[Colorado-talk] wise words

[Scott C. Labarre]

Hello everyone, I am sharing below a press release from Julie Reiskin,
Executive Director of CCDC.  I could not agree more with her words.  Like
CCDC, our members are Republican, Democratic, independent, and other
parties.  The NFB has a long and proud tradition of working in a bipartisan
manner and we have had champions who come from different sides of the aisle.
Our issues are not uniquely or inherently Democratic or Republican.  The
thing that unites us is our common desire to achieve equality.  This has
been a bitterly divided election, and anyone who won any particular race did
so, almost always by the slimmest of margins.  Now we must work together and
transform our dreams into reality.

 

Warmly,

Scott

Featured Text: 

Dear CCDC Members,

 

I have been hearing from folks all day-well, since late last night.   First
of all, I want to be clear that we have members who are Republican, Democrat
and Independent.  While we vote and speak as a bloc on many issues, we are a
diverse community.    We agree on disability rights but do not always agree
on who or how to make those rights a reality.  

We are recovering as a nation from a bitterly divided race.  Secretary
Clinton said today we need to approach President Elect Trump with an open
mind and allow him to lead.   She is correct. 

For some, that will be hard--but the one thing we cannot do is hibernate and
give up.  If anything this election demonstrated the power of showing
up--the power of a democracy.  Once again, this election proved that good
community organizing works.   It worked for Obama in 2008 and 2012 and
worked for Trump in 2016. 

So what now?--we do not know much about Trump.  We do know a few things
though: We know he has said he is not interested in cutting or changing
social security--this is good news.  He has said he would like to block
grant Medicaid--that is not such good news.   We need to learn more, why and
figure out how we can get protections if and when that happens.   We know he
will pick at least one and possibly the next three Supreme Court Judges.
We do not know whom will they will be.    While I do not want to make light
of possibilities, we must remember it was a 5-4 conservative court that gave
us the Olmstead decision.  It was a Republican President who signed the ADA
into law.   On a state level, it was Republican Bill Owens that got
Consumer-Directed Attendant Support Services (CDASS) running and originally
supported Medicaid Buy-In.

Many of our issues cross party lines--we need to speak about them in ways
that unite rather than divide.   Employment for people with disabilities,
real jobs at living wages is an issue everyone can get behind.   Consumer
Direction is also something that has been supported on both sides of the
aisle--everyone can relate to wanting control over who comes in your home
and touches your body.    Some of our issues will be tougher--stopping a
notification provision in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will
take a lot of work.

A lot of people in this country said they wanted change.   In our community
we want change too.  We are still the poorest group in America with the
least employment, the worst education and greatest health disparities.

So what now?  I am asking all of our members to do two things in the next
two weeks:

1.        Find someone, anyone, of a different political party and have
coffee or lunch together.  You do not have to talk politics but you can.
Get to know the other person and how they think.   If we are going to heal
as a nation we MUST figure out how to listen to each other.   I expect the
disability community to be leaders and role models--because we are.  We are
also survivors and we must remember this.

2.        Set up a meeting with your state representative or senator--we
elected a bunch of them.  If you do not know who your state rep or senator
is, look it up at the  <http://leg.colorado.gov/find-my-legislator> State's
website. As a constituent, you should be able to get a meeting.  This should
be a get to know you meeting.  Ask what they are interested in--ask how you
can help.  Tell them about issues of concern to our community (employment,
Medicaid, CDASS, Buy-In, SPED, etc.).  CCDC will get out talking points
ASAP.     If Medicaid is block granted, we need to be prepared--and one
thing we can do is make sure that CCDC members have a personal relationship
with every single one of our legislators. We should have this level of
communication with our state officials anyway!

 

Report your success back to CCDC using the email
<mailto:cripthevote at ccdconline.org> cripthevote at ccdconline.org

 

Some of you have asked "Is CCDC going to be OK?"   The answer is YES--we do
not rely on government money --but we do rely on donations.   We will need
to work harder, smarter, stronger and longer and we will need your support
more than ever.  Colorado Gives Day is December 6th and you can schedule
your donation now--or just make a donation online today by visiting the
<https://www.coloradogives.org/CCDC/overview> CCDC Colorado Gives or by
sending a check.   You can step up and ask  <mailto:dhoward at ccdconline.org>
Dawn Howard what committees need people to show up--and show up even if it
is not your most important issue.   You can sign up for the next advocacy
class that will begin early next year by reaching out to
<mailto:shutter at ccdconline.org> Sheryle Hutter.  We offer the class live and
online. We will be OK but for our community to thrive we really need ALL
HANDS ON DECK.  We will work with all of our allies in the disability
community and in other areas such as the Colorado Trust's Health Equity
Cohort.

There is a national conference call Friday that CCDC Board Vice Chair Josh
Winkler and I will attend.  There is only so much room on the call so we
will attend and share the wisdom back with you all for national organizing
strategies to preserve the gains we have made and hopefully continue to make
progress.

If anyone needs to talk, if people are scared or uncertain, we have staff
ready to provide support.  Just leave a message on the general voice mail at
CCDC at 303-839-1775 or send an email to
<mailto:cripthevote at ccdconline.org> cripthevote at ccdconline.org 

 

 

In closing, I want to say--you all did great. We had the largest get out the
vote effort ever--and we will continue to do voter engagement.  It is not
about who we vote for, rather that we all get out there and have our voices
heard.   For those who are not happy with the outcome, it is OK to be bummed
but not OK to fail to act.   For those who are happy with the outcome,
please help with the healing.   Grassroots organizing, listening to each
other, and understanding that every single one of us has value is what a
democracy is all about.   Our leadership, strategic thinking, and action
based on our values of inclusion are needed in this country more than ever
before.   I know that the Colorado disability community will do what we
must--what we have done before and will do again--which is get to work and
show others how to do unity and inclusion, even if we do not always agree.