#1459 Disability Is Not Merely Physical or Mental But Is Also Social
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 9 December 2021
⏱️ 75 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 12/8/2021
Today we take a look at the state of disability rights and reexamine what we thought we knew about what it means to be disabled in a society that is not built to accommodate various physical and mental disabilities. Is one inherently disabled by their condition or do they become disabled when they bump up against unnecessary barriers in society?
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SHOW NOTES
Rebecca Vallas is a Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation
Rebecca talks with four of the disabled women leaders who've been making history on the front-lines of the ongoing fight for disability economic justice: Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Judy Heumann, Rebecca Cokley, and Mia Ives-Rublee.
Ch. 3: Disability Justice (w Lateef McLeod) Part 1 - Srsly Wrong - Air Date 11-23-21
This week Lateef Mcleod joins the Wrong Boys to discuss the principles of Disability Justice, why accessibility is important for everyone, and how capitalism systematically reduces people to our labor power, denying our wholeness as human beings.
Ch. 5: The Capitalist War Being Waged on Disabled People w Ellen Clifford - Downstream - Air Date 11-22-21
Ellen speaks about her book, The War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of Human Catastrophe, discussing the social model of disability, the history of the Disabled People’s Movement, and consequences of austerity policies.
Ch. 7: Disability Justice (w Lateef McLeod) Part 2 - Srsly Wrong - Air Date 11-23-21
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 8: Disability Justice (w Lateef McLeod) Part 3 - Srsly Wrong - Air Date 11-23-21
Ch. 9: Why Are All The Baddies Disabled w/ Amanda Leduc - DownStream - Air Date 11-25-21
Ash Sarkar is joined by disability rights advocate Amanda Leduc, author of Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space, to discuss how depictions of disability have impacted the lives of disabled people and why Bruce Wayne isn't a hero.
VOICEMAILS
Ch. 10: Human nature - David from Los Angeles
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 11: Final comments on the Christian moralizing of economics and poverty
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
- Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
- Activism Music: This Fickle World by Theo Bard (https://theobard.bandcamp.com/track/this-fickle-world)
- Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: Photo of an empty accessible parking space with an accessibility symbol (person in wheelchair) painted in yellow on the ground in the space. The words "Is this the only time you put yourself in my place?" are painted underneath.
Credit: Origin unknown, but earliest reference found is from 2014 on Twitter from the accounts @bengilchrist and @IsNoPrincess.
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of a Left Podcast in which we shall |
| 0:07.0 | take a look at the state of disability rights and re-examine what we thought we knew about |
| 0:11.9 | what it means to be disabled in a society that is not built to accommodate various physical |
| 0:17.7 | and mental disabilities. |
| 0:19.4 | Clips today are from the Zero Hour, Off-Kilter, Circely Wrong, and Downstream with additional |
| 0:26.0 | members only clips from Circely Wrong and Downstream. |
| 0:30.7 | I know you mentioned that before we began recording that we just had a birthday of the Americans |
| 0:40.8 | with Disabilities Act, if I'm recalling our conversation correctly. |
| 0:44.8 | And so why don't we start with that? |
| 0:46.8 | When was the ADA passed? |
| 0:49.0 | What were its basic goals? |
| 0:50.2 | How are we doing with it? |
| 0:51.8 | Yeah, the Americans with Disabilities Act, RJD ADA, as it's often called, is it's almost |
| 0:57.6 | approached cliche levels in American culture. |
| 1:00.8 | Everyone knows what the ADA is, everyone's heard of it. |
| 1:03.3 | But a lot of people assume that because we've had the ADA for 30 years and running at this |
| 1:08.8 | point, it was signed into law by George H. W. Bush in 1990. |
| 1:12.2 | And actually, it was really a bipartisan victory at the time. |
| 1:15.9 | A lot of people say, oh, we've got the ADA, so didn't we fix that disability rights |
| 1:21.6 | problem? |
| 1:22.6 | Don't we just have equal opportunity and access for people with disabilities in the US at this |
| 1:27.7 | point because of the ADA? |
... |
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