“Part of the problem is that we tend to think that equality is about treating everyone the same, when it’s not. It’s about fairness. It’s about equity of access.”
–Judith Huemann
July is Disability Pride Month
Judith Huemann passed away earlier this year, and while I’ve wanted to draw a portrait of her for a long time, I didn’t quite get the chance to finish this up until recently.
Her name is probably deserving of a lot more recognition than it gets, and in my book, she’s probably on a short list of the most impactful activists of the past century. Her advancement of the Americans with Disabilities Act, along with making accessibility a more prominent concern in public spaces impacted a ton of lives… including many of those with invisible disabilities.
Her activism was forceful when it needed to be, compassionate at its foundations, and relentless, despite a whole bunch of obstacles. The documentary Crip Camp and her memoir Being Heumann are both really, really good.
One more quote for good measure.
“Change never happens at the pace we think it should. It happens over years of people joining together, strategizing, sharing, and pulling all the levers they possibly can. Gradually, excruciatingly slowly, things start to happen, and then suddenly, seemingly out of the blue, something will tip.”
Judith Huemann