Remembering Legendary Disability Rights Activist Judy Heumann

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Judith Heumann, known as the mother of the disability rights movement, died this month at the age of 75. Heumann’s activism and leadership in Berkeley’s pioneering disability rights movement included the “504 sit-in,” a 26-day occupation of San Francisco’s federal building that eventually led to the passage of the Americans with Disability Act. Heumann used a wheelchair following a childhood case of polio, and when she tried to attend school, the administration denied her as “a fire hazard.” Heumann went on to work with the Clinton and Obama administrations as well as the World Bank on issues of accessibility. We’ll talk with disability rights advocates who knew her about her legacy, and where the movement is headed going forward. Guests: Sandy Ho, philanthropist; founder, Disability and Intersectionality Summit; director, the Disability Inclusion Fund at Borealis Philanthropy Yomi Sachiko Wrong, Oakland-based disability justice activist, dreamer Jim LeBrecht, filmmaker and co-director with Nicole Newnham, "Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution" Arlene Mayerson, directing attorney, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort on 4,000 acres in the mountains of Baja, California, just 45 minutes from San Diego.
0:09.4	Family owned and operated since 1940, Rancho La Pueerta offers adult summer camp-like vacations for anyone who enjoys hiking, mindfulness, and fitness classes.
0:19.8	Special rates and offers are available for summer stays and
0:23.3	first-time guests. Learn more at Rancho LePuerta.com. Support for Forum comes from Broadway
0:29.4	SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story. From three-time Tony-winning composer
0:36.8	Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank, a new story. From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and
0:39.9	Lucille Frank, a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused
0:46.6	of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice,
0:53.6	and devotion. The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade
0:57.8	plays the Orphium Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th. Tickets on sale now
1:04.6	at Broadway, sF.com.
1:08.2	From KQED. From KQED. From KQED
1:12.6	From KQD in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:24.6	Judy Human was a legendary civil rights leader, working for access and power for disabled people here in the Bay Area and across the country.
1:32.3	She died this month, and we want to take this hour to both celebrate her achievements and to consider what remains to be done.
1:37.8	You don't respect yourself, and if you don't demand what you believe in for yourself, you're not going to get it.
1:44.1	Human did policy, work, direct action, and remarkable person-to-person organizing.
1:48.8	She's one of my heroes, and I'll always regret that I never got to have her on this show.
1:53.2	But at least we can recognize the remarkable life she had, the impact she made,
1:57.6	and the new leaders who are taking the struggle forward.
2:00.4	And that's what we'll do after this news.
2:08.6	Welcome to Forum.
	...

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