.
Both as a Berkeley graduate, but also as a disability rights leader yourself.
It was great to be able to partake in that discussion.
Recording should be up on the Communication First website soon.
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