I recently returned from Chicago, where I had the honor of being the Grand Marshal at "Unity Builds Community," Chicago's 2nd annual Disability Pride Parade. While I looked forward to this trip for many reasons, I don't think anything prepared me for the reality of the Parade.
I arrived at the Parade site about an hour prior to its scheduled start. I found a chair and sat and watched the pageantry of people, vans, cars, signs, T-shirts, placards, stickers, and pretty much anything else you could think of that represented pride in disability.
As a proponent of disability culture I have mostly promoted the idea from writing and talking. The act of walking with hundreds or thousands of other people in a Parade took the concept to a whole new level. I've marched in protest before; I've participated in vigils and sit-ins and celebrations; but I had not simply walked to demonstrate the pride I have in myself and my colleagues, friends, and many others in tribute to ourselves, our history, our advocacy, our pride.
The day was special to me for another reason as well, it was my daughter, Aimee's, 27th birthday. I thought about her a lot that day and when I had a chance to talk I mused about the changes I'd witnessed in the life of someone with a disability and in all our lives in the past 27 years.
kWhen Aimee was born, in 1978, there was no Americans with Disabilities Act and I had never heard of independent living centers. There had just been a magnificent protest and sit-in at the Federal Building in San Francisco, but I knew nothing about it; and a law had been passed a couple years previously with the goal of getting children with disabilities into the mainstream school system.
The world of disability and disability rights has changed greatly since Aimee's birth in 1978. But so has the world in general. While computers existed, few of us used them and most of us did not have a clue about their potential. I still used something called a "card catalog" to find books in libraries; I had yet to purchase my first cordless phone (and I was an early consumer of that particular product which made the phone far more accessible to me); and couldn't conceive why I would want an answering machine.
Most significantly, for my life today, there was no internet or email. I now have friends from all over the world, many of whom I've never met, some of whom I've had the pleasure of meeting after knowing them from the internet or email, including a few that I came across on this trip.
We either have, or have the opportunity, to participate in a global community. We can learn about how our neighbors halfway across the world live, what their fears and desires are, how they, as individuals with disabilities, are treated, and what we might do to change all our lives for the better.
Living in Hawaii, the most geographically isolated body of land in the world, emphasizes to me how important it is that we utilize all methods at our disposal to construct community wherever and however we might find it. While it is probably naïve to expect all humanity to love one another, other than in the abstract, it is less idealistic to expect that learning about one another is one way to build the unity of community that the Parade organizers set as their goal.
I am proud to have participated in that effort.
I'm informed pictures of the parade are now available at: http://www.disabilityprideparade.com
MOVIE STARS AND SENSUOUS STARS
I am pleased to say that my book, "Movie Stars and Sensuous Scars: Essays on the Journey from Disability Shame to Disability Pride", while not climbing up any best-seller lists, does have a somewhat steady sales base.
I want to thank each of you who have read, ordered, and promoted the book. I do have a request though. Rather than trying to get readers to buy the book, I'd rather ask you to request your local libraries, both public and university, and your local bookstores carry the book.
Thank you.
--Steven E. BrownManifesto 44 August 2005
(Manifesto: a written statement publicly declaring issues, views or motives of its issuer--Webster).
MANIFESTO archives: http://www.dimenet.com/disculture/manifesto
Institute on Disability Culture All-Text Website: http://www.dimenet.com/disculture
Institute on Disability Culture Graphics Website: http://hometown.aol.com/sbrown8912/index.html