News from the Sitting Position

By cripfemme - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Opinion

Saturday, March 26, 2005

In Memoriam: Debbie Steward

Fellow activist and friend Debbie Steward went home to God on October 9 th, although I just found out in January via ADAPT's quarterly newsletter and it has taken me nearly 3 months to write her eulogy. You see, I simply could not find the words to encapsulate Debbie. Typeface won't serve to illustrate her courage, her loyalty, or (most importantly) her smile. I have many memories of Debbie, a fellow Pennsylvania native who also had Cerebral Palsy... Dancing like a wild woman at many ADAPT end... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by cripfemme at 6:35 PM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, March 25, 2005

Why I Want to Save Terri: A Reply to Dennison Mann

I discovered he following comment about an earlier entry in The Inner Workings ( the online journal I keep here on Blogit) when I logged on today. Normally, I let comments stand on their own. But this one I have to reply to. The comment: Why do you want to see Terri Schiavo endure a horrid existence? Why do you wish ill upon Michael Schiavo? He gains nothing from her death and Terri gains nothing from her own survival. She has already suffered for nearly 15 years. How much longer do you want her... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by cripfemme at 4:57 PM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

In the event I End up in Terri's Situation, Here's What I Want

Columnist's Note: Do to the recent, disheartening news in the Terri Schindler-Schiavo case, I have finally decided to make a Document of Intention/Living Will. Although I know I need to see lawyer for it to be legal, that I also need to file and acquire some other legal documents, and that I need to mail it to everyone I want to have a copy, I figured posting it here would offer me some protection until I can do those things. I hope it makes you think, especially if you are disabled since we... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by cripfemme at 12:25 PM | add or view comments (3) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Late report on DC events with ADAPT

Note: I'm sorry not to have blogged as promised. The action here in D.C. has been a little to event filled (some good, some bad) for that. Below is a report. On Sunday: I got up early to make sure that Ashe and Sahar got to the new people meeting. Then I went with Nigel Glozier, my friend's 12 year old and a generally helpful walkie PCA in training (despite his age) to pick up Elaine. We rode the trains to Union Station and then walked to the bus. The trains had some problems and my cell phone... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by cripfemme at 10:43 PM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Greetings from DC!

I'm here in DC after a tiring train ride. I can't believe we got 3 people, 2 chairs, and all our stuff here. It's nuts. My friends' little boy, Nigel, is growing like a weed. I can't believe it. He has Cerebral Palsy like me. He tells me his girlfriend Jessica, who's in the 4th grade (he's in first), also does. How cute! Bet that kid's going to be a lady killer someday. I have eaten and hung out a bit. The serious work starts tomorrow with meetings, going to pick up Elaine, and marching at 5:30.... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by cripfemme at 5:41 PM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Because...

Columnist's Note: The entry below is modeled on the series of activists postcards that begin with "Because" and than lists reasons one is a feminist, a supporter of gay and lesbian liberation, or whatever the card is advocating. Because fifteen years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), lifts on buses still don't work on a regular basis & People assume I can't order my own food in a restaurant & Store clerks give me the wrong change on purpose & I have to go to... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by cripfemme at 11:22 PM | add or view comments (1) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Celebrating the Broken Vagina

Columnist's Note: V-Day is an annual celebration of women and vaginas the world over that grew out Eve Ensler's one-woman, theatrical performance The Vagina Monologues. It is held each year near Valentine's Day in communities across the globe. Tomorrow, I'm speaking at our local event. My speech is below. While many established feminists and feminists organizations assumed that women's reproductive choice and control, in American anyway, were secured by the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision, advocates... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by cripfemme at 12:03 AM | add or view comments (1) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, January 8, 2005

Relief Supply Gathering: Help Ugandan Students with Disabilities

As many of you may or may not know, I am involved with supporting Good Samaritan Primary School, a boarding school for children with disabilities in Uganda. I first heard of the school when I met Waisswa Alimansi while I was attending Disabled Peoples International’s sixth world assembly in October of 2002. We were staying at the same hotel and happened to sit at the same breakfast table one morning. Over the course of small talk, it came out that we were both teachers. At the time, I was... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by cripfemme at 8:45 PM | add or view comments (0) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, November 19, 2004

Suggested Readings/Viewings in Disability Studies

BOOKS ü No Pity: People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement by Joseph Shapiro. Times Books, 1993. Perfect introduction. ü The ABC Clio Companion to the Disability Rights Movement by Fred Pelka. ABC-CLIO Press, 1997. Dictionary of terms, people, events and more. ü Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract by Marta Russell. Common Courage Press, 1998. A more advanced, theoretically based study. ü The Week the World Heard Gallaudet by Jack R. Gannon. Gallaudet... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by cripfemme at 4:51 PM | add or view comments (1) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, October 18, 2004

In Memoriam: Christopher Reeve (1952-2004)

Columnist’s Note: I learned of Christopher Reeve’s October 10 th passing via an October 11 th e-mail from a fellow science fiction writer. I didn’t want to write a eulogy for him until I knew what I wanted to say. But my relationship to Chris is so complicated that if I waited to figure it all out, this post would never get written. Christopher Reeve- actor, director, father, husband, disabled person, and always (to me anyway) Superman- died eight days ago at the age of 52. Paralyzed nine years... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by cripfemme at 8:33 PM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

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