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Moral-Dilemma

July 11, 2012  |  Allie Cannington

I wake up every morning and my love for this city only grows. Living in the nation’s capital has given me a life of newfound independence; where I can travel anywhere, anytime. Whether it is going to Trader Joes or a networking event, I continuously feel privileged and thankful to have the opportunity to be a disabled, independent woman. And despite the occasional Capitol South metro elevator breakdown, my life has appeared to be very accessible. Yet in reality, there are minute-by-minute barriers that people with disabilities face even in this magnificent, fast-paced city. And that has been specifically obvious this past week.

Another reason why I love Washington, DC is because it is filled with social justice and civil rights advocates. So one would expect that if an individual is fighting for equality they would include people with disabilities; but unfortunately this has not been the case. This leads to a moral-dilemma. As a disabled advocate, do I attend social justice events and programs that are not inclusive and accessible to disability or do I refuse to go? As I have been struck with this problem, it breaks my heart that in this progressive city filled with change agents, social justice events are still exclusive of disability.

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Submitted by Sarah H at 11:19 AM on July 17, 2012
You should go to these programs, Allie! I agree with Nick that we have to be visible. At many of these events, there is an opportunity during Q&A to make your voice heard, so use that opportunity to raise awareness for the disability community. Also, your blog was very inspirational! So glad you have a newfound independence in my favorite city!
Submitted by Nick Holzthum at 06:47 PM on July 11, 2012
As a disabled advocate, you have a responsibility to be go, be heard and be known at those socail justice meetings. As long as we stay out of sight, we and the issues that we face will be invisible to the individuals in the groups. This is why we need to go to those meetings. We need to become visible in those spaces, especially those concerned with socail justice. However, visibility doesn't mean to be merely physically present, but present with your passion, your ideas, and experiences surrounding disability. Let your and our experiences be known to these groups by injecting disability into the discussion as much as possible. Go to those meetings and speak out. That, Allie, is real disability advocacy. Best of luck. Let us know what happens.

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