Dear Addie,
This week, we celebrated the life and achievements of Martin Luther King Jr., a social activist and Baptist minister who led the civil rights movement in the 1950s—long before you were born, baby girl. He is best known for his "I Have a Dream" speech, one of the greatest speeches in history, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. King's dream was one of equality for all, and he stood against injustices across the nation as a champion of peaceful, nonviolent protest until an act of hate took him from us. What that hate didn’t know was that while they could take the man away, his dream would live on in many hearts and has inspired others, like disability rights leaders, to continue pushing forward toward a world of equality for all.
"It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice in all people." -MLK Jr.
These words would encourage many to continue the fight for equality, well after his passing in 1968. Andrew J. Imparato, President and CEO of the American Association for People With Disabilities has said, “The disability rights movement modeled itself on the successes, vision ,and passion of the civil rights movements that preceded it."
Civil rights laws like that of Brown v. Board of Education where school segregation was named unconstitutional laid important groundwork for recognizing the rights of people with varying disabilities. Judy Huemann would become a force to be reckoned with when as a young child she contracted polio leaving her wheelchair bound and told she was unable to attend school due to be a "fire hazard." She was then homeschooled and would eventually get accepted to a NYC public school program for students with disabilities. Sounds great right?! Except the classes were hidden in room in the basement far away from the rest of the school. After years, I mean years of not only discrimination but humiliation and court cases she went on to finally acheive her dream of becoming a teacher - being the first teacher using a wheelchair in NYC.
You see Addie the story of Judy Huemann I just told you is a very condensed version of her trials and tribulations. There was a time, not even too long ago, where it didn't matter what disabilities abilities (or different abilities as we like to say) you had from being deaf, blind, mental impaired etc., everyone was thought to be incapable of learning and accessibilty to accomodate was laughable. But much like Martin Luther King Jr. one drop of water in an ocean can have a vast ripple effect. Dr. King was that droplet and even the hate that took him couldn't stop the ripples.
It was long before you were born, that one man had a dream that would be the inspiration to help you in so many ways today.
This week we remembered a man that stood up for what was right and helped so many.
It only takes one drop of water.
Love,
Mom
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