Legacies

I told you that 2020 would be a busy year for me. But I had no idea it would be this busy, between crisscrossing the State of North Carolina and having various illnesses. I haven’t written a blog in a long time. But I’m here now.

 One of the unique things about life with a disability and receiving services from the state is that I’m required to do many different forms of self-assessment over the year, to make sure the services are going well for me.

In my free time, I watch a lot of sports. With the death of Kobe Bryant, many sports fans are reflecting on their own lives, since he died so suddenly. These two factors got me thinking about what my own legacy would be. Even though I’m not yet 30, and I have many years of advocating left, I think it’s only healthy to reflect on my own life to make sure I stay on the right track. I also want to make sure I leave some guideposts for future generations of people like me, to make it easier for them to continue their work.

In a field like Disability Rights, it is never going to be a perfect world. There’s always going to be more work to do for the group. I wish I had a more lucrative dream, but I think I’m well on the way to accomplishing it.

 I always told Mom I wanted to go to Washington DC to talk to politicians to improve the lives of people like me.  During my time on the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities, I have had the opportunity to do so multiple times. I also know a couple of my state representatives on a first name basis now, because they have sat with me on the Council for so many years.  To use the phrase from the play Hamilton, I’m been in many rooms where disability rights happens.

 As my first term with the Council nears the four-year mark, a possibility exists where I may or may not be appointed to another term. Appointments are completely up to the Governor. At the same time, I’m in my final year as Chairman on the Board of Directors of Disability Rights North Carolina.

it’s a perfect time to take stock of where my advocacy career is. I’m proud of a lot of things I’ve done, but the most important things are the interpersonal changes that I’ve inspired. Many of my assistants have gone into helping other people with disabilities at least for a brief time. Even my Barber, whom I’ve known for years, went into special education for a time.  Dave has talked a little bit about wanting to go back to school so he can do even more in the disability realm. And wants me to go, too. That might turn into an interesting blog.

I was honored earlier this year when Guilford College invited me back to participate in an oral history project about disability rights on campus. I’ve given my interview, and my thoughts are a minor but permanent part of the library now, which is a strange thought.  I’ve also given the college a small library of disability rights texts, in the hopes that some students would pick up and continue my work. It appears that a little bit of that is happening now. That’s cool.

 I am more thoughtful about my past accomplishments today because I’ve finished reading another memoir of a disability rights hero. This time it’s from one of the biggest. Her name is Judy Huemann. She’s done many, many great things, but mainly she’s known for being involved in two major events in the history of disability rights. First, she sued the New York school system and won her teacher’s license.  Then later in life, she led the longest and most peaceful sit-in in a federal building ever in the United States.

 It was 25 days that led to the first civil rights protections for people like me, called Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Ms. Huemann is scheduled to attend our Disability Rights North Carolina conference in the Spring. I hope Mom doesn’t cause trouble. 

My Mom is easily offended when she perceives someone has wronged me in some way. When I was in college, I wrote my senior history thesis on the disability movement. I managed to find Ms. Huemann’s email address at the US State Department at that time. I sent an email, and I was amazed that she responded. I was going to ask her a few questions in an interview and unfortunately, she never responded. I was never bothered by nonresponse. I assumed that people in the US State Department are busy.

I didn’t think any more of it, and Judy and I are now connected on Facebook. And we have many friends in common. But Mom has brought this up again. So, we must see what happens. Y’all should come to watch.

Find more information about our annual conference here: https://disabilityrightsnc.org/conference2020/

That’s how I roll.