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Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist

  • Book
  • Feb 25, 2020
  • #Disability #Biography #Politics
Judith Heumann
@judithheumann
(Author)
Kristen Joiner
@kristenjoiner
(Author)
www.goodreads.com
Hardcover
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4.51/5 1.2k ratings
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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 s... Show More

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.

Paralyzed from polio at eighteen months, Judy's struggle for equality began early in life. From fighting to attend grade school after being described as a "fire hazard" to later winning a lawsuit against the New York City school system for denying her a teacher's license because of her paralysis, Judy's actions set a precedent that fundamentally improved rights for disabled people.

As a young woman, Judy rolled her wheelchair through the doors of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in San Francisco as a leader of the Section 504 Sit-In, the longest takeover of a governmental building in US history. Working with a community of over 150 disabled activists and allies, Judy successfully pressured the Carter administration to implement protections for disabled peoples' rights, sparking a national movement and leading to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Candid, intimate, and irreverent, Judy Heumann's memoir about resistance to exclusion invites readers to imagine and make real a world in which we all belong.

(From Goodreads)

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Number of Pages: 240

ISBN: 0807019291

ISBN-13: 9780807019290

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Morning Brew @morningbrew · Jul, 2020
  • Curated in Brew's Bookshelf July 2020
World-renowned disability rights activist Judy Heumann became a national figure in the ‘70s after suing NYC for denying her a teacher’s license. In the decades since, she's championed disabled rights and inclusion at home and abroad.
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