Remembering the disability rights leaders and the landmark 504 sit in, that laid the path for today's generation.
Showing posts with label Disability History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disability History. Show all posts
Disability in Strength
A new mural titled “Disability is Strength, at Oakland Airport honors visionaries who helped
build the movement for disability rights and independence, and present a vision for a future of full inclusion, rights and justice.The mural features disability rights pioneers Ed Roberts, Judith Heumann and Brad Lomax.
Judy Heumann, one of the great and recently deceased disability rights early advocates once said, "Independent Living isn't doing everything by yourself – it's being in control of how things are done."
Imbecile
A history lesson in degrading terminology around disability.
The term "imbecile" has historically been used as a diagnostic label for neurodevelopmental disabilities like autism.
One of the most well-known cases involving the use of the term "imbecile" was the Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell, in which the court upheld the constitutionality of forced sterilization for individuals classified as "imbeciles." The decision paved the way for similar laws in other states, and resulted in the sterilization of tens of thousands of individuals with disabilities.
The term "imbecile" has historically been used as a diagnostic label for neurodevelopmental disabilities like autism.
Origins: The term coined in the 18th century by French physician Philippe Pinel, who used the term to describe individuals who were intellectually disabled but still able to function in society with some support. However, over time the term came to be used more broadly to describe individuals with a range of intellectual disabilities, including those who were severely impaired and unable to function independently.
Justify Eugenics: The term was widely used in the US and Europe during the 19th and early 20th centuries and was used as part of a broader eugenic movement that sought to control and eliminate disabled people from the population. The use of terms like "imbecile" and "moron" were used to classify individuals based on their perceived level of intelligence, and were used to justify forced sterilization, institutionalization, and other forms of discrimination.
One of the most well-known cases involving the use of the term "imbecile" was the Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell, in which the court upheld the constitutionality of forced sterilization for individuals classified as "imbeciles." The decision paved the way for similar laws in other states, and resulted in the sterilization of tens of thousands of individuals with disabilities.
Buck v. Bell (1927): This case involved the forced sterilization of a woman who was deemed "feeble-minded" by the state of Virginia. In its decision, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Virginia's sterilization law and stated that "three generations of imbeciles are enough." (274 U.S. 200)
Mandated Removal in 1970s: The term "imbecile" fell out of use in the early to mid-twentieth century as medical and psychological professionals began to adopt more standardized and scientific classifications for intellectual disabilities. However, the use of the term persisted in some legal and bureaucratic contexts until the 1970s, when the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 mandated the removal of discriminatory language from federal laws and policies related to individuals with disabilities.
Today, the use of terms like "imbecile" is generally considered outdated and offensive.
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HEW sit-in continues - Disabled vow long fight
Daily Cal Headlines ... April 11, 1977:
"HEW sit-in continues - Disabled vow long fight."
from Day 6 of the nearly month-long sit-in.
highlights:
CeCe Weeks said: "It's the first militant thing we've ever done. There is a new political movement throughout the land. We're going to stay till we're dragged out."
Although HEW Secretary Califano said he would sign the revised regulations, Kitty Conetalks about how those are inadequate and called upon President Carter to sign the original regs immediately as he had promised he would do.
State Director of the Department Of Rehabilitation Ed Roberts (former CIL Director) said "We've got to keep up the pressure."
Demonstrators Mary Jane Owen and then-CIL Deputy Director Judith Heumann had gone on a hunger strike.
Donations were pouring in from "such politically dissimilar groups as the Black Panthers and Safeway stores, McDonald's and the United Farm Workers. 'We couldn't do this without the support from outside," Cone said. 'We're really excited by the community's response.'"
"We're basically happy and strong," Weeks said. "There's more energy here all the time," she said.
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That was indeed a time. The attached photo is a scan from a book of about 100 Daily Cal front pages: "The Daily Californian's Best of Berkeley 1960-1980, publ by the Independent Berkeley Student Publishing Company, 1980.
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Daily Cal photo caption:
“The nearly 100 protesting disabled staged a sit-in [to demand the passage of the long-delayed Regulations implementing section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act] at San Francisco’s HEW Office.”
Section 504, the first disability civil rights act, Required nondiscrimination of people with disabilities by end of the end by any entity receiving federal funds.
These Regulations became the model for the Americans with Disabilities Act 13 years later, which prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities in virtually all areas of public life.
highlights:
CeCe Weeks said: "It's the first militant thing we've ever done. There is a new political movement throughout the land. We're going to stay till we're dragged out."
Although HEW Secretary Califano said he would sign the revised regulations, Kitty Conetalks about how those are inadequate and called upon President Carter to sign the original regs immediately as he had promised he would do.
State Director of the Department Of Rehabilitation Ed Roberts (former CIL Director) said "We've got to keep up the pressure."
Demonstrators Mary Jane Owen and then-CIL Deputy Director Judith Heumann had gone on a hunger strike.
Donations were pouring in from "such politically dissimilar groups as the Black Panthers and Safeway stores, McDonald's and the United Farm Workers. 'We couldn't do this without the support from outside," Cone said. 'We're really excited by the community's response.'"
"We're basically happy and strong," Weeks said. "There's more energy here all the time," she said.
------
That was indeed a time. The attached photo is a scan from a book of about 100 Daily Cal front pages: "The Daily Californian's Best of Berkeley 1960-1980, publ by the Independent Berkeley Student Publishing Company, 1980.
—
Daily Cal photo caption:
“The nearly 100 protesting disabled staged a sit-in [to demand the passage of the long-delayed Regulations implementing section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act] at San Francisco’s HEW Office.”
Section 504, the first disability civil rights act, Required nondiscrimination of people with disabilities by end of the end by any entity receiving federal funds.
These Regulations became the model for the Americans with Disabilities Act 13 years later, which prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities in virtually all areas of public life.
46th anniversary of 504 sit-in
46 years ago, Apr 5, 1977 was the start of the longest sit-in in US history.
"Without 504 — there might well be no Americans with Disabilities Act, that finally brought us up to parity with federal civil rights laws covering gender and race."
https://dredf.org/504-sit-in-20th-anniversary/short-history-of-the-504-sit-in/
https://dredf.org/504-sit-in-20th-anniversary/short-history-of-the-504-sit-in/
The Ugly face of Ugly Laws
The Ugly Laws, also known as the unsightly beggar ordinances, were a series of laws that were enforced in the United States and other countries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
These laws criminalized people with disabilities, deformities, or any physical characteristic that was deemed "unsightly" or "disgusting" in public spaces.
The origins of the Ugly Laws can be traced back to the mid-19th century when cities began to grow rapidly, and industrialization led to an increase in poverty and homelessness. In response to these societal changes, city officials sought to regulate public spaces, including streets and sidewalks, and restrict the presence of certain groups of people, including disabled folks.
The first Ugly Law was enacted in San Francisco in 1867, and similar laws were subsequently passed in other cities, including Chicago, New York, and Denver.
The punishment under the Ugly Laws varied depending on the specific city or state in which the law was enforced. However, common forms of punishment included fines, imprisonment, or forced institutionalization in a hospital or asylum.
So the disabled could be arrested simply for appearing in public spaces, including streets, sidewalks, and public buildings. In some cases, police officers or other authorities would use their own discretion in determining who should be arrested or fined, based on their personal biases or prejudices.The Ugly Laws were often enforced without regard for the civil rights or dignity of the disabled, and many people who were arrested or institutionalized under these laws experienced great hardship and abuse.
The Ugly Laws were justified under the guise of public health and safety, with proponents claiming that people with disabilities were a threat to public health and morality. However, the laws were also a means of social control and discrimination against the disabled, who were seen as undesirable and unworthy of inclusion in public life.
The Ugly Laws were justified under the guise of public health and safety, with proponents claiming that people with disabilities were a threat to public health and morality. However, the laws were also a means of social control and discrimination against the disabled, who were seen as undesirable and unworthy of inclusion in public life.
The Ugly Laws persisted until the mid-20th century, when disability rights activists began to challenge these discriminatory practices. Disability rights groups, including the League of the Physically Handicapped and the National Association of the Deaf, organized protests and legal challenges to the Ugly Laws, arguing that they violated the civil rights of the disabled.
The Ugly Laws were repealed at different times in different states and cities, and it's unclear which state was the last to repeal them. However, it's known that the Ugly Laws were still in effect in some cities as late as the 1970s.
For example, in Chicago, the Ugly Laws were repealed in 1974 after years of activism by disability rights advocates, including a high-profile protest in which activists chained themselves to buses to draw attention to the issue. In Omaha, Nebraska, the Ugly Law was repealed in 1974, after a lawsuit was filed on behalf of a man with cerebral palsy who was arrested for appearing in public.
In many cases, the repeal of the Ugly Laws was not the result of a single event or action but rather a gradual shift in attitudes towards the disabled and a growing recognition of their civil rights. Today, while the Ugly Laws are no longer enforced, people with disabilities continue to face discrimination and barriers to full participation in society. Disability rights advocates work to challenge ableism and promote greater inclusion and accessibility for all.
For example, in Chicago, the Ugly Laws were repealed in 1974 after years of activism by disability rights advocates, including a high-profile protest in which activists chained themselves to buses to draw attention to the issue. In Omaha, Nebraska, the Ugly Law was repealed in 1974, after a lawsuit was filed on behalf of a man with cerebral palsy who was arrested for appearing in public.
In many cases, the repeal of the Ugly Laws was not the result of a single event or action but rather a gradual shift in attitudes towards the disabled and a growing recognition of their civil rights. Today, while the Ugly Laws are no longer enforced, people with disabilities continue to face discrimination and barriers to full participation in society. Disability rights advocates work to challenge ableism and promote greater inclusion and accessibility for all.
(Written Oct '21)
References
Baynton, D. C. (2001). Disability and the justification of inequality in American history. In P. K. Longmore & L. Umansky (Eds.), The New Disability History: American Perspectives (pp. 33-57). New York: NYU Press.
Kudlick, C. (2003). Reflections on freaks. In M. Corker & T. Shakespeare (Eds.), Disability/Postmodernity: Embodying Disability Theory (pp. 33-47). London: Continuum.
McRuer, R. (2006). Crip theory: Cultural signs of queerness and disability. New York: NYU Press.
Norton, R. (2016). Ugly laws: Disability in public. New York: NYU Press.
"The 'Ugly Laws': When Being Disabled Was A Crime" (NPR, 2014): https://www.npr.org/2014/12/18/371437472/the-ugly-laws-when-being-disabled-was-a-crime
"Chicago's Ugly Laws Repealed: A Look Back" (Chicago Tribune, 2014): https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-ugly-laws-chicago-history-flashback-20141020-story.html
"The Law That Made It Legal to Ban People With Disabilities From Restaurants" (Smithsonian Magazine, 2017): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/law-made-it-legal-ban-people-with-disabilities-restaurants-180962121/
References
Baynton, D. C. (2001). Disability and the justification of inequality in American history. In P. K. Longmore & L. Umansky (Eds.), The New Disability History: American Perspectives (pp. 33-57). New York: NYU Press.
Kudlick, C. (2003). Reflections on freaks. In M. Corker & T. Shakespeare (Eds.), Disability/Postmodernity: Embodying Disability Theory (pp. 33-47). London: Continuum.
McRuer, R. (2006). Crip theory: Cultural signs of queerness and disability. New York: NYU Press.
Norton, R. (2016). Ugly laws: Disability in public. New York: NYU Press.
"The 'Ugly Laws': When Being Disabled Was A Crime" (NPR, 2014): https://www.npr.org/2014/12/18/371437472/the-ugly-laws-when-being-disabled-was-a-crime
"Chicago's Ugly Laws Repealed: A Look Back" (Chicago Tribune, 2014): https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-ugly-laws-chicago-history-flashback-20141020-story.html
"The Law That Made It Legal to Ban People With Disabilities From Restaurants" (Smithsonian Magazine, 2017): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/law-made-it-legal-ban-people-with-disabilities-restaurants-180962121/
Author of the Social Model of Disability
What I learned today from Cal Montgomery. Thx Cal.
Vic Finkelstein, not Mike Oliver, was the author of the social model. Oliver's book just hit big in the U.S.Collaboration-Cooperation
My hero, Judy Heumann turns 75 on Dec 18th. Happy Birthday Judy!!
Back in 2019 I had the opportunity to interview the legendary disability civil rights activist, Judy Heumann, for UC Berkeley's "The Daily Californian".
What an amazing conversation it was too. I prepared for the interview by reading up everything on her online, including the 466 pages of oral interviews archives of the Disability Rights Movement in UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library.
Of course with any newspaper article, there is a word limit, so any writeup goes through multiple rounds of edits and reorganization of material and focusing on just a few things, so a lot of the conversation ends up getting left out. But Judy had so much advise for us disabled folks. So here is my longer early uncut/unedited draft of our conversation (with a lot of her original quotes) so we can continue to learn from her.
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Collaboration-Cooperation: A conversation with Judy Heumann
It was my Disability Studies classes here on campus that opened my eyes to the rich history of the efforts made to ensure civil rights for this often marginalized and overlooked minority. Over the summer, I also had the opportunity to attend the Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s (ASAN) campus inclusion leadership program to learn more about autistic identity and disability justice. It led me to wonder - if I as a disabled person knew so little, how then could others without a disability know about the issues surrounding disability and become our allies in the struggle for our civil rights.
It was therefore a privilege to interview UC Berkeley alumna Judy Heumann, a lifelong civil rights advocate for people with disabilities and a leader in the DRM. It was a pleasure discussing these issues with her as it not only improved my own knowledge but also make me think and kept me on my toes, as she would at times turn the questions back on me, and ask me for my thoughts.
Any introduction to Huemann cannot do justice to her accomplishments. An incomplete list follows. Heumann became a wheelchair user due to childhood polio, and has challenged the system at every turn from a young age. She had been denied access to her school as she was considered a fire hazard. She sued and won the right to a teaching license from the New York Board of Education. She was involved in the United Nations Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities and in the passing of important disability legislations in the US like IDEA, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. She has worked in key roles for the Clinton and Obama administrations, the World Bank and is a senior fellow at the Ford Foundation.
We then discussed what had changed between the DRM in its earlier days and now. She pointed out though the DRM had been around for fifty to sixty years, initially cross-disability groups worked separately. She attributed one of the big changes to the “recognition we needed to be able to come together [cross-disability] on important pieces of legislation started in the late sixties, seventies and resulted in many things including our ability to get the ADA passed,” It was the realization that they were not going to get the support of elected bodies like state legislature and the congress unless they came together. A larger group also meant more sophistication and the ability to have a wider agenda like the “inclusion of disability related issues outside of the disability community,” said Heumann.
It was therefore a privilege to interview UC Berkeley alumna Judy Heumann, a lifelong civil rights advocate for people with disabilities and a leader in the DRM. It was a pleasure discussing these issues with her as it not only improved my own knowledge but also make me think and kept me on my toes, as she would at times turn the questions back on me, and ask me for my thoughts.
Any introduction to Huemann cannot do justice to her accomplishments. An incomplete list follows. Heumann became a wheelchair user due to childhood polio, and has challenged the system at every turn from a young age. She had been denied access to her school as she was considered a fire hazard. She sued and won the right to a teaching license from the New York Board of Education. She was involved in the United Nations Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities and in the passing of important disability legislations in the US like IDEA, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. She has worked in key roles for the Clinton and Obama administrations, the World Bank and is a senior fellow at the Ford Foundation.
Closer to home, she helped set up the first Center for Independent Living (CIL), here in Berkeley and served as its Deputy Director from 1975-82. She co-founded the World Institute of Disability (WID) in 1983 in Oakland with a focus on policy issues.
Most famously Heumann led 150 people with disabilities in the “504 sit-in”, the longest sit-in in US history, lasting 28 days, at the San Francisco federal building housing the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), memorialized in Drunk History. The list just goes on.
We started the conversation on when disability rights “solidified” into an actual movement. According to Heumann, the movement had started in the late 1940s itself but just became more prominent after World War II. But in terms of impact, given the CDC numbers of 56 million people with disabilities and 1 billion worldwide, Heumann feels the movement has far from solidified, is still emerging and very much in a developmental period.
We started the conversation on when disability rights “solidified” into an actual movement. According to Heumann, the movement had started in the late 1940s itself but just became more prominent after World War II. But in terms of impact, given the CDC numbers of 56 million people with disabilities and 1 billion worldwide, Heumann feels the movement has far from solidified, is still emerging and very much in a developmental period.
She drew attention to some women with disabilities in leadership positions that came to her mind at both national and international levels. At the national level were the late Martha Bristo , Rebecca Cokley, Maria Town, Katherine Perez, Sandy Ho, Haben Girma, and Julia Bascom. At the International level were Rosangela Berman Bieler, Ola Abu Alghaib, and Yetnebersh Nigussie. She was quick to point out that her list was both small and incomplete as there were so many people at this point.
We then discussed what had changed between the DRM in its earlier days and now. She pointed out though the DRM had been around for fifty to sixty years, initially cross-disability groups worked separately. She attributed one of the big changes to the “recognition we needed to be able to come together [cross-disability] on important pieces of legislation started in the late sixties, seventies and resulted in many things including our ability to get the ADA passed,” It was the realization that they were not going to get the support of elected bodies like state legislature and the congress unless they came together. A larger group also meant more sophistication and the ability to have a wider agenda like the “inclusion of disability related issues outside of the disability community,” said Heumann.
“Recognition we needed to be able to come together [cross-disability] on important pieces of legislation ... resulted in many things including our ability to get the ADA passed."
She also drew attention to my being able to work for the Daily Californian as an excellent example of laws like IDEA and ADA at work. She pointed out that before 1975 at least 1 million disabled children were not allowed in schools. “A very important part of what is slowly happening in the US is students, including students with more significant disabilities are going to school and like you have gotten into Berkeley, a highly prestigious school and I presume you are getting accommodations at school and you are obviously feeling more a part of the school because you are going out for things like writing for the newspaper. So I think that’s slowly what’s changing,” said Heumann.
“A very important part of what is slowly happening in the US is students, including students with more significant disabilities are going to school and like you have gotten into Berkeley, a highly prestigious school ... you are obviously feeling more a part of the school because you are going out for things like writing for the newspaper.”
The other positive thing she highlighted is that a growing number of disabled people are feeling proud of who they were and not hiding their disability and attributed this to the growth of the independent living movement. She added that parents of children with disabilities are also organizing more.
The conversation then turned to the current pressing issues in the DRM. Heumann could not overstress discrimination, which can come through lack of awareness, the ramification being “denying us opportunities.” One barrier is that many who are disabled are not identifying as disabled, so part of the challenge was to help people become stronger and see that discrimination was wrong regardless of who it was impacting in the disabled community.
The conversation then turned to the current pressing issues in the DRM. Heumann could not overstress discrimination, which can come through lack of awareness, the ramification being “denying us opportunities.” One barrier is that many who are disabled are not identifying as disabled, so part of the challenge was to help people become stronger and see that discrimination was wrong regardless of who it was impacting in the disabled community.
“I think when we feel we are being discriminated against, we need to talk about it as such,” said Heumann. People also needed to feel like they are a part of their own community and not stigmatized for being disabled in that community.
“I think when we feel we are being discriminated against, we need to talk about it as such,”
Cross-disability was another issue according to Heumann. The DRM needed to help people across various forms of disabilities to feel they are part of a single movement so that we can better articulate legislative measures needs for the entire community as in the case of employment.
"Employers need to look at disability like they are looking at other diversity communities"
Heumann would like to see more legislative policy changes so that “employers are looking at disability like they are looking at other diversity communities.” She did not want to hear continual stories of people like her friend, turn down good jobs that they are well qualified for, due to a fear of losing state health benefits and personal attendant services. Heumann underlined that the area of employment needed to be looked at very closely. There is currently a huge disincentive for people with more significant disabilities on Medi-Cal and Social Security benefits from being productively employed.
There is currently a huge disincentive for people with more significant disabilities on Medi-Cal and Social Security benefits from being productively employed.
Heumann felt that much more attention should be paid to poor families who are not able to devote the time and attention needed to obtain services for their children. As a result, those children are being adversely affected and not getting the appropriate services under IDEA.
From the viewpoint of an outsider, Heumann felt a critical issue in the autism arena is to help ensure that people with communication disabilities (whether it is autism or other disability like deafness) get mechanisms and technology in a timely manner with the presumption of competence. “Whatever the cause of the different types of communication, we need to be working with children really really early on and trying different mechanisms that can work,” said Heumann. She pointed to the new non-profit Communication First, of which she is a director, working to advance the civil rights for people with communication disabilities.
“Whatever the cause of the different types of communication, we need to be working with children really really early on and trying different mechanisms that can work,”
In order for “vulnerable populations” to move up to education and employment, Heumann underscored how we need to be working more comprehensively with these populations. This was a concept that was stressed during my week with the ASAN program - that we can help the whole community by supporting the needs of the most vulnerable group amongst us.
Heumann also thought the message being given to families of children with autism at the time of a child’s diagnosis depends on “people’s perceptions of what we are or are not able to do.” So she encourages families to interact more with organizations like ASAN and spend more time with adult autistics so that families have a better understanding of the richness of the community. Autistics need to spend time with other autistics and have available a variety of mentorship programs (ASAN program being an example), but on a regular basis, to get a positive understanding of what is possible.
Heumann also thought the message being given to families of children with autism at the time of a child’s diagnosis depends on “people’s perceptions of what we are or are not able to do.” So she encourages families to interact more with organizations like ASAN and spend more time with adult autistics so that families have a better understanding of the richness of the community. Autistics need to spend time with other autistics and have available a variety of mentorship programs (ASAN program being an example), but on a regular basis, to get a positive understanding of what is possible.
Heumann laughingly credited her Brooklyn origins to her personal qualities quoting the saying, ”New York City - if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” On a more serious note she pointed to fortitude as a personal strength as, “at some point I really had to make a decision as to whether or not I was going to allow discrimination to adversely affect me without fighting for change.“ She added that networking is also important to her as she likes to work with other people and stressed that for networking “it’s important to also have friends from diverse communities.”
“At some point I really had to make a decision as to whether or not I was going to allow discrimination to adversely affect me without fighting for change.“
What Heumann would like to be remembered for is her belief that “we need to be fighting for an end to discrimination for all people [and for] collaboration cooperation.” She explained that change itself may take time, but in the meantime we cannot accept no, and need to be pushing as hard as possible when fighting for our rights. She would also like to be remembered for talking to college students like me and others - a reason she does interviews like the current one is because she enjoys the two way interactive flow where, “you’re getting information from me and I’m getting it from you.”
Change itself may take time, but in the meantime we cannot accept no... We need to be fighting for an end to discrimination for all people and for collaboration- cooperation.”
Even as she continues to work in other areas, Huemann recently investigated the representation (or lack thereof) of disability in the media culminating in a detailed report. Essentially, she found that disability is being left out of the conversation even as the changing face of media now is all about diversity. She pointed out that we are learning so much more about people of color, sexual orientation and religious issues through the media, but “still only learning a little bit about us, that’s because disabled people are not playing prominent enough roles...The absence of disability in the media continues to result in stigma and discrimination.” In addition there has to be authentic representation, that it, disabled characters have to be played by actors with disabilities and not by non-disabled actors. Equally important is the fact that people with disabilities are adversely affected if they don’t see themselves represented in TV, movies and documentaries. Heumann discusses these issues and more in her new memoir, “Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist.”
The conversation then turned closer to home, to her time in Berkeley and the Bay Area. Heumann had needed to do a masters after suing the New York Board of Education for a teaching license and had been accepted into Columbia. Heumann stated that she may not have joined UC Berkeley if Ed Roberts had not reached out initially and sparked her interest. They had not known each other before then. Roberts had been calling to identify emerging leaders and asked if she would be interested in two campus departments - Public Health and City & Regional Planning - that were then recruiting students with disabilities. With the help of the late Prof. Henrick Blum, who later became her faculty advisor, she joined the School of Public Health in 1975.
In the Bancroft Library’s Disability Rights and Independent Movement Oral History Project archives, containing 466 pages of interviews with Heumann- she had stated that “For some reason, in graduate school I didn't feel the same kind of fear around tests.” As a Berkeley student I just had to ask if that was due to being in 'Berkeley.' Heumann laughingly agreed that part of it had to do with being in Berkeley because “it was really very exciting to be able to be around so many disabled people that were fighting for the same thing, you know fighting to strengthen our movement and to remove barriers and it was also easier to socialize because you know Berkeley is much smaller so one could get around this city much easier.” She added that academically, graduate school was also more essays, class participation, discussions and smaller classes focused more narrowly on a field of study which made it easier.
Heumann then spoke of her years in Berkeley with the CIL and the WID. Highlights for her was how they were learning to work together with other political organizations and different groups all fighting for equality. She stressed that they were doing work cross-age (from children through seniors), cross-race and cross-disability with organizations like the Asian Health Clinics to what used to be called the Over-Sixties Clinic (Collaboration-Cooperation). She also liked how the CIL was growing with a staff reaching 200 at one point.
This was also the time when they were “learning how to network effectively, establishing goals and timelines about when we want certain things to happen and living up to them,” said Heumann, which proved useful at the time of the 504 sit-ins. Heumann pointed out that much of what she had been saying during the course of this interview was an important part of what happened with 504.
The Rehabilitation Act had been passed in 1973 itself, with Section 504 of the law finally giving voice to the issue of discrimination by stating that any program that received federal funds could not discriminate against anyone with disabilities. Section 504 is widely regarded as the first disability civil rights law in the United States. However. Secretary Joseph Califano was not signing off on the 504 regulations. A law without regulations to enforce its implementation essentially has no teeth. Heumann pointed to the cross-disability organization American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (ACCD), of which she was a member, leading the effort to get the regulations out of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW). The disability community had been growing increasingly unhappy with the stalling. ACCD finally issued a deadline ultimatum and followed through with demonstrations and sit-ins at eight HEW regional headquarters all over the country. The 28 day long San Francisco federal building sit-in at by 150 people with disabilities was crucial in swinging the momentum towards signing of the regulations by Califano.
Heumann felt a reason the Bay Area 504 sit-in was so successful was because the CILs played an important role and California had way more CILs before any other state. By 1976, California had eight CILs versus one in Michigan and one in Massachusetts. As a result, “we were able to organize, we were able to work with labor unions we had good relationships with the media and I think all those things resulted in our ability to be successful with the 504 regulations,“ said Heumann.
She would like to remind disabled students and their allies to go online and look at the Power of 504, a video produced by the Defense Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), Drunk History and her Ted Talk to learn more about 504. For Heumann, the 504 demonstrations underscore the importance of collaboration as they were supported not just by the disability community but by other groups like unions, church groups, farm workers, etc. The 504 regulations helped set the stage for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
I also asked Heumann what advice she would give for the younger generation?
How do they go about “articulating” needs and see opportunities, as civil rights seems such a huge term and a bit overwhelming?
How could young people get involved to shape the movement?
How could they build allies amongst the non-disabled population?
And did she have any advice for both the disabled community and their non-disabled allies?
Heumann started off by telling students that working inter-generationally and cross-disability, “will strengthen our engagement [as] we have different levels of knowledge and expertise.” Its the power of collaboration-cooperation. She also pointed out that a major weakness of the disability movement is that it is not documented enough. Knowing “where we’ve been and where we are [helps us with] where we want to go.” So she advises students to know your history, for knowledge made you better equipped to play a meaningful role. Then, when you come across an opportunity or barrier that affects the community, you will know if its a tech issue or something else. The “where we want to go” part is also an important part of the intergenerational and cross-disability discussion.
Knowing “where we’ve been and where we are [helps us with] where we want to go.”
“I know a disability cultural center is going to be happening” on campus, stated Heumann [note: UC Berkeley did get a Disability Cultural Center in 2021]. She added that disabled students should not just limit themselves to disability organizations but also consider joining or working with other cultural centers so that you can learn from each other. “Do not be fearful of speaking up and looking at creating change” said Heumann.
For students in other countries, Heumann advised looking up the growing number of disability organizations in those countries and seeing if you want to work with them. She also added that students should get involved in issues that the previous generation did not have to contend with like the impact of the environment and climate change.
“Use social media more, reach out, speak to more groups and continue to work collaboratively and invite people in to speak so that we can be learning and talking together” said Heumann.
“Use social media more, reach out, speak to more groups and continue to work collaboratively and invite people in to speak so that we can be learning and talking together”
@harisri108 #Redefine_the_Table #autism #belonging
Disability Rights through time
Presentation on Disability Rights Timeline by students in my 1:54 Autism Class.
Image Credit Oliver Maynard & Sridha Hordagoda
Rethink your perspective.
Image Credit: Emma Zhao
Sharing art made by students in my 1:54 Autism Class
Critical Disability Studies
Critical disability studies is an interdisciplinary field of study that explores the social, cultural, historical, political, and economic dimensions of disability. It applies critical theories to explore how disability is constructed, experienced, and represented in society.
The field aims to challenge dominant norms, power structures, and ableism while advocating for social justice, inclusion, and the rights of disabled individuals. It explores topics such as disability identity, accessibility, discrimination, intersectionality, and the social and political implications of disability
Disability Studies Scholars
Why do Disability Studies scholars want to use such complex, almost convoluted language when the same ideas and issues could've been distilled into less complex language?
Surely less complex formal language can be equally as powerful in its informational, argumentation and persuasive capability and in getting the point across successfully; without becoming "less scholarly".
I'm taking not one but two Disability Studies classes at U C Berkeley this semester, and while I love the lectures and discussion during class delivered by the outstanding professors here, my take on some of the "scholarly" readings are quite another thing.
In a recent reading it took many many pages before to express a simple idea. It was like going through layers of camouflage to get to that idea; jargon-ny language being the camouflage.
There are actually some very good ideas and thoughts, that make us think, reflect, think of the interconnectedness of disability justice, climate justice, animal rights, marginalization, accessibility, stigma, discrimination etc.
But these all can be unearthed only after you strip off these veneers of other language which almost get in the way. You are left with a partial feeling of annoyance, impatience and exhaustion, when your mind should be fully engrossed over the thoughts presented in these readings.
The irony: Disability Studies talks the talk about accessibility and limited-spoons in the disability community. They need to walk the walk by showing and demonstrating how scholarly language itself (including their own) can/should be accessible.
irony is that many of these reading underline societal inaccessibility as a fundamental issue. Yet these very disability study readings are the very picture of inaccessibility.
This is not a critique on other disciplines, that is a whole other discussion, but specifically disability studies.
The other question is, Does it not take extra spoons to strip off all those additional veeners to get to the gist of what the author is saying, for a "limited-spoons" disability population.
For those unfamiliar with the idea of spoons or spoon theory, its the idea that all of us have only so much bandwidth/spoons in one day. Every task takes some level of time and effort. When u are disabled, your bandwidth shrinks even more as some/much of the time is taken up by disability related challenges. You have to weigh in on where your spoons are best spent so you can carry onto successfully navigating another day.
The point: Disability Studies scholars in particular need to lead by example to demonstrate what accessibility can look like in their own work.
And I'm taking not 1 but 2 disabilities studies class this sem.
As much as I love the lectures and discussion in class taught by some amazing faculty, some of the readings are quite another issue. In one recent reading it took over many many pages to explain one simple idea. All the while I was distracted, mentally jumping impatiently, almost a little annoyed, with a, What are you trying to say? & Just get to the point please."
Boundaries
Boundaries
Lady Liberty beckons
All to gaze at the wall in Nogales
brave hidden water in the blazing sands.
Nature weaponized!!
Boundaries
Arbitrary line drawn in world geography
Geomorphology gone extinct
Political land redistricting 1848
Human and nonhuman alike
Othering
.. the BIPOC body
...the disabled body
...nonhuman bodies when it suits power needs.
Nature exploited for supremacy
Categorize and disconnect.
Who decides?
Who gets Agency?
Binary, privilege v. pain.
The migrant body, a physical wall
The disabled body, a societal wall
Ever at edge of resources and land
Land is belonging and body
Deemed purposeless, cast aside
Inaccessibility, the ultimate price
Periphery.
(written during one my Disability Studies courses @UC Berkeley)
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