Judy Heumann, Rolling Warrior
Rob Stone of Little Lobbyists (r) poses with Judy Heumann (l) at her book signing in March 2020. [image description: Judy wears a colorful print shirt and smiles, seeming to share a secret with Rob, who also smiles. Huge bookshelves are behind them.]
This week, the disability community lost a great light. Judy Heumann has been called the mother of the disability rights movement, and her life reflected that. She was kind, warm, encouraging to Little Lobbyists families, and, especially to our children.
Her own family, as described in her memoir, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, encouraged her to understand that she had the same rights as anyone else–just as we at Little Lobbyists now tell our own children. Disabled people have a right to an education, a job, a home, and the supports to live independently. We have the right to be included.
Judy did all of this with both righteous anger and joy. Jim LeBrecht’s film Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution shows a young Judy at camp in the Catskills, igniting a fervor for independence and inclusion among her fellow campers who would go on to be leaders of the disability rights movement. We want our children to be like that–always demanding more. We want our children to be inspired by her book for young people, Rolling Warrior: The Incredible, Sometimes Awkward, True Story of a Rebel Girl on Wheels Who Helped Spark a Revolution.
Judy said to reporter Joe Shapiro, "Disability only becomes a tragedy when society fails to provide the things we need to lead our lives — job opportunities or barrier-free buildings, for example. It is not a tragedy to me that I'm living in a wheelchair." That changed how Shapiro saw disability. We couldn’t agree more.
Elena Hung (r), co-founder and executive director of Little Lobbyists, poses with her daughter Xiomara (c) and Judy Heumann (l) at Center for American Progress event, pre-pandemic. {image description: Judy is seated in her wheelchair, and Elena sits on the floor holding Xiomara. In the background are a set of empty chairs on a dais, as if an event has just taken place.]
Growing up in the 1950s and ‘60s, Judy faced a world far different than the world our children live in today. It is because of Judy and other disability advocates that our children are included in their communities now. She fought to go to school, fought to become a teacher, fought to live independently. She and her friends fought to implement Section 504, which “forbids organizations and employers from excluding or denying individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to receive program benefits and services.” It was the first piece of civil rights legislation for people with disabilities, and led directly to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Our disabled and medically complex children can live in their communities, where they belong, survive and thrive, because of Judy Heumann. We will not forget. We will continue the work. We’ll tell our children about Judy, so they can tell their children.
Thank you, Judy. We love you.