[NFBMI-Talk] "The World Mourns the Passing of Judy Heumann, Disability Rights Activist" - AAPD

[Kane Brolin]

Greetings and a happy Monday to all within reach of this message.

A wise friend once pointed out to me that "gratitude never goes out of style."

It is with a grateful heart, albeit a sad heart, that we mourn the
passing of someone whose life matters a lot to us in the organized
blind movement, even if many of us might never have heard of Ms. Judy
Heumann.  Her last name is spelled h e u m a n n.  Here are a few
excerpts from the obituary prepared by the American Association of
People with Disabilities (AAPD).

" ... Judy was instrumental in developing and implementing national
disability rights legislation, including Section 504, the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA), the Rehabilitation Act, and the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities. ...

"Born in 1947 in Philadelphia and raised in Brooklyn, New York to
parents Ilse and Werner Heumann, Judy contracted polio at age two. Her
doctor advised her parents to institutionalize her when it was clear
that she would never be able to walk. “Institutionalization was the
status quo in 1949,” she wrote. “Kids with disabilities were
considered a hardship, economically and socially.” When Judy attempted
to enter kindergarten, the principal blocked her family from entering
the school, labeling her a “fire hazard.” However, her parents,
particularly her mother, fought back and demanded that Judy have
access to a classroom. Judy eventually was able to attend a special
school, high school, Long Island University (from which she earned a
B.A. in 1969), and the University of California, Berkeley, where she
earned a Master’s in Public Health six years later.

"In the 1960s, Heumann attended Camp Jened, a summer camp for people
with disabilities in the Catskills, and she later returned there as a
counselor in the 1970s. Several of the leaders of the disability
rights movement also were at Camp Jened, which was the focus of the
documentary Crip Camp.

"During the same decade, the New York Board of Education refused to
give Judy a teaching license because they feared she could not help
evacuate students or herself in case of fire. She sued and went on to
become the first teacher in the state to use a wheelchair. Continuing
her fight for civil rights, Judy helped lead a protest that shut down
traffic in Manhattan against Richard Nixon’s veto of the 1972
Rehabilitation Act, and she launched a 26-day sit-in at a federal
building in San Francisco to get Section 504 of the revived
Rehabilitation Act enforced. ...

"In addition, Judy helped found the Berkeley Center for Independent
Living, the Independent Living Movement, and the World Institute on
Disability. She also served on the boards of the American Association
of People with Disabilities, the Disability Rights Education and
Defense Fund, Humanity and Inclusion, Human Rights Watch, the United
States International Council on Disability, Save the Children, and
several others.

"In 1993, Judy moved to Washington, D.C. to serve as the Assistant
Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation
Services in the Clinton Administration, a role she filled until 2001.
>From 2002-2006, she served as the first Advisor on Disability and
Development at the World Bank. From 2010-2017, during the Obama
Administration, she worked as the first Special Advisor for
International Disability Rights at the U.S. State Department. She also
was appointed as Washington, D.C.’s first Director for the Department
on Disability Services.

"“Some people say that what I did changed the world,” she wrote, “But
really, I simply refused to accept what I was told about who I could
be. And I was willing to make a fuss about it.”"

Does her tone and her emphasis on raised expectations sound familiar?
It should.

You might be interested to know that just a couple of years prior to
her death, Judy Heumann published two autobiographies.  Both are
available from NLS BARD, the downloadable Talking Book service
maintained for print and disabled people by the Library of Congress.
The grown-up version "Being Heumann: An Unrepentant memoir Of A
Disability Rights Activist" is DB100399.  The other version, intended
for youngsters of grades 6 through 9: "Rolling Warrior: The
Incredible, Sometimes Awkward, True Story Of A Rebel Girl On Wheels
Who Helped Spark A Revolution" is DB105457.

To read the full obituary from AAPD's Website, please visit
https://www.aapd.com/press-releases/the-world-mourns-the-passing-of-judy-heumann-disability-rights-activist/.

Cordially,

Kane Brolin
President, Indiana State Affiliate
National Federation of the Blind
(574)386-8868 (mobile)