By Tashi McQueenAFRO Employees Writertmcqueen@afro.com
Black historical past and disabled historical past are extra aligned than folks notice, with many Black icons experiencing some type of incapacity. Abolitionist and girls’s rights activist Sojourner Reality had a disabled proper hand, Fannie Lou Hamer had bodily disabilities stemming from polio, pioneering lawyer and lawmaker Barbara Jordan had a number of sclerosis and used a wheelchair and actor and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte has dyslexia.
However within the annals of disabled Black historical past, Brad Lomax and Lois Curtis stand out as figures who spoke up for each incapacity rights and Black rights in areas the place Black voices had been typically sidelined. As advocates, they fought not only for accessibility however for justice on the intersection of race and incapacity—an ongoing problem right now, although formed and lessened in some ways by their work.
“Their contributions to the incapacity rights motion as Black disabled leaders was each paramount and monumental,” mentioned Monica Wiley, voter engagement specialist with the Nationwide Incapacity Rights Community.
Wiley shared that the dialog round incapacity started to take form within the 1800s, although at the moment, perceptions of disabled folks had been deeply skewed and discriminatory. This led to their widespread exclusion from collaborating in society and their general social invisibility.
“It wasn’t till the passage of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the People with Disabilities Act {that a} paradigm shift commenced within the incapacity motion,” mentioned Wiley.
Brad Lomax
Wiley shared that throughout the passage of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, Brad Lomax, a Black Panther who developed a number of sclerosis at Howard College, witnessed extreme inaccessibility and discrimination as a disabled particular person.
“He did his due diligence by serving to to arrange and help the 504 sit-in by having the Black Panther Social gathering (BPP) present meals and different assets to Judith Heumann–the queen of the incapacity motion–and different contributors,” mentioned Wiley. “Lomax additionally linked the Black Panther Social gathering to the East Oakland Heart for Impartial Residing (CIL), which–in my view–is the epitome of true coalition constructing and intersecting civil rights and incapacity activism. This started the delivery of inclusive democracy.”
Lomax joined the BPP within the late Nineteen Sixties, in line with the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council. He went on to discovered the Washington, D.C., chapter of the BPP and coordinated the primary African Liberation Day demonstration in 1972.
In 1975, Lomax labored with Ed Roberts, the founding father of the Heart for Impartial Residing (CIL), in Berkeley, Calif., to launch one other web site in East Oakland with the assistance of the BPP. In 1977, incapacity rights activists held a sit-in at San Francisco’s federal constructing to demand enforcement of Part 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which forbids discrimination towards folks with disabilities. Lomax joined the protest.
He camped out within the facility alongside different protestors for 3 weeks regardless of the federal government chopping off the constructing’s cellphone traces and water provide.
Although Lomax died on the age of 33 in 1984, his legacy has lived on, paving the best way for many years of activism that has profoundly enhanced disabled particular person’s entry and alternatives.
Lois Curtis
One other notable determine from the Incapacity Rights Motion is Lois Curtis who grew up with a cognitive and developmental incapacity. On the age of 11, she was despatched to Georgia Regional Hospital, the place she remained confined till she was 29.
She finally turned the lead plaintiff in Olmstead v. L.C., during which the U.S. Supreme Courtroom dominated that confining folks with developmental disabilities in insufficient establishments—like she skilled—when they can dwell in the neighborhood is unconstitutional.
“Lois believed in her coronary heart that she deserved to dwell in the neighborhood like different members of society,” mentioned Wiley. “Due to her tireless advocacy, folks with disabilities can dwell in the neighborhood with the correct home-based help companies they want.”
Because the Olmstead case, lots of of 1000’s of individuals with mental or developmental disabilities have moved from establishments to community-based houses, in line with the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council.
In response to the Council, in 2014 Curtis was requested what she would say to folks nonetheless institutionalized, and she or he responded: “I hope they dwell lengthy lives and have their very own place. I hope they become profitable. I hope they study day by day. I hope they meet new folks, rejoice their birthdays, write letters, clear up, go to pals’ homes, and drink espresso.”
Curtis finally was capable of transfer into her personal condo, get a job as an artist and exhibit her work in Georgia galleries. Her skills and fervour motivated her to make artwork and advocacy her prime ambitions. Her art work is a heartfelt, daring expression of how deeply she values private relationships.
Curtis died at age 55 on Nov. 3, 2022, at her residence in Clarkston, Ga.
“Due to their fierce, daring and unapologetic management, folks with disabilities have the power and freedom to dwell independently, command respect as a member of the human race and are policymakers who’ve superior our rights to entry socially, economically and academically,” mentioned Wiley. “Their tenacity has emboldened my group to proceed to hold the mantle for parity, fairness and justice. As Lois Curtis as soon as said, ‘I increase my voice excessive’ and that’s what we’re doing right now, elevating our voices and entering into good hassle.”
Present day incapacity advocates
Incapacity advocates of right now equivalent to Heather Watkins and Ola Ojewumi proceed to construct on the legacies of Lomax and Curtis. Watkins works to focus on the experiences of girls of coloration with disabilities by way of her writing and activism. Ojewumi, being a most cancers survivor and organ transplant recipient, champions healthcare rights and uplifts disabled voices within the media.
Haben Girma, one other main incapacity advocate of right now, was born with a progressive situation that left her deaf and with just one % of her eyesight. As a first-generation immigrant, she turned the primary deaf and blind graduate of Harvard Regulation Faculty. As we speak, she is an award-winning creator, advocate and keynote speaker.
“What we will study from Brad Lomax and Lois Curtis is the power to embrace those that aren’t disabled,” mentioned Wiley. “Whereas there are some members of society which have a one-dimensional or discriminatory notion of individuals with disabilities—it’s not everybody. We as folks with disabilities have gotten to step out of our consolation zone and embrace others completely different from [us].”
Wiley additionally encourages individuals with disabilities to shift the narrative.
“Enable your genuine, audacious, unapologetic self to exude and shine,” mentioned Wiley. “Be comfy with who you’re and present up and present out.”
