As we take Black History Month to continue to listen and learn, we also want to amplify the work of Black trailblazers—past and present—in the disability rights community, and explore the different ways they’ve paved the path that today’s activists continue to push forward.
Each week we’ll be highlighting a different Black activist whose life and work has expanded equality of access and opportunity for all in the disabled community.
We begin in thought and honor of Lois Curtis, lead plaintiff in the Olmstead v. L.C. case (1999) that established the right of people with disabilities to live where they wish and to receive adequate support.
If you don’t know Curtis’ story and her efforts to secure the right to greater independence through supported living for people with disabilities, check out this piece about her life, and the continued fight to put Olmstead into practice.
Week 2: Donald Galloway
This week we’re thinking about the life and work of Donald Galloway, who served as director of peer counseling at Berkeley’s famed Center for Independent Living, and devoted his life to expand rights and access for people with disabilities.
If anyone fully embodies the ethos of “don’t talk about it, be about it,” it’s Mr. Galloway. Devoted to his work, he left the limelight to others. But beyond his low profile is the magnitude of his impact: pictured here with Ed Roberts, Mr. Galloway was at the forefront of the independent living movement, and fought for better representation for minorities within that movement. He also later served as Program Coordinator for the Americans with Disabilities Act within the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.
Check out this remembrance of his life from the Washington Post, and keep an eye out for next week’s spotlight on Black leaders whose work has shown us the way forward.
Week 3: Andraéa LaVant
This week we’re thinking about the work of Andraéa LaVant. She’s one of the producers behind the moving and illuminating Netflix documentary “Crip Camp,” and is spearheading a national campaign around the film to bring greater visibility to people with disabilities and build grassroots coalitions around disability rights.
In some ways, LaVant is an accidental activist. Her main work is running LaVant Consulting, Inc., a social impact communications firm. But in her experiences as not just a woman, but a Black woman, and not only a Black woman, but a Black woman who is disabled, she began to see similarities in the rights-gap across those different identities, and felt the need to take action.
Check out this great profile of her to learn more about the ways her work is making an impact, and keep an eye out for next week’s spotlight on Black leaders fighting for disability rights.
Week 4: Haben Girma
Over the past few weeks, we’ve featured a range of Black trailblazers in the disability rights community.
From Donald Galloway, a pioneer of the independent living movement, to Lois Curtis and Andraéa LaVant, whose lives and work have established and expanded the rights of people with disabilities, we’ve showcased individuals whose lives have made the road to where we are today, and others who continue to carry their legacy forward.
Our final feature of the month is Haben Girma. Haben has put her extraordinary talent to work in the legal realm. She’s a pre-eminent disability rights lawyer, and was the first deaf-blind individual to graduate from Harvard Law School.
You can watch, read, or listen to this Time Talk featuring Girma to learn more about her work, which led her to be named a White House Champion of Change by former President Barack Obama.
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