PhilosopherCrip

A fellow ADAPTer and I spent all of yesterday traveling.  Fortunately, our chairs made the flight without severe damage, which is pretty common and one of the many ways ableism plays out in a tangible way, as baggage handlers are not well trained or well equipped to deal with the equipent used by folks with disabilities.  However, because our chairs took so long to load, thus slightly delaying the flight, one of the crew felt the need to announce on the loud speaker as we were roaling up to our gate at our destination: “we ask that the handicapped passengers remain in there seats and wait for the rest of the plane to unload.”  Annoyed and already fired up from preparing for the ADAPT action, I said very loudly in response, “Stay in our seats? Oh darn, we were planning to run a footrace up and down the aisle!”  I’m not sure this was heard by the man with the speaker mic, but it definitely earned a few chuckles from those sitting nearest to me.

Now, clearly he was saying this for the benefit of the able bodied passengers who had to wait back in Detroit as our chairs were loaded by people who had no concept of what they were doing and took much longer than they should.  Of course, I understand that it is easiest for us to offload last, so that there is more space to manuever the isle chairs and the many do not have to wait for the few.  That is the typical procedure.  However, I was annoyed that the crew member had to announce this to the rest of flight, implying that somehow the time of the able bodied passengers was so very valuable and they needed to be soothed. 

Today, I have spent most of my time in trainings and meetings, semi-randomly meeting folks in the lobby and passages of the hotel during the down times.  I love this city and I love my people.  My biological family could never be replaced in how deeply I love them and the thankfulness I have for the sacrifices they have made for my benefit.  At the same time, when I spending time with other crip activists, I feel an almost familial relationship to them that is unlike other gatherings.  I certainly haven’t ever felt this unconditionally loved and accepted at a philosophy conference.  Crip culture and community is never as real to me as it is when I am in the physical presence of large numbers of my people.  This has a lot to do with my passion for this work.  I feel a connection to the other activists and know that same connection exists between me and the unseen and the unheard that are the most marginalized.  They are the reason we are here.  To bring them justice and welcome them to the beautiful world we know and love.

FREE OUR PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.adapt.org/

I’ve been kind of vague with most of my teachers and colleagues about how I am spending next week. I’m never exactly sure how folks will react to the idea of non-violent direct action civil disobedience. Sometimes, I get an amused chuckle when I explain to someone what ADAPT does. Other times, I get a reaction of disbelief, people thinking that oppression and the non-violent resistance that opposes it are historic relics. Another common response is condescending advice like “You can’t expect to get anywhere if you’re so angry like that. Why don’t you just ask them nicely for what you want?” Some of the people that are closest to me understand my motivations, but worry that my history of direct action activities may harm me or my career later down the line. The best explanation I know of what non-violent direct action is, how it works, and why marginalized groups use it is MLK’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”

Of course our situations are not exactly analogous, but there are many similarities in the systems of our oppression and how they are sustained by privaleged classes. One similarity is that we are often - condescendingly - told that we should tolerate our marginalization with a pleasant disposition and not rock the boat. The fact is, ADAPT is trying to address the fact that thousands upon thousands of people with disabilities are incarcerated in nursing homes against there will across the US because of the way benefit programs are set up. This situation is sustained by the deep pockets of the nursing home lobby, combined with the cultural bigotry and social ignorance of our country that says people with disabilities are not capable of integration and are better off segregated out of view. This combination means that negotiation with the power structure controlling this issue is an impossibility.

Martin Luther King's Mug Shot

The full text of MLK’s illuminating letter can be found at: http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

In the meantime, this will get you started with an understanding of the reasoning behind why non-violent direct action is an essential tool: “You may well ask: “Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.” I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.”