[nabs-l] Lives Worth Living disability documentary to air on PBS

[Beth]

HEre in Denver, we have a big independent living center that is 
the second oldest only to Ed Roberts' California one.  Atlantis 
Commuunity Center hosts a woman who got over 30 arrests for civil 
disobedience in the Disability Movement.  She is one of the focal 
points when I think of the larger and broader disability groups.  
She's part of Adapt, which is really important in terms of 
disability groups here in Denver.  They fought to get lifts on 
buses, which is important.  Now, as blind people in CO, we're 
faced with losing a bunch of service in our transit system, which 
could affect the students at the Center in Littleton.  I"m 
talking about the CCB.  I so hope we don't lose the services.
Beth

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:31:28 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Lives Worth Living disability documentary 
to air on PBS

Bridget,

While I agree with the sentiment you express that we need to be 
aware of the fact that we're not the
only group involved with the rights of all disabilities, I also 
think that it needs to be recognized
that there have been some good reasons why we sometimes chart our 
own course.  I do not know if it was
the same Ed Roberts, but we had some differences with an Ed 
Roberts in the mid-1970's when he was
director of the California Division of Rehabilitation over some 
big problems in the Business Enterprise
Program there.  If it was the same guy, that doesn't detract from 
what he has accomplished, but as I
recall, there was an effort on his part to minimize our role as 
blind consumers, and it was felt that
was in part because he saw uniqueness as not being something that 
was consistent with a strong
disability movement.

One of the problems we had in the 1970's and still have today is 
that we are still a fairly low-
incidence group.  There was a strong disability rights movement 
then and there was serious organizing
efforts.  The push was very, very strong to promote the view of 
"Disabled" with no emphasis on specific
disabilities.  Issues we tried to raise that were important to us 
often could gain no traction in the
larger groups which were often referred to as cohalitions, but 
such groups did expect all member groups
to carry out their priorities.  Let me explain how one process 
worked here in Minnesota in which I
participated with other members of the NFB of Minnesota and other 
organizations of the blind.  The forum
was a governors commission on the handicapped or something 
similar.  The goal was to work out in a one-
day meeting what the priorities of the governor should be.  What 
was done was to first work together as
a common group to establish the broad priority that affected all 
disabilities.  as I recall, some of the
broad priorities from which to choose were architectural 
barriers, transportation, financial aid, and
several others.  The choice of architectural barriers as the top 
priority was never in doubt, and it was
the logical choice.  At that point, curb cuts were not in use all 
over and people were still pitching a
fit at the cost of ramps.  However, now that a priority was 
established, the various disabled groups
were asked to split up into separate working groups and decide 
which of our particular issues would fit
into the architectural barriers category, and that issue would 
then be the top priority for that group.
The only thing that really fit at all for us at the time was 
brailling elevators.  When the conclusions
of the group were published, braille elevators were listed as the 
most important barrier to blind
persons becoming part of society.  While there were other 
organizations of the blind participating and
they may have been happier about this choice than we were, all of 
us who were blind agreed that
transportation was a bigger issue for us as were library services 
and education.  We experienced other
situations where issues that we felt were crucial to our 
integration into society were subordinated by
issues that were more important to the larger group.  While we 
probably felt this way even before the
70's, it became very clear to many of us at the time that we 
needed to maintain control of our destiny,
to push the issues that were important to us, and to cooperate 
with but not be subordinate to other
larger groups when we shared common goals which does happen 
sometimes.

I think it is important that we recognize that there are others 
of note who have made contributions to
the progress that disabled people have made.  As you know, Dr. 
tenBroek was also from Berkeley, and he
spent considerable effort in the promotion of protections of 
other disadvantaged groups, even being
involved in the writing of the Brown versus Board of Education 
that is thought of as being at least the
beginning of the end of segrated schools in the United States.  
It is also good to remember, though,
that the larger disability movement has not always been our 
friend, either.  We have much in common, but
there is much that is unique, too, requiring us to be aware of 
the history.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:28:16 -0500, Bridgit Pollpeter wrote:

Chris,

I hadn't heard of Ed Roberts either until I was invited to speak 
for a
panel on disability awareness a while ago. They showed an 
interview with
Roberts from the 60's or 70's; I believe it was an old 60 Minutes
interview. I was surprised to learn how much this guy 
accomplished.

Roberts also established the first independent living centers in 
this
country. He believed any person with a disability can have 
independence
and we have every right to demand that independence.

It's interesting how many of you have coined Dr. Tembroek as the 
father
of the disability rights movement because Ed Roberts is often 
referred
to as the same. I've done no detailed research on the topic or 
either
man, but I think we need to be a bit more open when discussing 
the
disability rights movement. A lot of people and various 
disabilities
belong to this movement. Blindness is of course important to us, 
and we
want the equality and accommodations necessary to be a successful 
person
who is blind, but we also should realize that the Federation and 
it's
founding fathers are not the end-all-be-all in the disabled 
community.
When it comes to blindness, the Federation has probably done the 
most
positive work, but other people and entities exist who share 
similar
goals and philosophies towards disability.

Roberts was referred to as a "cripple," and because of his 
disability,
high schools and colleges didn't want to allow him to graduate or 
even
enroll. His disability was considered too severe to accomplish
requirements necessary for school, and in the long run, many 
believed it
wasn't worth it for a person with such a "severe" disability 
because
he'd never be able to truly participate in society.

He fought to achieve higher education, and to receive the 
accommodations
necessary to accomplish this goal. This is why, upon his 
acceptance to
UC Berkley, he pioneered what has become the disability services
department most colleges now have. In terms of services for blind
students, I've heard mixed thoughts. Some have had a great 
experience,
and others not so much. Not having attended Berkley myself, I 
can't form
an opinion, but I can say that apparently Ed Roberts did a lot 
that has
helped a lot of disabled students achieve higher education.

Roberts also helped create the World Institute on Disability, an
organization dedicated to changing life for disabled people 
that's led
by disabled people. Here's its mission statement: The mission of 
the
World Institute on Disability (WID) in communities and nations 
worldwide
is to eliminate barriers to full social integration and increase
employment, economic security and healthcare for persons living 
with
disabilities. WID creates innovative programs and tools, conducts
research, public education, training and advocacy campaigns; and
provides technical assistance.

Hmmm... Who does this sound like? Familiar?

I think we need to open our eyes and learn to work with other
organizations sharing our goals and missions. We do have specific 
needs
each respective group pushes individually, but we have a lot in 
common,
and perhaps working together on more efforts, truly working 
together,
would give us a louder voice to make change.

It's a big world and the Federation isn't the only organization 
pushing
progressive, total independence.

For any interested, here's a link to WID's website: 
http://www.wid.org/

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/

"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 6
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:21:18 -0400
From: Chris Nusbaum <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing
	list<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Lives Worth Living disability rights 
documentary
	airs	onPBS
Message-ID: <4ea5665b.8a8bec0a.1b3c.fffff29c at mx.google.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; format=flowed

Hi Bridgit,

I just learned something! I'd never heard of Ed Roberts until
now! So, if you think about it, although Roberts wasn't blind
himself nor was he involved in the Federation (or any other
blindness organization for that matter,) he did something for us
by fighting for the right of people with disabilities to travel
on airplanes (which the Federation also fought for,) and by
fighting for accomodations to be provided at universities, which
many of us on this very list are reeping the benefits of every
day.

Chris


_______________________________________________
nabs-l mailing list
nabs-l at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
for nabs-l:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/steve.jacobso
n%40visi.com





_______________________________________________
nabs-l mailing list
nabs-l at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
for nabs-l:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/thebluesisloo
se%40gmail.com