The Historic Heroes behind the Disability Rights Movement

Fannie Lou Hamer

*Cue heroic theme music* (captioned and interpreted of course)

On Tuesday I attended an event sponsored by the Networks for Training and Development called "Who are the Heroes? A History of the Disability Rights Movement." It was a crowded zoom room filled with professionals from all over hoping to learn more about the heroic people who fought for a more accessible and equitable country. The main presenter for the conference was Barry Whaley, the project director of the Southeast Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Center. The Southeast ADA Center is an organization stemming from the Burton Blatt Institute of Syracuse University and aims to provide information, training, and guidance on the American with Disabilities Act. The conference presented us with a timeline of major events in the Deaf Rights Movement starting in 1917 with the Smith-Hughes Act and ending in 1990 with the Americans with Disabilities Act (although it is important to note that there is much more work to be done, the real timeline does not end there!). The conference then presented the biographies and work of five influential and instrumental people in the advancement of people with disabilities.

I was interested in attending this talk for two main reasons: I felt like the talk would be an excellent supplement to my studies of Deaf Culture and American Sign Language here at Harvard. I also felt that learning about the history of disability in American culture, and how society and science has evolved to become more inclusive and accessible, would not only help me be a better ally and advocate, but a better human being. I learned so much from the talk and was inspired by the courage that it took for the leaders of the Disability Rights Movement to rise above an ableist society. I can say that I now have three new heroes and hopefully after reading this blog post, you will too!

Roland Johnson was a black disability advocated that shown light to the notorious Pennhurst State School and Hospital after escaping the mental, physical, and sexual abuse that he endured there. Roland's activism pushed for autonomy and advocated for the liberation of people with disabilities from these types of institutions.

Fannie Lou Hamer was a prominent American civil rights activist who lived with polio. She is often quoted by her famous phrase: "I am sick and tired of being sick and tired." Fannie was a victim of forced sterilization in Mississippi, an extension of the 1920s eugenics movement that sought to eradicate disability and minorities from the United States. She, like Roland are excellent examples of intersectionality and the specific trials that come with being black with a disability.

Judy Heumann is an esteemed leader amongst disability communities and an American disability rights activist. She was diagnosed with polio at the age of two and faced discrimination most of her life as was denied over and over again from school and employment. She rose above and has held many leadership positions including the office of Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the U.S. Department of State during the Obama administration.

Learning about these amazing people made me realize how ableist my own studies are. Disability history is often not included in our curriculum. We still live in such an inaccessible world (the zoom conference did not have ASL interpreting, but only captioning which is problematic in many ways!). It is up to us to be intentional about centering the perspectives and experiences of those living with disabilities and allow them to lead us into a more accessible and equitable society.