Disability History: Help Us
Remember All Our Heroes
By Patricio Figueroa
Disability history has become a national obsession. I am
aware of at least two dozen disability history-related projects on the national
level. But ours is slightly different from most of these projects -- though not
necessarily better.
As some readers of this publication may recall, we used
to run a column in these pages titled “This Day in Disability
History.” It was a time-consuming but unique column for a periodical.
Since then, we have moved our disability history items to the web version of
Independence Today.
We placed the column and other events of interest to the
community and the public on our ILUSA.Com "Calendar of Events." The calendar
includes five categories, one of which is "disability history." In it, we list
disability heroes and heroines. Almost all the people we honor in the “We
Remember…” column are disability heroes or heroines. We also have
categories for conferences (such as those for the NCIL or for medical groups),
fund-raisers, webinars and training, and community events.
We have been successful at identifying people with
disabilities, some of whom are celebrities, and others, heroes of our movement
for human and civil rights. What we do differently is place a short biography
in the calendar box on their birthday. Sometimes we place a picture or a link
to the individual's website, biographical sketch, Wikipedia page or obituary
(if deceased). On the calendar, we have listed literally hundreds of events and
hundreds of people with disabilities, many of whom have made contributions to
improving or advancing the disability movement.
Some of those we have not listed include Eunice
Fiorito (who worked in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special
Education and Rehabilitation Services), Ray Zanella, Gini Laurie, Phil Draper,
Douglas Martin, Jay Rochlin and Alan Reich (all deceased.)
Many of the new advocates, independent living center (ILC)
directors, journalists and media outlets do not know these people or dozens of
others that we mention. Our history is incomplete without their names and
achievements being preserved in written form. Every one of these people had
friends and relatives and did something worthy of notice. We need people to
come forward and connect us to their families, or loved ones.
You can also help us if you know someone who should be in
our calendar or an event that we can and should post. Remember, like politics,
all events are local. Events take place some where, on a date, time, and for a
purpose. To post an event or submit the name and bio of someone worthy of
recognition, send it to events@ilchv.org. (Independence Today is a
publication of the Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley.) Please note
that the person could be a living, breathing advocate or activist. In fact,
many of our contemporary heroes and heroines have been too modest to submit
their birth dates. We wish to celebrate their lives while they are here to
share it with us.
Another thing we’re doing is putting a copy of all
the issues of Independence Today online in .pdf (or portable document
format). This allows people to download the .pdf version to their computers and
print it. (Usually, 50% of the original will fit on an 8.5 x 11-inch paper.) We
get many requests for the newspaper from Europe, South America and Japan.
We are very proud that we have helped many centers; from
the outset, that has been our goal. One article still getting positive feedback
was the “For Directors Only” column on flexible medical accounts.
Many directors really embraced the suggestion, which helped them reduce the
income taxes staff members would have paid and increase their income or take
home paid.
As we all know, because of the prolonged recession, many
organizations and ILCs face budget cutbacks in the form of the federal share of
their state allotment. For many ILCs, survival is the top priority. Without the
centers, there is no tomorrow for the movement. And, obviously, all the
projects at the Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley cost money. We
would, therefore, like to thank all the centers that have sent us donations and
their endless positive feedback. We hope to continue publishing the newspaper
for as long as we can. After all, the newspaper is a service for our consumers,
our community, and our colleagues in the movement.
It goes without saying that donations are always welcome.
(To donate, go to www.ilchv.org, or
www.iTodaynews.com , and click on the
"donate" button.)
Patricio Figueroa Jr. is the editor and publisher of
Independence Today. |
