[Oh-ahead] National Awareness Months for 2011

[Lissner, Scott]

"If you believe people have no history worth mentioning, it's easy to
believe they have no humanity worth defending"
		William Loren Katz
		
Like many spend part of New Year's Day transferring important dates from
last year's wall calendar (Van Gough) to this year's (Japanese wood
block).  In the act I come across the commemorative days and months that
the editor's chose to include. I have always had mixed feelings about
awareness months.  It seems more reasonable to promote awareness around
the calendar with a monthly lecture or performance series rather than a
whirlwind of events jammed into a single month.  Still, celebratory
months, weeks or days do have their appeal and impact.  I recently
stumbled on a website that has compiled a good list of celebratory
months but seems to share my mixed feelings.
http://aware.easilyamused.org/  is the home of February is National
National Awareness Month Awareness Month! I thought you would find the
site useful.    Below I have included some significant disability
related dates that fall outside of the October when we typically
celebrate Disability Awareness in the America.  I hope you will find
them interesting, and that each month of the 2011 will bring you more
good than bad:   


JANNUARY:
		Make January 23rd Ed Roberts Day
		 WASHINGTON- Disability rights advocate Ed Roberts,
renowned in the Bay Area, nationally and internationally, was honored by
Congress today, thirty-three years after he and Rep. George Miller
(D-Martinez) both advocated for civil rights for people with
disabilities at protests in San Francisco. 
		 
		Miller introduced H Res 1759 to declare the support of
the House of Representatives of a national "Ed Roberts Day." The bill
passed the House today by a vote of 386 to 8.  
		 
		"Ed's lifetime of advocacy was critical in the struggle
for civil rights for people with disabilities," Miller said after the
resolution passed the House. "Ed's commitment remains a tremendous
inspiration and I'm honored to sponsor this resolution recognizing his
work.
		 
		"Having known Ed and being able to call him a friend was
an honor and a gift for me - as was working with him back in 1977 at the
protests in San Francisco," Miller continued, referring to the 1977
disabled rights protest, and the subsequent Congressional meetings, both
held at the Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) building in San
Francisco. 
		 
		In addition to supporting the establishment of Ed
Roberts Day, Miller's legislation acknowledges the accomplishments
Roberts made in helping reduce barriers, increase access and improve
lives for persons with disabilities. 
		 
		Roberts, who passed away in 1995, was a long time
disability rights advocate and California resident. After contracting
polio as a teenager, Roberts relied on a respirator to breathe.  He
became the first student with significant disabilities to attend UC
Berkeley, where he began advocacy efforts and helped found the campus'
Physically Disabled Students Program. 
		 
		In 1975, Roberts was named the Director of the
California Department of Rehabilitation and played an important role in
the sit-in calling for the implementation of regulations which would
establish rights for people with disabilities.  Roberts later co-founded
and became the President of the World Institute on Disability.  The full
text of H Res 1759
http://georgemiller.house.gov/media/EDRobertsFinal_xml.pdf 
		
	
FEBRUARY:
		Virginia Apologizes for Compulsory Sterilizations
		On February 16, 2001 The Virginal General Assembly
passed a resolution
<http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?011+ful+HJ607ER>
apologizing for the state's forced sterilization of approximately 8,000
its citizens between 1924 and 1979 and Virginia's role in America's
eugenics movement

		"RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate
concurring, That the General Assembly expresses its profound regret over
the Commonwealth's role in the eugenics movement in this country and the
incalculable human damage done in the name of eugenics; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the General Assembly urge the citizens of the
Commonwealth to become familiar with the history of the eugenics
movement, in the belief that a more educated, enlightened and tolerant
population will reject absolutely any such abhorrent pseudo-scientific
movement in the future."
		

MARCH:
		DPN - Deaf President Now  
		During the week of March 6th 1988 civil disobedience
triggered a watershed event in the 124 year history of Gallaudet
University and the country.  Student and alumni protests lead to the
appointment of the first deaf president in the first university founded
to educate the deaf. Since then, DPN has become a symbol of
self-determination and empowerment for deaf and hard of hearing people
everywhere.  For more information:
http://aaweb.gallaudet.edu/About_Gallaudet/History_of_the_University/DPN
_Home.html 


APRIL:
		Sit-in Wins Disability Rights Regulations
		On April 5, 1977, thousands of "the disabled" converged
on Department of Health, Education and Welfare offices around the
country to demand that the equal rights legislation Congress had passed
5 years earlier be implemented.  In San Francisco they took over the HEW
Office and started what became the longest sit-in occupation of a
federal building in U.S. history 

		At 7:30 A.M. on April 28, 1977 they  celebrated victory.
The rules implementing Section 504 were signed by HEW Secretary Joseph
A. Califano.  Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a
civil-rights provision. It does not provide funding for any programs or
activities; rather, it is a requirement that accompanies federal
financial assistance to organizations such as schools and universities.
Any organization that receives federal grants - for any purpose - must
comply with section 504. Section 504 laid the ground work for the ADA. 

		"The San Francisco 504 sit-in
<http://www.npr.org/programs/wesun/features/2002/504/>  did not succeed
because of a brilliant strategy by a few disability leaders. It
succeeded because the Deaf people set up a communication system from the
4th floor windows inside the building to the plaza down below; because
the Black Panther Party brought a hot dinner to all 150 participants
every single night; because people from community organizing backgrounds
taught us how to make collaborative decisions; because friends came and
washed our hair in the janitor's closet sink.   The people doing
disability rights work in the 1970s rarely agreed on policies, or even
on approaches. The successes came because people viewed each other as
invaluable resources working towards a common goal." (Corbett Joan
O'Toole, Ragged Edge Online <http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/>
October 19, 2005)
		
		A Look Back at 'Section 504': San Francisco Sit-In a
Defining Moment http://www.npr.org/programs/wesun/features/2002/504/
		The 25 Day Siege That Brought Us 504
http://www.independentliving.org/docs4/ervin1986.html
		The Section 504 rules: More to the story
http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/0102/0102ft6.html


MAY:
		Section 504 Regulations issued May 4, 1977
		
		Forced Sterilization of Disabled Upheld by U.S. Supreme
Court
		In  Buck vs. Bell
<http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1926/1926_292>  (May 2, 1927) the
United States Supreme Court upheld a Virginia statute that provided for
the eugenic sterilization for people considered genetically unfit. The
Court's decision, delivered by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., included the
infamous phrase "Three generations of imbeciles are enough." Upholding
Virginia's sterilization statute provided the green light for similar
laws in 30 states, under which an estimated 65,000 Americans were
sterilized without their own consent or that of a family member.
Virginia's Sterilization Act was repealed in 1979. 
		
		
JUNE:
		First Deaf Commencement from First Deaf College
		In 1864 Congress authorized the Columbia Institution for
the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and Blind in Washington, D.C. to
confer college degrees; President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill into
law. The school's Superintendent Edward Miner Gallaudet, the son of
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet founder of the first school for deaf students
in the United States, was made president of the institution.   which
that year had eight students enrolled. The first commencement was held
in June 1869 when three young men received diplomas signed by President
Ulysses S. Grant.  In 1954, the name of the institution was changed by
Congress to Gallaudet College in honor of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet.


JULY:
		Anniversary of the signing of the Americans With
Disabilities Act, July 26, 1990.

		Irrational Prejudice Against the "Mentally Retarded"
		Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr.
<http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1984/1984_84_468> , 473 U. S. 432
(July 1, 1985)
		In this case the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously
that zoning laws cannot prohibit group homes from being in a residential
area. Cleburne Living Center was denied a special use permit that the
court found to be irrationally based and discriminatory under the Equal
Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  The Court declined to
grant those with intellectual disabilities the status of a suspect
class, finding that the "rational relation" test for legislation was
sufficient protection against invidious discrimination


AUGUST:
		Justin Dart
<http://www.ilru.org/html/about/Dart/dartindex.html> 's Birthday, August
29, 1930

		First National Convention of Deaf Mutes 
		The National Convention of Deaf Mutes meets in
Cincinnati, Ohio on August 25, 1880 to "deliberate on the needs of the
deaf as a class".  The first major issue taken on by the new
organization was oralism and the suppression of American Sign Language.
The convention eventually became the National Association of the Deaf
(NAD).


SEPTEMBER:
		From Eugenics to Genocide
		What became known as the T4 Program, and set the stage
for the Holocaust  began with Hitler's euthanasia decree
<http://www.polunbi.de/pers/bouhler-01.html> , dated September 1, 1939;
it read as follows:
		
		"Reich Leader Bouhler and Dr. Brandt are charged with
the responsibility for expanding the authority of physicians, to be
designated by name, to the end that patients considered incurable
according to the best available human judgment [menschlichem Ermessen]
of their state of health, can be granted a mercy death [Gnadentod]."

		This effort began in 1933, less than six months after
Hitler became Chancellor, with the  "Law for the Prevention of Progeny
with Hereditary Diseases"   A law that established a policy mandating
the sterilization  of anyone with suffering from diseases considered
hereditary  including  mental illness, cognitive disabilities, physical
deformity, epilepsy, blindness, deafness, and severe alcoholism.  The
scientific and social basis for Nazi eugenics program was largely
imported from the eugenics movement in the United States where laws in
twenty-nine states forced  sterilizations on more than 30,000 people,
most under state care in medical, mental or correctional facilities
between 1907 and 1939. 

		Forced sterilization and the  systematic killing of the
disabled where Germany's first steps in the Holocaust   The T4
euthanasia program was both a rehearsal and justification for Nazi
Germany's subsequent genocidal policies.  Extended the ideological
justification for eliminating the  "unfit" from society to other
categories of perceived "genetic" threat to society.  The gas chambers
and accompanying crematorium designed for the T4 campaign where later
utilized to murder Jews, Roma, Sinti and other undesirable and the
architects of the T4 program became key figures at among killing centers
of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka  
		 Further Informaiton:
				A Teachers Guide to the Holocaust
<http://fcit.usf.edu/Holocaust/INTRO/INTRO.htm>  Includes a section on
Handicapped: Victims of the Nazi Era, 1933-1945
<http://fcit.usf.edu/Holocaust/People/USHMMHAN.HTM> 
				The Holocaust History Project
<http://www.holocaust-history.org/>   
				The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and
the Psychology of Genocide <http://www.holocaust-history.org/lifton/>
Robert Jay Lifton
				The Center for Holocaust and Genocide
Studies <http://chgs.umn.edu/about/>  including The exhibition of the
"Hospital" in Hadamar
<http://chgs.umn.edu/histories/documentary/hadamar/> , 
				Crying Hands: Eugenics and Deaf People
in Nazi Germany <http://gupress.gallaudet.edu/CH.html>   Horst Biesold
				Resistance
<http://www.roaring-girl.com/prod16_a.shtml>  and Resistance on the
Plinth <http://www.roaring-girl.com/prod21_a.shtml>  Liz Crow, Roaring
Girl Productions <http://www.roaring-girl.com/> 
				People with Disabilities and the Nazi T4
Program: A Partial Bibliography
<http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/brueggemann1/T4%20Bibliography.doc>
Brenda Brueggemann


OCTOBER:
National Disability Employment Awareness
		Congress designated each October as National Disability
Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). The Office of Disability Employment
Policy <http://www.dol.gov/odep/>  has the lead in planning NDEAM
activities and materials to increase the public's awareness of the
contributions and skills of American workers with disabilities. Various
programs carried out throughout the month also highlight the specific
employment barriers that still need to be addressed and removed.
		
		This effort to educate the American public about issues
related to disability and employment actually began in 1945, when
Congress enacted a law declaring the first week in October each year
"National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week." In 1962, the word
"physically" was removed to acknowledge the employment needs and
contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities. In 1988,
Congress expanded the week to a month and changed the name to "National
Disability Employment Awareness Month." 
		Find out more at
http://www.dol.gov/odep/programs/ndeam2010.htm 

Disability Awareness Week
		What is it?
		States are taking an important step in the promotion of
further understanding and awareness of disability history and the
disability rights movement by designating a week (or more) to
acknowledge the role and contributions of individuals with disabilities
in our society. During an established Disability History Week, states
will require their public schools to infuse instruction and activities
related to disability history into the existing school curriculum.
		Why?
		It is important that our youth understand history in
order to appreciate how individuals with disabilities were once viewed
and treated. During Disability History Week, students will be provided
with the opportunity to learn how people with disabilities were
instrumental in changing history, and how they became active
participants in changing societal attitudes about their needs, desires
and capabilities. By teaching disability history in schools, we are
taking the necessary steps to ensure that history is not repeated and
that there continues to be movement towards an even more accessible
society in future generations.
		When?
		Many states are following the precedent set by West
Virginia in establishing the third week of October as Disability History
Week. Thus far, all states are targeting the month of October, which is
also National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
		More can be found at http://disabilityhistoryweek.org/
or
http://www.yodisabledproud.org/site/c.mfIPKROxFqG/b.5536853/k.88E9/Disab
ility_History_Campaign.htm 
		
NOVEMBER
		Franklin D. Roosevelt  was elected the 32nd President of
the United States in1932
		The League of the Physically Handicapped
		In November of 1935  approximately three hundred members
of the New York League of the Physically Handicapped picketed at the New
York headquarters of the Works Progress Administration demanding that
"handicapped people receive a just share of the millions of jobs being
given out by the government."  After a three weeks of protest forty
League members were offered jobs. While members of the league were
suspicious that the job were meant to weaken their efforts, they gained
momentum and convinced  the WPA to remove the "PH" designating  that an
applicant was "Physically Handicapped".  To learn more visit
http://www.disabilityworld.org/10-12_00/il/league.htm 
		 

DECEMBER:
International Day of Persons with  Disabilities
		The annual observance of the International Day of
Persons with Disabilities, 3 December, aims to
		promote an understanding of disability issues and
mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being
		of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase
awareness of gains to be derived from the integration
		of persons with disabilities in every aspect of
political, social, economic and cultural life. The theme of
		the Day is based on the goal of full and equal enjoyment
of human rights and participation in society by
		persons with disabilities, established by the World
Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons,
		adopted by General Assembly in 1982. The official title
of the Day was changed from International Day
		of Disabled Persons to International Day of Persons with
Disabilities by General Assembly resolution
		62/127 on 18 December 2007.  For more visit
http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=1540 
 
Disability History Month in the UK
		The UK's first Disability History Month took place from
the  22nd  November to 22nd  December 2010
		The month was intended to "Give voice to our history,
celebrate the lives of disabled people and recognizing our multiple
identities and the need to resist all forms of discrimination
		For more visit http://www.ukdisabilityhistorymonth.com/ 

And for good measure: A History: Disability at Ohio State
<http://digitalunion.osu.edu/r2/summer06/kmetz/index.html> 

L. Scott Lissner, Ohio State University ADA Coordinator, 
Office Of Diversity And Inclusion
  Associate, John Glenn School of Public Affairs 
  Lecturer, Knowlton School of Architecture, Moritz College of Law &
Disability Studies 
  President Elect & Chair, Public Policy Committee, Association on
Higher Education And Disability 
  Chair, ADA-OHIO
  Member,  Ohio Governor's Council For People With Disabilities
  Member, Columbus Advisory Council on Disability Issues 

 (614) 292-6207(v); (614) 688-8605(tty) (614) 688-3665(fax);
Http://ada.osu.edu <http://ada.osu.edu/> 

Multiple Perspectives on Access, Inclusion & Disability: From Policy to
Practice: May 4-5, 2011 <http://ada.osu.edu/conferences.htm> 
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