Miriam, I think this was a white guy but that misses the point. Listen to what
he says. He clearly said that the cop at the jail didn't believe he was a
quadriplegic. By denying a disabled person's disability a person is guilty of
completely dismissing the disabled person at all. Can you imagine if someone
went up to a woman and said they don't believe they are actually a woman or
going up to a black person and telling them to prove they are black? No one
would dare strip either of those groups of their very identity but when it
comes to the disabled we are always put in positions of proving our very basic
identity as disabled folks.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2020 9:47 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: If Joe Biden Rejects His Progressive Base, Trump
Will Win
Ah, but he was in jail, and is he black? So he wasn't a white blind guy
walking along peacefully with a white cane. If he's black, it isn't the
disability that caused them to treat him that way. It's that he's black. To the
cops, the disability was just incidental.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Frank Ventura
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2020 9:35 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: If Joe Biden Rejects His Progressive Base, Trump
Will Win
Miriam, you can't sell that. The disabled don't have a cool marketing movement
like "me too" or "black lives matter".
Everyone has seen the hash tag #metoo on Twitter; everyone has seen the video
of George Floyd being murdered but how many people have seen this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1k-wMFiYs8
The disabled need to unify and market ourselves. Sadly, the blindness
organizations are not a friend to cross disability issues.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2020 6:08 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] If Joe Biden Rejects His Progressive Base, Trump
Will Win
Do you know what minority group is never mentioned? The disabled.
Miriam
Published on
Thursday, August 20, 2020
byCommon Dreams
If Joe Biden Rejects His Progressive Base, Trump Will Win He could pave the way
for another Donald Trump victory in the "the most crucial election in human
history."
byAmy Goodman, Denis Moynihan
"If Joe Biden ignores, demoralizes or actively alienates his progressive base,
he could pave the way for another Donald Trump victory," writes the authors.
(Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images) "If Joe Biden ignores, demoralizes or
actively alienates his progressive base, he could pave the way for another
Donald Trump victory," writes the authors. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
During the official roll call at the virtual Democratic National Convention on
Tuesday, representatives from 57 states and territories declared their delegate
totals for Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, each from an iconic setting
highlighting their region. Native American delegates from the Dakotas and New
Mexico greeted viewers in their indigenous languages.
African American delegates spoke from Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington,
DC and the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.
The sweeping celebration of the Democratic Party's diversity, however, also
highlighted the party's fracture between its centrist establishment and its
emerging progressive wings. Yes, all the delegations enthusiastically declared
Joe Biden "the next president of the United States." But, Bernie Sanders'
delegate total of 1,151, compared to Biden's 3,558, indicates the persistence
of a significant ideological divide.
Two voices from the progressive wing were granted several minutes of airtime in
Tuesday night's program: Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortéz and
Medicare-for-All activist Ady Barkan.
Ocasio-Cortéz, widely known as AOC, transformed Democratic Party politics with
her 2018 primary upset over ten-term incumbent Joe Crowley, demonstrating the
power of grassroots organizing coupled with progressive policy positions to
energize a young, diverse electorate.
"Good evening, bienvenidos and thank you to everyone here today endeavoring
towards a better, more just future for our country and our world," AOC said,
opening her pre-recorded, speaking slot for which she was allotted 60 seconds
(she used 95 seconds). She continued, thanking the "mass people's movement
working to establish 21st century social, economic and human rights, including
guaranteed healthcare, higher education, living wages and labor rights for all
people in the United States.striving to recognize and repair the wounds of
racial injustice, colonization, misogyny and homophobia and to propose and
build reimagined systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from
the violence and xenophobia of our past; a movement that realizes the
unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of
wealth for the few at the expense of long-term stability for the many, and who
organized a historic grassroots campaign to reclaim our democracy, in a time
when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep, systemic
solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment, and lack of
healthcare."
Ady Barkan's statement was also pre-recorded, for another reason: he is dying
from ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A Yale-trained Israeli-American lawyer
and activist, Barkan was diagnosed in 2016 at the age of 32, suffering
increasing nerve degeneration, muscle atrophy, and paralysis. He can no longer
speak, so composes his speeches in advance, using a synthetic, computer voice.
"In the midst of a pandemic, nearly 100 million Americans do not have
sufficient health insurance. And even good insurance does not cover essential
needs like long-term care," Barkan said. "Our loved ones are dying in unsafe
nursing homes, our nurses are overwhelmed and unprotected, and our essential
workers are treated as dispensable. In the richest country in history.we do not
guarantee this most basic human right. Everyone living in America should get
the healthcare they need, regardless of employment status or ability to pay."
Ady Barkan advocated for Medicare-for-All without naming it, though he usually
does, perhaps since Joe Biden has vowed to veto any Medicare-for-All bill that
reaches his desk if he becomes president. Shortly after Barkan's address aired,
he tweeted, "We need to elect Joe Biden to take the next step towards Medicare
For All. After November 4th? We're going to put a bill on his desk."
Will the Democratic Party spurn the demands of its younger and increasingly
diverse progressive wing? They will try to.
This week, the Democratic National Committee quietly dropped its pledge to
eliminate subsidies and tax breaks for the fossil fuel industry, saying it
appeared in this year's draft platform "in error"-despite appearing in the
2016 platform and being supported by both Biden and his running mate, Vice
Presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Then, the Biden campaign denounced respected Palestinian-American Muslim
organizer Linda Sarsour, after she appeared on a livestream of a Muslim
Delegates and Allies Assembly side-event to the DNC. Sarsour has publicly
fought against racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and antisemitism. She also
supports the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions movement for Palestinian rights. A
Biden spokesperson said Biden "obviously condemns her views and opposes BDS."
Ady Barkan fired back on Twitter in solidarity: "I say this as a Jew and an
Israeli citizen.the Biden campaign issued a vile and dishonest statement
against my beloved sister Linda Sarsour, a fierce advocate for justice and
freedom, and a leading antiracist and organizer against antisemitism. The Biden
campaign must retract and apologize."
If Joe Biden ignores, demoralizes or actively alienates his progressive base,
he could pave the way for another Donald Trump victory, in what public
intellectual Noam Chomsky has called "the most crucial election in human
history."
Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!," a daily international TV/radio
news hour airing on 1,100 stations in North America. She was awarded the
2008 Right Livelihood Award, dubbed the
