“The Status Quo Loves To Say No”: Disability Rights and the Battle against Structures of Exclusion
Judith Heumann in Conversation with Karen Tani
Lecture | October 26, 2022 | 4:10pm | UC Berkeley Campus
About the lecture
Disability rights activist Judy Heumann has been fighting for inclusion for over six decades, in ways that transformed legal and societal understandings of equality. Her life-long experience has included co-founding the organization Disabled in Action, working on Capitol Hill to shape landmark disability rights laws, co-organizing the extraordinary protest and advocacy efforts that spurred the implementation of Section 504, and advising presidential administrations and the World Bank on disability issues. This lecture, delivered in a conversational format, will focus on those aspects of her journey that are most salient to the perils and possibilities of the present. Heumann sees in this moment a fragile and imperfect democracy, but one that is nonetheless worth investing in. She also sees deep structures of exclusion, vigorously defended but also vulnerable to political pressure and moral suasion. Discussion will also address why progress, while being meaningful, has still not been as significant as she believes it should be.
For more information visit https://gradlectures.berkeley.edu/lecture/disability-rights-and-activism/