I remember the confidence that my hero and friend Richard Pimentel had imparted to me. He talked about working neither for or with the disability. That is to say not going out and looking for a job that a blind man can do. Instead look for a job that a man with skills can do. He spoke of integrity in the workplace. He spoke of the past and what the future held for my generation.
I have never doubted that there would be discrimination in the world. That even though we have had all these civil rights movements there is going to be steps/rolls that need to be taken. I can not tell you what these are and how we as a community are going to solve them. All I can say is that I will roll up to anyone and say loud and clear "Nothing about us, without us"
With this job, I am interested in reaching out and getting to the business community. Working with them and their understanding of the ADA and working environments. Just the other day I was sitting in on a workshop for job developers. This workshop attracted developers working for and with persons with disAbilities.
I attended this workshop given by John Janda on Job Development. I looked forward to all that I would learn. The workshop started well as I met people from the community. I was learning about the tax incentives that were there for employers. It was framed that these incentives were the only way that a person with a disAbility was going to be hired. It was then that he handed out a resume that he used to "sell" his clients.
bright,
charming,
a 20-year resident
of South L.A. (Watts)
who suffered in the past
from DYSLEXIA
(but we FIXED that!
we hope.)
I sat there shocked that a company that worked for us could smack us.
I was clearly upset and raised my hand in objection. First, as a women
who has grown up with a disAbility I have not suffered from it. The
opposite has happened I have grown up because of it. I owe who I am
today to everything it has given me.
Then putting the disAbility in CAPS I found discerning, the disAbility
did not make up who this young women was. The disAbility is not her
selling point. This young women did not need to be sold to anyone.
Did we not outlaw slavery?
It really hit a nerve when I read we fixed that. You can not fix a
disAbility, it is essential to the person. The ideas that this imparts
both on the youth and the employer are demoralizing. It works so that
the future employer now thinks that this way of communication is okay
and reasonable.
When I clearly objected to this material I was spoke over. He would
not listen to what I was saying. I was spoken down to and made to feel
like I had no right to object. He asked "Did you go to college? Are
you all right in the head?" I was astonished and nearly fell out of my
chair. Here was a man who was saying that he was working for us, but
because I raised clear and concise objections to this I somehow did not
qualify. By the end of the meeting he had everyone sitting in that
room agreeing with him.
It was not until recently that I decided that I could not fight every
fight that I came across. This is one fight that I will give my best
upper cut. I look at the world with patience and understanding. When
I hear and read words like this my heart breaks and I wonder what am I
fighting for? I am fighting for Ebony so that she does not grow up
thinking that she needs to be fixed. I am fighting for all the youth
with disabilities so they realize that they too can be challenged. I
am fighting for all the people who are not suffering. I ask you to
join me in this fight and bring knowledge. Remember that every voice
and movement counts. We are nothing without each other.