Hope, Love, Trust and ADAPT

Here’s a shout out to all the ADAPTers in Washington, D.C., this week marching in the chilly rain and taking on our nation’s powers-that-be.

If you want to know what ADAPT is demanding, follow the action here. It’s good stuff, and, as I’ve said before, as ADAPT goes, so, eventually, does the rest of our community.

I’m obsessed with ADAPT. It is a social phenomenon, much bigger than the issues it activates for, and it is — I believe — constantly reshaping who we

ADA: A Personal Reminiscence

Today is Monday, April 26, 2010, three months away from the 20th anniversary of our civil rights law, the Americans with Disabilities Act.

This marks a personal anniversary for me as well. Twenty years ago this summer I attended a cookout at a friend of a friend’s and was told about a job opening at the agency where this friend’s friend was a manager. I’d been out of work for awhile, subsisting on temp jobs, as there wasn’t a lot of work in Pittsburgh at the time for someone who studied English lit in college. The job was humble — answering phones

ADA Celebration, New Mobility Style

Our civil rights law turns 20 this July 26 and we’re celebrating New Mobility style. What’s that mean? Well, it means we’re going to ask a whole bunch of experts to tell us how the ADA has affected them personally over the years, and the positive ways our society’s attitudes have changed toward those of us with disabilities. Also, we’ll also ask these experts for stories about how, perhaps, times haven’t been a’changin’ as much as we’d like.

So who are these experts? Why, YOU, of course! To participate, just fill out a quick

I Choose to Be Me

I’m writing this blog entry from a small art studio – art shed, actually – on Herrbrook Farm, located in the center of Pennsylvania Dutch country in Lancaster County. Herrbrook Farm is owned by a Mennonite family that sets aside a few buildings for people who need space to create or rejuvenate or, as in my case, both. The art shed’s next door to the “retreat cottage,” which is heated by a wood burning stove. I woke up about three times last night to the sound of popping wood and fire-fueled dancing shadows. It’s a little bit scary and awfully

ADAPT's Marsha Katz Weighs In

Marsha Katz, who wrote the following entry, is best known as ADAPT's spokesperson.

The Employment Advocacy Debate Continues

Following is a comment by Cripchick passionately disagreeing with my employment entry that I found on Laura Hershey’s site. All I know about Cripchick is what I’ve read on her blog. She has interesting opinions backed by a strong voice and I look forward to hearing more from her.

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3 Comments |

Feb 26 01:25

More Thoughts on Poverty, Employment

Hi Laura,

I’ve taken my time to respond formally to your blog entry because it’s still an issue I’m thinking through. “It” being how to envision new ways to try to stem the incredible poverty in our community, and how to create more pathways for people to escape — or to not fall into poverty to begin with. I see employment as the best way to accomplish this for the largest amount of people. Additionally, I agree with you very much that poverty should not be linked to suffering. The latter is one reason why many of our best advocates don’t

Debating Advocacy Priorities

This response by Laura Hershey, one of our movement's foundational thinkers, is too good not to share:

Debating Advocacy Priorities: Free the Oppressed, or Promote Employment?

By Laura Hershey

Always willing to challenge the disability rights movement with provocative ideas, my friend Josie Byzek has now written a column calling on our advocacy movement to make employment a top priority. It

Eggheady Thoughts on Employment

By now you’ve probably seen the funny Think Beyond the Label commercial that encourages businesses to hire people with disabilities. If not, you can watch the commercial here, and read an excellent New York Times article about the campaign here.

This campaign focuses on an issue that – strangely – isn’t a high

Relief for Haitians with Disabilities

Paul Timmons, board chair of the disaster-relief group Portlight Strategies, says there’s a good reason his group focuses on people with disabilities. “It’s a screaming need,” says Timmons, who has a physical disability himself. “The large relief providers, almost without exception, don’t even have us on their radar, much less in their sights. Things as simple as shelter accessibility get overlooked.” And don’t get him started on FEMA.

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1 Comments |

Jan 19 11:48

Swine Flu, MS and Vaccines

“I am Lazarus, come from the dead,

Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all”

— T.S. Eliot, in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Obviously I haven’t yet actually died from swine flu, although a few times I have begged God to just kill me. A bit melodramatic, to be sure. But now that I think I truly am finally recovering, I feel a kinship with Lazarus.

The flu means fever, and fevers with MS are terrifying. I’ve been through enough to have a plan: Basically, I don’t let ibuprofen out of my

Health Care Reform: Shhh ... Let it Cook

Within the disability community, we’re all being very quiet and polite right now about health care reform. I don’t know if you noticed, but there haven’t been any big action alerts, rallies or even publicized meetings among our activists about the issue in quite a while.

It’s like this whole process is a soufflé of sorts and we don’t want it to implode. Well, when I say “we,” I mean generally those of us who see ourselves as left of center, politically. Partisans on the right are jumping up and down and doing all they can to get

Thoughts on Compost

I’ve been thinking lately about compost.

Gardening is brutal. To cultivate what we desire, we murder a lot of perfectly-fine plants. And most of us dispose of our victims’ bodies – the weeds, the saplings, the beautiful-but-unloved bushes – on a compost pile. Some folks do it right and mix in coffee grounds, egg shells and organic dinner left-overs. I suspect most are like me: We dump our clippings and then make sure they’re turned once or twice a season. The reward is richer soil and free mulch for our gardens. Every gardener knows what grows thrives

ADAPT's Marsha Katz Responds