justice is what love looks like
judy heumann's legacy and disability rights in america
If you don’t know know Judy Heumann, it’s because our education system has failed you. If you didn’t know know that she died over the weekend, it’s because our media ecosystem failed you too. And if you’re not sure why she matters, you’re sadly not alone, and it’s because people with disabilities and their contributions, are often erased and invisibilized in a society that is still, despite its best efforts, deeply ableist.
Judy is known as the mother of the disability rights movement, not just in the United States where she lived, but globally, where disability rights activists have tirelessly organized to create a more positive world, for everybody. She’s featured in Crip Camp, a fantastic film I’ve written about, that documents her and other disabled activists’ battle to end to discrimination against people with disabilities.
As a child, Judy was told she couldn’t go to kindergarten because she was a “fire hazard.” She fought to get an education, and became pivotal in convincing our government to allow children with disabilities into schools, hospitals and any government-funded entity because of a legislation she pioneered known as section 504. But once she made it illegal for schools to deny disabled children an education, she was told she couldn’t become a teacher because she wouldn’t be able to accompany children during a fire emergency, which she challenged in court, and was victorious in overturning. Hence, Judy made history again, and became the first teacher in a wheelchair in New York City. Later, when she worked for the Obama Administration, she also tried to get the Senate to ratify a global convention on the rights of people with disabilities, but Republicans blocked her from doing so, making the US one of the handful of countries that still hasn’t signed it.