Disability Rights

  • A Black woman stands at a microphone singing in front of a crowd. A man playing a guitar stands behind her.

    How Fannie Lou Hamer’s disability informed her fight for voting rights

    (From The 19th, July 19, 2023) Fannie Lou Hamer’s testimony at the 1964 DNC shook the nation and highlighted the fact that many people didn’t realize that Hamer had a…

  • A Black woman with a orange and brown swirly color tilts her head: April 19, 1964-January 9, 2023.

    LaTonya Reeves, Advocate for Community-Based Services

    From Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council On January 9, 2023, LaTonya S. Reeves died after a short illness. Governor Polis only recently appointed Ms. Reeves to the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council…

  • On a BART train, a man with long hair and a helmet sits in a power wheelchair with two bags hanging on the handles.

    Hale Zukas – Disabled Advocate & Leader

    By Corbett O’Toole Hale Zukas, a pivotal leader on accessible public transportation, architectural barriers, data related to disability and personal assistance services, died this week. Hale did the grueling work…

  • An African American woman holds two paintings, one a self-portrait and the other a white man.

    Lois Curtis, Disability Rights Activist Who Won a Landmark Civil Rights Case (1967 – 2022)

    Fighting for the right to live in the community and establishing the right of people with disabilities to live independently Lois Curtis was a disabled African American woman who lived…

  • Disabled protesters in the 1930s.

    Disability Militancy – the 1930s

    Sit-in at the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s (origin unknown). Background The 1930’s were a time of great social unrest and increasing militancy among what one historian has termed…

  • Disabled Women at the 4th World Conference on Women – 1995

    Beijing, China. In conjunction with the UN conference a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Forum on Women was held from August 30 through September 7. Disabled women organizers strategically scheduled the First…

  • A group of disabled teen girls gather on the lawn.

    Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution

    This 2021 Oscar-nominated film features a group of teens with disabilities at a groundbreaking summer camp in the 1970s. The camp galvanizes the teens to help build a movement, forging…

  • Black Panther News: Handicapped Win Demands

    The 504 Protests and the Black Panther Party

    In April 1977, disability activists around the country held protests to fight for the passage of Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. Section 504 of the Act stated that:…