Spotlight on Diversity April 2023
IESNYC Salutes Disability-Rights Advocate Judy Heumann
Known as the “Mother of the Disability Rights Movement,” Heumann helped pave the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act and fought for respect and inclusion.
Attorney James Weisman wrote that disability-rights advocate Judith Heumann “never lost her New York brass or passion for righting wrongs,” and that she inspired generations of activists to advocate for accessible public transportation, public facilities, and privately owned theaters, stores, and other attractions. “We in the disability rights movement will continue to emulate Judy’s advocacy and tenacity.”
IESNYC salutes Judy Heumann, known as the “Mother of the Disability Rights Movement.” Heumann grew up in Brooklyn where she contracted polio as a toddler, becoming quadriplegic, and used a wheelchair most of her life. Inspired by her mother, a community activist who advocated for her daughter to attend public school, Judy died in March 2023 at 75.
Heumann (pronounced human) fought for employment as a teacher in New York City, and served as Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services at the United States Department of Education. She went on to advocate for disability right internationally, becoming the World Bank Group's first Advisor on Disability and Development,. Appointed by President Barack Obama to the US State Department, Heumann was the first Special Advisor on International Disability Rights. Her struggle and advocacy are featured in the documentary Crip Camp, now streaming on Netflix.
Fight against oppression and segregation
In 1977, Heumann joined nationwide protests against delays in implementing the federal Rehabilitation Act, which was partly intended to outlaw discrimination against disabled people by any institution receiving federal money. As leader of the San Francisco protest, Heumann’s group occupied The 50 United Nations Plaza Federal Office Building for 25 days. It is described as the longest nonviolent occupation of a federal building in US history. The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Joseph A. Califano Jr. signed “504,” the disability rights provision of the Rehabilitation Act, paving the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Lighting is among the building trades least affected by the ADA. It sets standards for the clearance of hanging lights and the distance a sconce can extend from the wall, and the height it can be above the finished floor. Light switches and controls must be easily accessible, meaning they are required to be located on an accessible path of travel (which has an ADA definition). Increasingly, light sensitivity and photophobia are increasingly being identified as disabling, demanding reasonable accommodations to improve on-the-job outcomes.
As an international advocate, Heumann helped mainstream features of accessible buildings and furthered the Independent Living Movement: i.e., persons with disabilities and allies working for equal opportunities and respect, fighting negative attitudes and limits imposed by discrimination. She served on numerous boards for governments and NGOs and published a memoir, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, in 2020.
Legacy
Heumann was fond of saying, “If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.” And “If you don’t respect yourself and if you don’t demand what you believe in for yourself, you’re not gonna get it,” may be her most famous quote.
In 2020, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the ADA, she recognized the efforts of the “ADA Generation,” young people with disabilities who recognize the benefits of legislation and will continue to lead and advocate. But her thoughts turned to “expanding the circle.” Perhaps 61 million people in the US and 1 billion people worldwide live with disabilities, though many do not identify as disabled or are unaware.
If you don't understand that you may have a disability that will potentially result in discrimination and you don't know your rights under the law – or you do know all of that, but you're a little ashamed or afraid of disclosing your disability for fear of not being able to really be a part of your community, or fear of what could happen on the job. That's really, I think, one of the important parts of our movement growing and bringing in the diversity that we represent both by disability category, by race, by gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc. We are the largest, most diverse community in the United States and around the world. We need to relish in that, and we need to be able to ensure that the country and the world understand the breadth of who we are and why we're important.
