#disability rights activists

[whumpinggrounds]

Disability Activists Worth Knowing

Hi! In honor of Disability Pride Month, which is July in the USA, I am writing about some disabled activists who I think are cool. Many of you are (hopefully) familiar with giants like Helen Keller and Judy Heumann, but there are a lot of really interesting people out there whose names aren’t as widely shared, especially those who are also POC, queer, and/or non-American.

Please feel free to add more disabled people, or information about people I’ve already listed! Note that this post is intended to be about people who advocate for the disabled community and are also disabled themselves. Non-disabled advocates have also done a lot for the community! But that is not who this post is about <3

Final disclaimer: This is a post that I researched quickly, and specifically sought out some new people I hadn’t heard about. If there’s someone on this list that’s fucked up, feel free to add that, and even feel free to @ me so I can reblog your correction. Please do not yell at me or assume I’m aware of every political opinion/possible transgression of the many people on this list pls

Now, in no particular order -

Javed Abidi was an activist who advocated for disability rights in India. He helped pass the Person with Disabilities act in Parliament, and served as the first director of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment of Disabled People.

Ola Abu Al Ghaib is a Palestinian activist who works to promote the rights of people with disabilities, particularly women with disabilities, in the Arab States, Africa, and Asia.

Ari Ne’eman is an Israeli-American activist who founded the Autism Self Advocacy Network, one of the earliest advocacy organizations run both by and for Autistic people. Currently, he consults with the ACLU on disability justice issues and is writing a book about disability history in the USA.

Dana Bolles is an American spaceflight engineer and advocate for people with disabilities in STEM. She also advocates for women and the queer community, and currently works at NASA.

Fatima al-Aqel was a Yemeni woman who advocated for blind and visually impaired women in Yemen, as well as opening Yemen’s first school for the blind. She later founded the Al-Aman Organization Blind Women Care to further opportunities for blind women in the social and professional spheres, as well as working to adapt literature to Braille.

Judi Chamberlain was an American activist, leader, speaker, and educator in the psychiatric survivors movement. Her book On Our Own: Patient-Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System is a foundational text in the Mad Pride movement and argues for the rights of patients in psychiatric care.

María Soledad Cisternas Reyes is a Chilean lawyer and disability rights advocate who has helped increase access for disabled people in Chile and internationally, through her work with the UN. She has also been recognized for her work on the intersection of rights of disabled people, children, women, indigenous people, and the elderly.

Tony Coelho is an American politician of Portuguese descent who was the primary sponsor of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and was a former chairman of the Epilepsy Foundation.

Justin Dart Jr. was an American activist and disability advocate who was regarded as the father (or sometimes godfather) of the ADA. Other notable accomplishments include founding his university’s first group to oppose racism, founding the American Association of People with Disabilities, and receiving a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Vic Finkelstein is a South African disability rights activist and writer who pioneered the social model of disability. He spent the latter part of his life in Britain after being imprisoned and banned from South Africa for anti-apartheid activities.

Chen Guangcheng is a Chinese civil rights activist, often referred to as a “barefoot lawyer,” who worked on civil rights cases in rural China. Due to his advocacy and activist work surrounding land rights, women’s rights, disability rights, and the welfare of the poor, Chen was repeatedly imprisoned and eventually left China for the USA.

Rick Hansen is a Canadian paralympian and activist, most famous for circling the world in a wheelchair to raise money for charity. His journey lasted just over 2 years, with an average of 8 hours of wheeling per day. He founded the Hansen foundation to raise funds and awareness to create a world without barriers for people with disabilities.

Abha Khetarpal is an Indian poet, author, and disability rights activist and counselor who founded a counseling/educational resource website and app for people with disabilities. Her work focuses on disability and women’s rights, with a focus on sexual liberation and sexual education and access for disabled people.

Harriet McBryde Johnson was an American author, attorney, and disability rights activist who specialized in securing Social Security benefits for disabled clients who could not work. She debated Peter Singer, arguably the most famous philosopher in America today, on the right of parents to euthanize their disabled children, an encounter she wrote about in the essay Unspeakable Conversations. 

Yetnebersh Nigussie is an Ethiopian lawyer who primarily works in disability rights and anti-AIDs activism. She is a 2017 winner of the Right Livelihood award, widely considered the “Alternative Nobel Prize.”

Satendra Singh is an Indian medical doctor who has advocated extensively for disability rights and access in India, including founding an “Enabling Unit,” a group staffed entirely by people with disabilities that ensures other disabled people are able to attend medical school and associated programs with proper accommodations and support.

Lauren Tuchman was the first blind woman to be ordained as a rabbi. She advocates primarily for disability rights and an inclusive Torah.

Emmanuel Yeboah is a Ghanian athlete and activist who rode a bike across Ghana to raise awareness about the lack of disability rights and access in the country, specifically a lack of wheelchairs. He currently works on ensuring education access for children with and without disabilities in Ghana.

Stella Young was an Australian comedian and journalist who was known for coining the term “inspiration porn.”

Nabil Shaban is a Jordanian-British actor and writer who is best known as the villain Sil on Dr. Who. He co-founded Graeae, a theater group which promotes the work of disabled actors.

That’s all I have for you! Please feel free to add :) I am considering writing up a few more posts about disabled celebrities, artists, etc, so let me know if you’d be interested <3

[fourgottencoast]

I’ve been having issues with this ‘it’s never too late to mask again’ rhetoric people have started using to try to get people to take covid precautions again because it’s a phrase that demands no accountability, no self reflection, no growth. Because unfortunately IT IS too late for MILLIONS of people who’ve been killed/disabled by covid and conditions triggered as a direct result of covid, and i think it’s disrespectful to those lives to allow people to just jump right back into pretending they care without acknowledging this enormous tragedy they actively participated in! Sorry but you don’t get to ignore a pandemic for 4 years and then wash your hands of the blood you helped spill through willful ignorance while claiming to care about social justice!

And it’s also aggravating because it’s SO OBVIOUS most of these people are only doing it because they’re afraid of how covid/bird flu/a trump health admin will personally affect THEM, not because they’ve evolved politically or actually care about their community. There’s no genuine solidarity with the disabled community, no self-reflection on their participation in eugenics and normalization of mass death/disability, no connecting the dots between disease mitigation (or lack thereof) and capitalism/imperialism/racism, etc. its just more individualism that ultimately does not help lead to collective liberation and will not prevent this from happening again.

[writing2changetheworld]

The Rollettes are in a Lady Gaga music video! This is huge! This is amazing!

[yourdailyqueer]

Connie Panzarino (deceased)

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Lesbian

DOB:  26 November 1947

RIP: 4 July 2001

Ethnicity: White - American

Occupation: Activist, civil servant, art therapist, writer, publlic speaker

Note 1: She worked with survivors of abuse and lectured on sexism, homophobia, and ableism. She also served on the boards of several organizations supporting disabled people, including the Disability Law Center and the Boston Center for Independent Living.

Note 2: Was born with spinal muscular atrophy type III, a progressive neuromuscular disease also known as Werdnig-Hoffmann disease.

[pilloclock]

🚨🩷KEEP GOING WITH YOUR ACTIVISM🚨

White text words by @emily_20_02_green on Instagram and the zine is by @totoroandtangerine on Instagram

Resources

[whereserpentswalk]

Bigotry is not hatred. You need to recognize elements of bigotry that aren't hateful or mean. Bigotry is believing and enforcing someone's status as marginalized. But you don't have to hate someone to believe that they're lesser then you, or desevre less rights.

There are bigots who will treat you as a child that needs protecting, and who can't be trusted with your own freedom. They won't be mean to you, but they think of you as lesser then them none the less. This is especially common with bigotry twords disabled people and twords people society views as female.

When looking to see if someone is bigoted asgisnt a group, don't ask weather or not they hate them, as weather or not they think they deserve less rights.

[mouchee23gamma]

USA students with disabilities and disorders: LISTEN UP!

In the USA, a huge issue has gone unnoticed by our government, despite the cries of my people. Since the creation and implementation of IEPs and 504s for students with disorders and disabilities in school systems, this problem has plagued school systems on a national scale.

‘What is this problem?’ Is what you may ask. Well, I shall tell you from my perspective (and other students) as a female who has autism, ADHD, and GAD.

The problem is that school systems are allowing staff to discriminate and ignore students with IEPs and 504s. When I was in 9th grade, I had an English teacher who wouldn’t follow my IEP, which is illegal to do. Even with my case manager and parents communicating to him that he had to follow my IEP, he wouldn’t listen and lied about his actions. My case manager reported him to the higher ups of the school and her supervisor, but they didn’t even reach out to him, nor did they ever get back to us.

I was warned by many students with IEPs about this English teacher, as they also experienced the same exact situation where he refused to follow their IEPs. He was (and likely still is) the only option for 9th grade English, besides the English class for those who may have things like dyslexia or those who struggle with English in general.

I could’ve taken him to court, unfortunately though, I only found that out after I moved schools.

The next year, in my new school, my new case manager ignored my concerns and refused to talk about making a few changes to my IEP. She brushed me off by saying that I would be fine.

I wasn’t fine.

I ended up switching to online school, where I would be at home, yet still receiving the proper education through online meetings and programs.

Those of us who are students with IEPs and disabilities or disorders, especially under the age of 18, are oppressed and our cries for help are ignored.

We are SUFFERING. IEPs are NOT a privilege, they are a NECESSITY for those of us who have it!

My best friend who also has an IEP keeps me updated on the happenings of the school I went to (the one with the English teacher mentioned in the first paragraph) about how those of us in special education or/and have IEPs are being treated.

I have researched and read of so many incidents and situations like mine.

There is a HORRIFYING amount of mistreatment of my community, my people, with disabilities, disorders, and IEPs among schools across the nation.

How could schools claim to treat everyone fairly and that consequences for discrimination will ensue, when the teachers are the ones who discriminate more than most of the students and get away with it?

We need to change, and we need to revolt against schools who let staff get away with discrimination of those of us with disabilities, disorders, and IEPs!

WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED! WE WILL FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHT TO EDUCATION!

To my dear readers, please share this post across social media platforms to spread the support we so desperately need. Please share this among family and friends, coworkers, and even teachers and school staff.

[bizarrzibub]

https://youtube.com/shorts/v_hJj_bRjCQ?si=6WYJ_JCuQH60Z1Io

Apparently a ton of people, mostly Women, Trans people, immigrants, and poor people, are once again close to losing the right to vote in America. What can we do?

[martyrbat]

being heumann: an unrepentant memoir of a disability rights activist – judith heumann

[TEXT: I think what people miss sometimes, when they’re thinking about disabled people, is our vulnerability. The boy whom the grandmother wanted to kill was a baby and so of course completely dependent on his mother and father for survival. But that vulnerability doesn’t end with infancy or childhood. Our continued need for help as disabled adults makes us vulnerable. Over eighty percent of women with disabilities will be sexually abused in our lifetimes, which is about four times the rate among nondisabled women. What is even worse is that people don’t believe us when it happens—they use our inability to speak or our developmental disabilities as reasons not to believe us.

Despite this reality, however, our issues weren’t on the agenda of human rights activism at that time. There was an international movement, which I was a part of, and the United Nations was making an effort to call attention to our situation. But any mention of disability was virtually absent in the major international treaties, funding was limited, and data across the world documenting numbers and disability issues was scarce to nonexistent. We were off the radar for any major foundation, and most graduate programs on international human rights didn’t even cover people with disabilities. We were some of the most vulnerable people on the planet, some of the poorest of the poor, and we were still invisible. Even to activists.]

[forwehavecometothecrossroads]

I don’t want to be defeatist but after seeing the return of ableist slurs, language, and behaviors within “leftist” and “liberal” spaces. Along with the lack of masking and other covid precautions…I’m starting to really get nervous about the outcomes of any sort of revolution. I’m sorry to say it, but some American leftists and liberals are just…..performative (I’m being nice with the some because so many of them don’t take covid precautions.) They don’t mask, don’t listen to disabled people, and have a huge problem with speaking over disabled people. They just read theory and often times barely put any of it into practice beyond words. Well a loud sect of them (the ones who want to be Twitter celebs and write scholarly articles for prestigious universities) do that, but there’s a good few that’s not screaming “JUST READ” at people and actually idk helping….. Like what’s the point of all that reading and you are refusing to stop the spread of a deadly virus which needs YOUR body as host to do so. You can’t say you represent a progressive lane of thought that is anti colonist and then don’t comprehend or care about what disabled folks have to say. Your just blowing shit out your ass and praying it don’t stink. BUT IT DO! Y’all are funky as FUCK! It’s like how you going to succeed at a revolution without the people who gave it its name? Remember!!!!! Harriet Tubman was disabled!!!! Her disability is not something that can be ignored in the context of her legacy. So for you to sit on your high horse and believe that you can have your revolution without being in community with disabled people is arrogant at best. YOU ARE GOING TO LOSE!

[thecreativemillennial]

This brings back some uncomfortable memories. Credit to @neurowild

[writing2changetheworld]

I think I may need to clarify and define something.

Being disabled does not automatically equal being physically disabled.

When I say "able-bodied" I'm talking about being disabled in a way(s) that is not physical. In a way(s) that is invisible/not visible.

Learning disabilities (like Dyslexia), mental illnesses (like Depression or Anxiety), Dissociative Identity Disorder (D.I.D), Epilepsy, etc are all examples of non-physical disabilities.

Someone currently without any disabilities is nondisabled.

You don't have to be able to see someone's disability for them to be disabled.

[activismforhumanity]

Thank you to everyone who showed up and voted for Kamala Harris & Tim Walz. Sadly the election did not turn out the way we were hoping.

91 Days left with Joe Biden in office. 91 days we have to get to work! Take today to grieve if you need to. I know I myself have been shedding tears for 6 hours on & off as the weight of what I have personally been placed on the chopping block for, as well as for all the people like me, sets in.

This is truthfully a disgrace upon every single solitary American who voted for Trump. A convicted felon, a rapist, a man who said he wanted to sleep with his own daughter! Who hates women, anyone & everyone of color, the disabled community, the queer community. Anyone who isn't a white cis heterosexual man.

A man filled with hatred, who has committed henious and immoral behavior, has just won the 2024 presidential election.

But we the people with common sense, empathy, compassion for our neighbors and people who may differ from us, will keep on fighting!

This isn't over. We will resist what he pushes onto us! We will continue to use our voices, spread the word about what he's done, who he truly is and all of the awful plans he has in store for our country.

This isn't over, it didn't end, our fight continues on. Take some time to grieve the loss of the hope we had. To feel the anger and frustration about people who voted against our lives, rights and civil liberty. Then get back up friends. Because we have 91 days.

[yourdailyqueer]

Alicia Roth Weigel

Gender: Female

Sexuality: N/A

DOB: Born 1990

Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish

Nationality: American

Occupation: Activist, writer, journalist

Note 1: Has osteoperosis

Note 2: Is Intersex

[goeticwhorelore]

Controversial Opinion

But not offering holiday pay to part-time employees should be classified as disability discrimination since disabled people can only work part-time 🤷🏻‍♀️

[mental-mona]

Image credit TEDxMidAtlantic, Chris Suspect