(more about the disturbing Twitter thing later; this has a timestamp)
“My stroke knocked me down, but I am going to get back up.”
As a board member of a disability-rights action team I feel pressure to make my public statement as a disability-rights issue team impressive, making up for our being called inspirations for doing ordinary things, but we’ll keep it simple. If accommodations for disability seem strange, consider that we, disabled and not, have been using zoom for years to compensate for lack of proximity. It’s challenging, but we don’t quit because it's ‘painful to watch.”
PDA cares about labor, and healthcare, and women’s reproductive rights, and endorsed John Fetterman because he does too….the quips are a bonus, like the hoodies. Since none of that has changed, maybe it’s okay that we echo the Philadelphia Inquirer’s hope that a Senator Fetterman might act as a role model, not only for both abled and disabled Pennsylvanians, but in fact a nation looking to get back up after the mass-disabling event of a still-ongoing pandemic. Whether he recovers fully or not, it’s a unique opportunity to see our strengths reflected in the larger political culture, and one we shouldn’t miss due to outdated biases and prejudice.
Maybe it’s time to acknowledge our strength as
disabled Americans, one of them being that we already know, as John Lennon
wrote “Life is what happens while you’re busy
making other plans.” A more flexible outlook would be a benefit to a
legislative body that, too often seems dedicated to solving the crises of the
last century.
Erika J.
Board Member
Progressive Democrats of America Disability Issues Action Team
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