YO! Blog | YO! Disabled & Proud

By Blake Webber

I’ve always been fascinated with history; I enjoy learning from the past as well as from other people’s experiences. Growing up with Cerebral Palsy, disability history has always held a particular importance to me. Ed Roberts, Justin Dart, and Judy Heumann have always been my role models. Naturally, when the opportunity to be a part of a film about disability history came up, I was thrilled. I learned that as part of this opportunity, we would be watching a documentary called Crip Camp. Crip Camp is about a summer camp for disabled youth that took place in 1971. Because of my interest in history, I couldn’t wait to see how the youth in the documentary viewed disability and ableism.

After we watched the documentary, our group had the opportunity to talk with Judy Heumann and Jim LeBrecht about our individual reactions to the footage we had just seen. It was a great experience to hear that other people had similar challenges, this provided a good sense of community. After watching the clip, I couldn’t help but think that it could have been filmed yesterday. The only major difference is that the documentary was shot in black and white rather than color. Despite the forty-six year difference, I really felt a connection to the youth that were portrayed in 1971. The issues they were expressing then of wanting to excel in life and be productive regardless of their disabilities are things that I deal with every day.

I view my disability as a positive and that, I believe, is the most important impact Judy has had on me. Ableism is viewing disability as a problem to be overcome. I believe that the key to defeating ableism is to instead view disability as a natural part of what it means to be human. Crip Camp has the potential to become much more than a film. I think it can help start a wider discussion that can change the view of disability into something to be celebrated rather than something to be overcome. Too many documentaries portray people with disabilities as heroic and inspiring rather than regular human beings. While every person has their own unique challenges, we as a community have far more to offer the world than just inspiration. Crip Camp shows the viewer how the disability community, and the individuals in it, view ourselves rather than how people without disabilities view us. I believe this is key for future generations, both disabled and otherwise, to help further inclusion and diversity rather than exclusion. At the end of the day, despite our many differences, we are all human beings; Crip Camp shows us the power of equality.

Blake enjoys history and technology because he believes both are very important to the disability community. When he is not volunteering or working on a project involving disability rights or assistive technology he plays play video games with friends.

Earlier this April, Youth Organizing (YO!) Disabled and Proud participated in the California Coalition for Youth’s Taking Action Conference, which is `dedicated to advocating and serving homeless and disconnected youth. Every year at this conference they take a moment to honor the service providers in the youth field that excel at supporting youth. This year they honored Allie Cannington, former YO! Volunteer extraordinaire, with the Susan Matheson Mentoring Award.

When YO! started in 2009, one of our first volunteers was a young woman named Allie Cannington. Since then, she has gone on to do amazing work with youth including those that are disabled, LGBTQ, homeless, at risk of being homeless, and/or disconnected from services that they desperately need.

Her devotion to youth issues was started with her work at YO! and the Youth Leadership Forum for Students with Disabilities. She took what she learned with both programs when she relocated to Washington, D.C. to study and work for five years on local, statewide, and national disability rights and social justice initiatives. Allie served as the Youth Transitions Fellow for the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) where they led national and local efforts to empower and organize intersectionally marginalized youth with disabilities, particularly through self-advocacy, community empowerment, and employment development initiatives.

We at YO!could not be more proud of Allie, or the work that she has accomplished in her young life. Christina Mills–  Deputy Director of the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC) and one of Allie’s mentors– (who also won the Sue Matheson mentoring award in 2009, a fact that Allie herself was ecstatic about) said it best:

“The spark that was ignited when Allie began her disability justice journey as a youth continues to flourish with passion and purpose. The fire in the belly that now resides within Allie is what others see and feel as she demonstrates her leadership skills and impacts the lives of others who ultimately become a part of the growing circle of disability pride and community because of her.

Allie Cannington now works at Larkin Street Youth Services as Youth Advisory Board Coordinator. She brings the spirit of the disability rights community into everything that she does encompassing wholly with her life’s work the idea of “nothing about us, without us”. We know that Allie will continue to do amazing things and bring together multiply marginalized communities to form a more unified society through practices of understanding and listening.

Congratulations on your accomplishments, Allie. We wish you nothing short of the best.

Photo Description: A Woman with long Brown hair and Glasses smiling and standing(Allie) next to a woman sitting in a wheelchair(Yolanda)

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