Movies to See
Crip Camp A Disability Revolution
In the early 1970s, teenagers with disabilities faced a future shaped by isolation, discrimination and institutionalization. Camp Jened, a ramshackle camp “for the handicapped” (a term no longer used) in the Catskills, exploded those confines. Jened was their freewheeling Utopia, a place with summertime sports, smoking and make-out sessions awaiting everyone, and campers experienced liberation and full inclusion as human beings. Their bonds endured as many migrated West to Berkeley, California — a hotbed of activism where friends from Camp Jened realized that disruption, civil disobedience, and political participation could change the future for millions.
A modern Mark Twain style adventure story, THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON tells the story of Zak, a young man with Down syndrome, who runs away from a residential nursing home to follow his dream of attending the professional wrestling school of his idol, The Salt Water Redneck . A strange turn of events pairs him on the road with Tyler, a small time outlaw on the run, who becomes Zak’s unlikely coach and ally. Together they wind through deltas, elude capture, drink whisky, find God, catch fish, and convince Eleanor, a kind nursing home employee charged with Zak’s return, to join them on their journey.
Books to Read
Care Work Dreaming Disability Justice
In this powerful collection of essays, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha outlines the politics of Disability justice, a movement which centers Disabled queer, trans, Black and Brown people. From crip time to anti-capitalism and “collective access,” Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha traces their inspiring vision for building resilient interdependent communities. Crucially, the book centers Disabled QTBIPOC perspectives, in a Disability movement where white Disabled voices still too often dominate.
Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist
One of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human.
A story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn’t built for all of us and of one woman’s activism—from the streets of Brooklyn and San Francisco to inside the halls of Washington—Being Heumann recounts Judy Heumann’s lifelong battle to achieve respect, acceptance, and inclusion in society.
A Kind of Mirraculas Paradise: A True Story About Schizophrenia
