Speaker 1: (00:00)
This morning's all people's celebration in San Diego honoring the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther king, Jr. Was once again, a virtual event, the community organization Alliance, San Diego hosted the 34th annual MLK day celebration entirely online with a simple but strong theme. This year love and power. The slogan is taken from one of Dr. King's speeches. Part of which declares power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Rebecca Coley us disability rights program officer for the Ford foundation is this year's keynote speaker at the all people celebration, and she joins us now. Rebecca, welcome.
Speaker 2: (00:43)
Thank you so much for having me. What
Speaker 1: (00:46)
Kinds of demands of justice are priorities for the large and diverse disabled community? Right now, all
Speaker 2: (00:53)
Issues are disability rights and justice issues, immigration reform, access to healthcare, the right to mayor who you love. There is not a social justice issue being debated in this nation today that does not have a disproportionate impact on people with disabilities. Obviously, top of mind in this moment is the ongoing impact of their coronavirus. The virus, we know results in roughly one third of those individuals who have contracted it living with long haul COVID, which in itself is a disability. We're talking about a minimum of 10 million, newly disabled people in this country and a social service system that is not receiving nearly the kind of funding and resourcing it's going to need to meet the growing need of this growing community. So
Speaker 1: (01:39)
Do you think the public health officials have done an adequate job of connecting with the disabled community during the pandemic?
Speaker 2: (01:46)
Absolutely not. As we saw this last week with the director of the center for disease control, implying that it was a good thing that people with disabilities and chronic illnesses were the largest proportion of people continuing to die of the virus, seeing discussions about whether or not we return to work, placing greater value on its economic impact. And on the impact of actual human beings lives shows us that we still have a long way to go for people with disabilities to be seen as equal voices at the table with public health officials.
Speaker 1: (02:20)
Now, it sounds from what you're saying that people with disabilities are not regularly considered when issues of equity are discussed and they are still often forgotten, is that get the
Speaker 2: (02:31)
Case? It is very much the case. I mean, even the, the current voting rights legislation being discussed at this moment, the freedom to vote act actually will make it harder for people with disabilities to access the than it is currently. And so I think that there continues to be this lack of recognition that people with disabilities exist disproportionately across all marginalized communities. We are disproportionately women. We are disproportionately people of color. We are disproportionately immigrants. And so any types of reforms or policies, advancements that are intended to impact those communities must be examined to look at how they can either help or in this case harm the rights of disabled people.
Speaker 1: (03:14)
I just wanna play a little clip from president Biden earlier today, about the effort to pass new federal voting rights legislation
Speaker 3: (03:22)
In his time, through his courage, his conviction and his commitment, Dr. King held Amira up to America and forced us to answer the question, where do we stand? Who side are we on? We're in another moment right now where the mirror is being held up to America.
Speaker 1: (03:43)
Okay. So there's the idea that voting rights at legislation is trying to be passed through Congress, but you say there are things missing for the disabled in current discussions. Can you talk to us more about that?
Speaker 2: (03:56)
Definitely. It's not even so much that we're missing in the discussion. It's a, at the proposals being tossed around actually make it harder for people with disabilities to vote. A key part of the freedom to vote act includes the, the mandate of a paper ballot that can be verified. Not all people with disabilities can access a paper ballot. Some people with disabilities need to be able to access a touch screen or voice to text or other forms of technology to give them the same level of privacy to access their vote as nondisabled people. And yet that's not being part of the conversation. We continue to see the conversation around accessibility pitted against one of security in
Speaker 1: (04:39)
The real world. Do you see the struggle for disabled rights actually meshing with the ongoing fight for racial equality, or are there some areas where they are fighting one another?
Speaker 2: (04:52)
I think we've seen a generational advancement in a really pivotal way. I think we talk about this in the disability community, in the context of what we call the ADA generation or the first generation of people in this country that have grown up with the rights of the ADA interlocking with their education rights. We see this when it comes to allies too. And frankly from activists in Ferguson to the women's March to my colleagues at organizations like the national action network and the national black justice coalition, they see ESS partners at the table. We collaborate, we work to come to consensus on key issues that impact all of our communities. And we stand by each other in times like this. And so I am seeing a shifting and a greater inclusion of disability issues into the mainstream, but that also just has to be the reality. You can't doing social justice work. If you're not being inclusive of people with disabilities, you can't get policing reform or ameliorate poverty in this country unless disabled people are part of the conversation. And at the table while decisions are being made.
Speaker 1: (05:57)
Rebecca in your keynote today, you talked about your own family's role in the history of racism in this country, specifically your grandfather. Why was it important for you to address that today?
Speaker 2: (06:09)
Because as white people in this country for too long, we have expected black and brown people to fix racism and it will not be fixed in this country until white people start standing up examining how we benefit from the institution of racism and actually put our butts on the line to make this country a better place for everyone. Did Dr.
Speaker 1: (06:33)
King himself ever address the need for equality for people with disabilities?
Speaker 2: (06:38)
No, we actually, in, in all of the readings that I've done, I've seen conversations around economic insecurity. I've seen issues around conversations around gender, but in none of the readings that I have done, have I ever seen Dr. King dress directly address issues of people with disabilities, but that is not to say disabled people were not at the table for, if you actually look at video from the, I have a dream speech standing to the right of Dr. King during the speech is an African American little person activist named Kenny brown, who was very active in S SC C and S SNCC during the heyday of the civil rights movement. So our community has always been at the table though for a long time talking about disability, just like talking about L G B T issues was seen as a distraction from the greater issues of the time.
Speaker 1: (07:31)
What is most misunderstood about the disabled community in your view
Speaker 2: (07:36)
That disability rights are something and extra that the right to have closer parking is a privilege and not something that we have a, a fundamental civil right to, because of the discrimination we face as people with disabilities. I think so often we see stories of disability rights framed in, oh, well, that's a special privilege that those people have, cuz they're disabled. Not that is something that people with disabilities need so they can get to the same table as people, without disabilities. And until we're actually able to have that conversation and examine our own prejudices, as it relates to seism and ableism that are faced by people with disabilities in this country, we will never achieve Dr. King strain.
Speaker 1: (08:20)
I've been speaking with Rebecca Coley, us disability rights program officer for the Ford foundation. She was also keynote speaker at the all people's celebration today in San Diego. Rebecca, thank you
Speaker 2: (08:31)
So much. Thank you so much.
