Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / Countdown to #ADA35: Inspiring the Next Generation To Be As Involved As Judith Heumann! recorded 7-23-25

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Countdown to #ADA35: Inspiring the Next Generation To Be As Involved As Judith Heumann! recorded 7-23-25 · OneLegUpAlex Media

0:00
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Speaker 2: It done, here's your host, Alex Garrett.
0:36
Speaker 3: Well, I have an interesting update here for the adaptability
0:39
Speaker 3: side of one Leg Up with Alex Garrett, because earlier
0:43
Speaker 3: today I had seen about three or four people able
0:47
Speaker 3: body by the way, walking on through the ADA gate
0:52
Speaker 3: claiming their metro card didn't work, their omni caard didn't work.
0:57
Speaker 3: It wasn't I don't know if it was true or not,
1:00
Speaker 3: but all I saw were three or four able body
1:03
Speaker 3: people walking through that ADA door. And then you know
1:07
Speaker 3: when I was trying to go through, ouh, you can't
1:09
Speaker 3: and unless you pay your fare. I mean well, four
1:13
Speaker 3: people went through claiming to have paid their fare. But
1:17
Speaker 3: we don't really know. So I was a little bit
1:21
Speaker 3: steamed up because you know, it's not just me, it's
1:25
Speaker 3: other people disabilities that need that gait, and clearly there
1:29
Speaker 3: is an abuse of it time and time again. And
1:34
Speaker 3: you know, I was talking to an off duty cop
1:37
Speaker 3: and I love law enforcement, but I was mentioning how
1:40
Speaker 3: I noticed this across the city that people duck under
1:43
Speaker 3: they don't face consequences. They use the ADA door right
1:47
Speaker 3: behind you know, Gabby and I, they don't face consequences. Well,
1:52
Speaker 3: he did try and assure me that those who try
1:55
Speaker 3: and fair be get ticketed. I don't know true. That is.
1:59
Speaker 3: I want to believe that's true. I want to believe
2:02
Speaker 3: the MTA truly is cracking down on this. But what
2:04
Speaker 3: would you do if you saw three or four able
2:07
Speaker 3: bodied people walking through the AD eight or wouldn't you
2:10
Speaker 3: say something? Or my little bit nuts, I think you
2:12
Speaker 3: would say something as well. And speaking of saying something,
2:18
Speaker 3: there has to be a highlight of advocates this week
2:23
Speaker 3: in the ADA space, in the disability rights space. And
2:29
Speaker 3: while I don't always feel the most qualified to speak
2:32
Speaker 3: out for those disabilities, because let's face it, I don't
2:37
Speaker 3: have the same experience as some people disabilities do. But
2:42
Speaker 3: I love that there are advocates out there that not
2:45
Speaker 3: only have had the experience a disabled person, but spoke
2:50
Speaker 3: out fought for the rights of the disability community. And
2:53
Speaker 3: I want to turn to someone I know that was
2:57
Speaker 3: very important to doctor Chris Rosa and the Viscardi School
3:01
Speaker 3: student and alumni, and has written on in Able News
3:07
Speaker 3: by Warrenshaw, who is at Disability NYC dot com. That's
3:11
Speaker 3: Disability NYC dot com. I want to highlight Judith Human,
3:19
Speaker 3: Judy Human because when she had passed, I saw tons
3:24
Speaker 3: of people from Viscardi and elsewhere remembering her very fondly,
3:31
Speaker 3: and so I figure, let me put that what's written
3:34
Speaker 3: on Facebook and enable news to audio so that they
3:40
Speaker 3: live on through this podcast and maybe for eternity on
3:46
Speaker 3: this podcast the word said about Judith Human, because I
3:50
Speaker 3: know she made such an impact, far more than maybe
4:05
Speaker 3: people can understand. But here's what Chris Rose has said
4:19
Speaker 3: about the passing of Judy Human. Our hearts are heavy
4:22
Speaker 3: upon learning the news of the passing of Judy Human,
4:25
Speaker 3: which was in twenty twenty three. By the way, the
4:29
Speaker 3: disability community has lost a disability rights giant and a
4:32
Speaker 3: trailblazer who has influenced generations mine included and will continue
4:37
Speaker 3: to for many years to come. As Justin Dark Junior
4:42
Speaker 3: was seen as the father of the Ada, Judy is
4:45
Speaker 3: often referred to as the mother of the disability rights movement.
4:49
Speaker 3: Through her many interviews as a subject of the critically
4:52
Speaker 3: acclaimed and award winning documentary cript Camp, a Disability Revolution,
4:59
Speaker 3: and the author of Being Human h eu m A
5:02
Speaker 3: and n, an unrepentant memoir of a disability rights activist,
5:08
Speaker 3: Judy brought real life stories and perspective to the mainstream.
5:12
Speaker 3: We were honored, doctor Rosa goes on to right when
5:16
Speaker 3: she accepted our twenty twenty Henry Vviscardi Achievement Awards, one
5:21
Speaker 3: of our twenty twenty Henry Viscardi Achievement Awards. And as
5:25
Speaker 3: the Viscardi Center continues its work to expand on opportunities
5:31
Speaker 3: to share the narratives of individuals disabilities as well as
5:34
Speaker 3: empowered children and adults who paved the way for historic changes,
5:40
Speaker 3: Judy will be central for her role and I'm sure
5:42
Speaker 3: she'll be included in the Disability Museum coming to the
5:46
Speaker 3: Viscardi Center of this fall, by the way, and as
5:49
Speaker 3: she alluded to in Being Human, Judy shed light on
5:53
Speaker 3: the fact that we are all human. As humans, we
5:57
Speaker 3: feel we will deeply feel her loss, but also remember
6:02
Speaker 3: and cherish her triumphs that changed the world for all
6:05
Speaker 3: of us. And so I'm mentioning doctor I'm mentioned Judith
6:08
Speaker 3: Human because I know how important she was to doctor
6:12
Speaker 3: Chris Rosa and to the disability movement as well as
6:17
Speaker 3: the Viscardi Center. And I would alert people to if
6:29
Speaker 3: you haven't already read the able news about Judy Human
6:33
Speaker 3: from Warren Shaw. As he writes, many are called, but
6:37
Speaker 3: few are chosen. Judy Human was chosen. Born in nineteen
6:42
Speaker 3: forty seven to immigrants who fled the Nazis, Human grew
6:45
Speaker 3: up in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, and contracted polio at just
6:52
Speaker 3: eighteen months old. Human's parents went to bat for her
6:59
Speaker 3: repeatedly during her childhood. They saw to it that she
7:02
Speaker 3: got a meaningful education and that she actively socialized not
7:06
Speaker 3: only with non disabled kids at home in Brooklyn, but
7:10
Speaker 3: also with disabled kids at Camp Jennet, one of the
7:14
Speaker 3: most generative sources for disabled activists. There, she joined other
7:20
Speaker 3: leaders to Be to Be, including Bobby Lynn, Frieda Tankes,
7:26
Speaker 3: and Kip Watson. Human actually wanted to be a public
7:30
Speaker 3: school teacher, warren Shaw writes, but the Board of ed
7:34
Speaker 3: refused to give her a teaching license because she was
7:37
Speaker 3: unable to walk. They actually came out and said so
7:44
Speaker 3: Human's license rejection became a cause celebrite. It's easy to
7:49
Speaker 3: say that she she made a good symbol. She'd obliviously
7:54
Speaker 3: been treated unfairly, and she was extremely articulate, a petite,
7:59
Speaker 3: hippy looking young woman in a wheelchair. But no one
8:02
Speaker 3: then could have predicted that she would go on to
8:05
Speaker 3: become one of the most important disability activists in the
8:08
Speaker 3: history of the world. Human later co founded Disabled in
8:14
Speaker 3: Action DIA, the first truly militant disability rights group that
8:23
Speaker 3: put on spectacular acts of civil disabeedions, including blocking traffic
8:27
Speaker 3: on Madison Avenue to protest Nixon's veto of the nineteen
8:32
Speaker 3: seventy two Rehabilitation Act, picketing the United State Palsy telethon,
8:37
Speaker 3: and members throwing themselves in front of buses for failing
8:41
Speaker 3: to provide wheelchair access. That is a lot to unpack there,
8:48
Speaker 3: and thank god, a lot of the buses are visible today. However,
8:54
Speaker 3: sometimes the ramp doesn't work sometimes the escalator does not work,
9:00
Speaker 3: the elevator does not work in these certain subway stations
9:03
Speaker 3: for periods of time. And soon enough, and so there's
9:10
Speaker 3: still work to be done, but boy, they really trailblaze
9:13
Speaker 3: for those disabilities. Soon enough, she was lord away to California,
9:18
Speaker 3: where she joined Ed Roberts and the Rolling Quads at Berkeley,
9:22
Speaker 3: helping pioneer the Center for Independent Living. In nineteen seventy seven,
9:29
Speaker 3: Human helped lead the nationwide protests regarding the Section five
9:35
Speaker 3: or four regulations, including the nearly month long off occupation
9:39
Speaker 3: of the Federal building in San Francisco. See, this is
9:44
Speaker 3: to me, the right way to protest. It's not rioting,
9:51
Speaker 3: it's not firebombing anybody. It's simply saying, hey, no, we
9:58
Speaker 3: deserve rights to It's not what we see on the
10:03
Speaker 3: television today. You know, after the peaceful protesters leave and
10:07
Speaker 3: then all of a sudden, all the riot. No, this
10:10
Speaker 3: was actually a good use, if you will, to get
10:14
Speaker 3: the message across now. When we were in Washington, d C.
10:21
Speaker 3: No one would think to occupy the capitol. But it's
10:26
Speaker 3: evolved since then. People want to hear people with disabilities
10:30
Speaker 3: talk about how important funding is. But I guess in
10:33
Speaker 3: nineteen seventy seven and earlier they didn't want to hear it,
10:38
Speaker 3: so there had to been some kind of civil disobedience
10:41
Speaker 3: which human as Warrenshaw and doctor Rosa Wright have, has
10:47
Speaker 3: clearly made her mark on even after she has passed.
10:57
Speaker 3: Human Help believe the nationwide protests regarding the Section five regulations,
11:01
Speaker 3: and then she played an integral role in the passage
11:03
Speaker 3: of both the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act IDEA and
11:08
Speaker 3: Americans with Disabilities Act, which turns thirty five this Saturday.
11:13
Speaker 3: She co founded the World on Disability and served as
11:16
Speaker 3: advisor to President Clinton and Obama, the World Bank, and
11:21
Speaker 3: Global Partnership for Disability and Development. And that is I
11:25
Speaker 3: think what we still need in our federal and local government.
11:31
Speaker 3: I loved when Victor Kalisi was the commissioner for the
11:35
Speaker 3: Office of People Disabilities here in New York City. That
11:38
Speaker 3: was a great liaison between the dayble community and the city.
11:43
Speaker 3: We don't really have those kind of liaisons now that
11:48
Speaker 3: are truly making waves, if you will. And then the
11:53
Speaker 3: Center of Independents of New York, who held a Mayor
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Speaker 3: candidate forum, did a great job than being a liaison
12:01
Speaker 3: between disabled community and local government, but on the national
12:06
Speaker 3: level saying God, there are individual organizations that are doing
12:12
Speaker 3: the work, like the Digestive Disease National Coalition, like I
12:17
Speaker 3: understand that the Alzheimer's Association does lobbying there and other
12:22
Speaker 3: organizations Spinderfit Association that make their voice heard. Because right now,
12:31
Speaker 3: there doesn't seem to be one singular person that can
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Speaker 3: be that liaison to the city, to the how do
12:45
Speaker 3: you say, the federal government, And maybe that's why we're
12:49
Speaker 3: seeing all these cuts be made, because there's not a
12:51
Speaker 3: strong enough advocate to step in there and say, hey,
12:56
Speaker 3: wait a minute, before you eradicate medicaid aid in the
13:01
Speaker 3: way you want to, let's focus on those who truly
13:05
Speaker 3: need it. There's nobody saying that right now in Washington.
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Speaker 3: But Judy Human and doctor Viscarti were able to go
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Speaker 3: in there and be advisors to these presidents of the
13:17
Speaker 3: United States of America. That's what we're missing today. There's
13:23
Speaker 3: not enough of an ear being had in Washington, and
13:31
Speaker 3: maybe there ought to be. Maybe there ought to be
13:33
Speaker 3: that next doctor v Judy Human that could be inspired
13:40
Speaker 3: that can continually make those trips to Washington, make those
13:45
Speaker 3: trips to Albany. I think one of the closest people
13:47
Speaker 3: who definitely has the ear of Albany is Joe Salonica.
13:50
Speaker 3: I have to say that at VISCARTI, but I'd love
13:55
Speaker 3: to see the Center for Independence Disabled New Yorkers team
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Speaker 3: up on a national scale and hold more forums, more
14:04
Speaker 3: town halls with those in office to see not only
14:09
Speaker 3: how they're gonna help disabled people, but also be a
14:12
Speaker 3: voice to the tax paid congressmen and women. That was
14:18
Speaker 3: also why I love to go into Washington. We talked
14:21
Speaker 3: with those who we pay our taxes to whose taxes
14:26
Speaker 3: pay their salaries. We had a seat at the table
14:29
Speaker 3: for that. We need more seats at the table for that,
14:33
Speaker 3: because that would be building off what Judy Human did
14:38
Speaker 3: many many years ago. And I obviously think doctor Chris
14:47
Speaker 3: Rose is doing an incredible job at the Viscardi Center.
14:52
Speaker 3: And I'd love to see Viscardi Center continually partnering with
14:56
Speaker 3: those that have an ear in Washington, with those that
14:59
Speaker 3: having an ear to the city, and with those that
15:01
Speaker 3: have and you're in Nasau County, because the more liaisons,
15:06
Speaker 3: the more representatives, I don't want to say lobbyists, because
15:10
Speaker 3: what we were doing in DC was not lobbying. Okay,
15:13
Speaker 3: you were lobbing to keep the funding, but we're really
15:16
Speaker 3: just telling them because lobbying, to me sounds a lot
15:20
Speaker 3: more radical than what we were doing, which is sitting
15:23
Speaker 3: in the office of Senator Schumer, of Senator Booker, of
15:30
Speaker 3: Congressman Andrew stating our case, not in a belligerent, you know,
15:40
Speaker 3: verbally aggressive way, just simply laying out the facts. And
15:48
Speaker 3: maybe they hurt us because a week after that the
15:51
Speaker 3: funding was saved in that budget. Now, of course, the
15:54
Speaker 3: Big Beautiful Bill upends a lot of this, and I
16:01
Speaker 3: hope there could be some kind of amendments to this
16:04
Speaker 3: bill that'll help people who are losing, especially the Americans
16:10
Speaker 3: that might be losing Medicaid and other funding needed. But
16:18
Speaker 3: we need that ear in Washington again. We need that
16:22
Speaker 3: Judy Human and doctor v Ear. Maybe President Jump doesn't
16:30
Speaker 3: want to have that ear, but we need it. We
16:35
Speaker 3: need someone to come alongside and make inroads with the
16:39
Speaker 3: White House and say hey, we exist too, we're here.
16:49
Speaker 3: We're celebrating thirty five years of the ADA. Hear us
16:55
Speaker 3: out and that would really be continuing the legacy to
17:03
Speaker 3: the human left behind. And then in two thousand and nine,
17:08
Speaker 3: in Shaw Rights, She was instrumental in advocating for ratification
17:12
Speaker 3: of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons
17:16
Speaker 3: with Disabilities and International Treaty Modern Ada. Sadly, the US
17:22
Speaker 3: Senate ratification was scuttled in twenty twelve, but as of
17:28
Speaker 3: twenty twenty five, more than one hundred and sixty countries
17:31
Speaker 3: have signed on why aren't we at that seat of
17:33
Speaker 3: the table. Hey, we're gonna pull out of UNESCO, let's
17:37
Speaker 3: talk about joining the Convention on the Rights of People
17:43
Speaker 3: with Disabilities brought to you by the United Nations. I
17:50
Speaker 3: don't necessarily agree with staying in UNESCO either, but here's
17:53
Speaker 3: a cause of United Nations is got right. Here's a
17:58
Speaker 3: cause they've got right. And so maybe someone will write
18:02
Speaker 3: a letter. Maybe I can write a letter and say, hey,
18:07
Speaker 3: Americans have one leg up for people with disabilities and
18:11
Speaker 3: to join this writes a personal disabilities Convention. That's the
18:16
Speaker 3: way to do it. Shaw writes, New Yorkers justly take
18:26
Speaker 3: pride in our homegrown star, Judy Human, who created a
18:30
Speaker 3: record accomplishment that may one day be equal but will
18:34
Speaker 3: never be surpassed. But I'm inspired. If Judy Newman could
18:40
Speaker 3: have inroads to the President of the United States Clinton
18:46
Speaker 3: and Obama. And if doctor Viscarty could have inroads with Carter,
18:51
Speaker 3: as I say, the Eisendem administration, that's when he started
18:54
Speaker 3: the Viscardis and of course George A. W. Bush, whom
19:01
Speaker 3: doctor v was very instrumental in getting the ADA passed,
19:04
Speaker 3: along with Trudy Human. Then we can pick up those
19:08
Speaker 3: legacies and have those disabilities by having more of an
19:15
Speaker 3: ear in Washington. And that requires me writing a letter saying, hey,
19:23
Speaker 3: uh Marco Rubio, I see you dropped out of U Netsco.
19:27
Speaker 3: Let's talk about this Secretary of Rubio, Let's talk about
19:30
Speaker 3: this Convention on the Rights of Personal Disabilities, and maybe
19:36
Speaker 3: we can join the more than one hundred and sixty
19:39
Speaker 3: other countries that have signed on to this convention. That
19:44
Speaker 3: would be really incredible. So what do we got? What
19:53
Speaker 3: do you think? Alex at ALEXDNYC dot com one leg
19:57
Speaker 3: up Alex dot com. I'm ready, guys, I'm ready to
20:04
Speaker 3: pick up that Liaison Mantle and I need your help.
20:08
Speaker 3: That would be awesome if we all continue to do
20:11
Speaker 3: what Judy Human did and sign up to be part
20:14
Speaker 3: of events like the DDNC Public Forum, like other trips
20:21
Speaker 3: to DC get more involved. Because one thing to pick
20:25
Speaker 3: it and complain and just bad mouth Trump all the
20:29
Speaker 3: time instead of really seeing what's going on with why
20:34
Speaker 3: they want to cut what they want to cut. But
20:38
Speaker 3: it's another thing to truly make inroads and say, hey,
20:44
Speaker 3: I know I've been speaking out against this, but really
20:47
Speaker 3: we want to partner with whomever is in the White
20:51
Speaker 3: House at any given day to help us have one
20:56
Speaker 3: leg up. And I told you this before. There were
20:58
Speaker 3: three organizations at the DNC that we're praising Make America.
21:05
Speaker 2: Healthy Again, three that are typically on the left side
21:09
Speaker 2: of things, you would think, but they were praising what
21:12
Speaker 2: RFK Junior was doing for their organizations.
21:16
Speaker 3: That was pretty impressive. So we can get more people
21:21
Speaker 3: in the ears of Human Health Services and the White
21:25
Speaker 3: House to truly switch things in a direction that could
21:29
Speaker 3: benefit all people with disabilities. That will be better for it.
21:37
Speaker 3: We can honestly line the streets in protests and with
21:40
Speaker 3: the signs, and I think what they did in the
21:42
Speaker 3: seventies was so needed and in the nineties was so needed.
21:49
Speaker 3: But now we have a seat at the table. Now
21:53
Speaker 3: we have to grow that seat. Now we have to
21:58
Speaker 3: enhance that seat. And how do we do it. We
22:01
Speaker 3: pick up the mantle of where doctor Viscardi, Judith Human,
22:05
Speaker 3: doctor Chris Rosa continues to carry and just build up
22:10
Speaker 3: that connection to Washington even more than before, even more
22:19
Speaker 3: so with a Republican president. It shouldn't be a time
22:25
Speaker 3: to yell and scream. You could do that, or you
22:30
Speaker 3: could say, hey, you know what, we gotta get this
22:32
Speaker 3: guy on our side. If you're so unhappy with what
22:35
Speaker 3: Trump's doing right now, get him on your side. Be
22:38
Speaker 3: an ear and maybe he'll listen. Maybe who's ever in office,
22:46
Speaker 3: whether you're four or against him, just need that understanding,
22:50
Speaker 3: need that ear and that sort of partnership, like Judith
22:58
Speaker 3: Human was had struck in the White House. Yes they
23:04
Speaker 3: were both Democratic presidents, but that doesn't mean now is
23:08
Speaker 3: the time to not reach across the aisle. If you
23:11
Speaker 3: are in the Democratic Party and if you're in the
23:13
Speaker 3: Republican Party, now it's the time to cross the aisle.
23:16
Speaker 3: Talk to those disabilities, make yourself available to listen to
23:20
Speaker 3: why people disabilities are so upset. The problem is we're
23:25
Speaker 3: all stuck in our corner. Look at what just happened.
23:29
Speaker 3: The House, you know, halted adjourned after they didn't want
23:36
Speaker 3: to vote on Epstein. This is how insanely divided they are.
23:41
Speaker 3: It's not just on Epstein. They're afraid to reach across
23:44
Speaker 3: the aisle on anything, and that includes disability rights. It's
23:49
Speaker 3: clear thinking about this now, they are both sides who
23:55
Speaker 3: don't want to meet because they're afraid of retribution if
23:59
Speaker 3: you do with the other side. That's not how we
24:02
Speaker 3: should operate. That's not how we should operate. The way
24:13
Speaker 3: things should be, especially as after eighty eight thirty five.
24:16
Speaker 3: To continue growing accessibility in America is to just not
24:20
Speaker 3: be afraid to go to these offices of both the
24:24
Speaker 3: Republicans and guests. Remind the Democrats also, but to shout
24:32
Speaker 3: and scream at a Republican that doesn't make sense at
24:35
Speaker 3: the moment, because that will not make them listen to you.
24:44
Speaker 3: We've got to make meetings, We've got to schedule events forums.
24:52
Speaker 3: You know, I have plawed Sydney for doing that mayoral forum.
24:55
Speaker 3: Then they did protests outside of Nicole Moley Doucus's office.
24:58
Speaker 3: Why not make a forum with Why not invite her
25:02
Speaker 3: to a forum to get the Republican perspective, the Republican angle. Yes,
25:09
Speaker 3: Judy human work with Democrats. But you don't think she
25:12
Speaker 3: was on the other side work on the Republicans too,
25:14
Speaker 3: I'm sure she was. When you're watching and you co
25:18
Speaker 3: mingle like that, you build connections with both sides. It's
25:22
Speaker 3: how things get done and not the lobbying raw raie
25:27
Speaker 3: in your face way and say hey, let's have a meeting.
25:31
Speaker 3: Here's why we're upset with the way you voted. Or
25:35
Speaker 3: if you're on the Republican side and you want to
25:38
Speaker 3: know why you voted this way and how can we
25:42
Speaker 3: change your mind? And on the Democrat side you say, look,
25:49
Speaker 3: we know your your kind of hands are tied right
25:51
Speaker 3: now because Republicans have the uh, the majority. But you
26:00
Speaker 3: could do that Obama and Christie hug all over again
26:04
Speaker 3: just by reaching out to your colleagues across the aisle.
26:08
Speaker 3: They're all afraid to cross the aisle. That Obama Christie
26:12
Speaker 3: hugging after Hurricane Sandy changed everything because it wasn't a
26:17
Speaker 3: moment of unity for a lot of people. It was say, hey,
26:20
Speaker 3: why are you hugging them? Why are you hugging each other.
26:22
Speaker 3: You're supposed to hate each other. What was a beautiful
26:26
Speaker 3: moment has now been the cornerstone to the divide we
26:30
Speaker 3: have where nobody wants to meet. There are some bipartisan efforts,
26:38
Speaker 3: but not where it counts. And here is where it counts.
26:42
Speaker 3: To continue the work of doctor Viscardi and Judith Human
26:46
Speaker 3: and doctor Rosa and Joe Salonica and all the kids
26:49
Speaker 3: that have graduated from the Viscardi School, the mission is
27:00
Speaker 3: fighting for. I had seen that mission for twenty nine
27:06
Speaker 3: years now. I joined Viscardi twenty nine years ago. I
27:08
Speaker 3: met Gabby twenty nine years ago, and it took a
27:15
Speaker 3: long time to get my proverbial head of my ass
27:17
Speaker 3: talking about politics and sports, to realize what was really
27:20
Speaker 3: going on, what really was mattering to me, because leaning
27:29
Speaker 3: into the disability space was a little bit of a
27:35
Speaker 3: foreign concept at the time. But now, after going to Washington,
27:42
Speaker 3: after seeing the struggles Gabby goes through when we commute
27:45
Speaker 3: through New York City, after seeing how my friend's funding
27:50
Speaker 3: is in trouble, I feel like I have a stake
27:54
Speaker 3: in the fight to support those even if I don't
27:58
Speaker 3: utilize the services and the disability A because I'm working
28:04
Speaker 3: and that disqualifies me from a lot of different things,
28:07
Speaker 3: but B because I do believe disability should be for
28:09
Speaker 3: those who truly need it. And I don't have those
28:18
Speaker 3: experiences that those in the power wheelchair or manual wheelchair have,
28:26
Speaker 3: But seeing those experiences now up front and watching it
28:34
Speaker 3: and letting it sink in has impacted me, and so
28:42
Speaker 3: I see why there's a need for the not the
28:45
Speaker 3: next jud with humany human, but the next onage be
28:49
Speaker 3: inspired by Judith human, be inspired by doctor Viscardi, by
28:52
Speaker 3: Chris Rosa. I remember two thousand nine we went to
28:55
Speaker 3: Albany and they continue to It was interesting to go
28:58
Speaker 3: to Albany and continue to fight for funding for the
29:01
Speaker 3: the Scar School. If you don't know already, the starter's
29:04
Speaker 3: a forty two oh one state funded school and they
29:08
Speaker 3: need to keep that funding and fight for that funding
29:11
Speaker 3: every year, and they do it a damn good job
29:16
Speaker 3: of it. But these things don't continue if there isn't
29:21
Speaker 3: a push, if there isn't that ear to Albany and Washington.
29:27
Speaker 3: And I don't believe this big, beautiful bill would have
29:29
Speaker 3: been passed if more ears were where you know, we're
29:38
Speaker 3: hearing the message, if more congressmen and women took the
29:43
Speaker 3: time to truly sit down on the disabled community and say, hey,
29:47
Speaker 3: do these do you agree with these Let's do a survey,
29:51
Speaker 3: let's do a poll. Whatever. And I'm sure it took
29:57
Speaker 3: a lot of strength with the two Republicans that said
29:59
Speaker 3: no to this bill, a lot of courage. But from
30:04
Speaker 3: where I said, I see the problem. The Obama Christy
30:10
Speaker 3: hug changed everything, and now both parties and a lot
30:15
Speaker 3: of entities are afraid to cross the aisle because it
30:18
Speaker 3: might look like they're cozying up. Well, let's freaking cozy
30:22
Speaker 3: up and make a difference. I don't care what it
30:26
Speaker 3: looks like. If the disabled community meets with a you know,
30:32
Speaker 3: Steve and Steve Colees would understand. I believe so. I
30:35
Speaker 3: can't use him as an example, but with a h
30:43
Speaker 3: with the there you go, Marjorie Taylor Green, meet with her,
30:48
Speaker 3: me with Nicole mole Takis. Don't just stand there and
30:53
Speaker 3: protests and be active. I think they'd rather hear from
30:58
Speaker 3: the disabled community for us, then be yelled at by us.
31:02
Speaker 3: That's not accomplishing anything. And to those on the publican
31:08
Speaker 3: aisle who are afraid to look a certain way because
31:10
Speaker 3: you're meeting with those who might feel and vote Democrat,
31:16
Speaker 3: then change that mindset too, Judith Human, I believe change minds,
31:22
Speaker 3: and we can do that today for those who truly
31:25
Speaker 3: need one leg up on life.