1997 began with a bang from Not Dead Yet.

1997

clipping of the front page of USA Today, with an angry cripple crying out for justice out front of the Supreme Court with Not Dead Yet

"If you have time to bitch, you're probably not doing enough."
-- Jimmi Schrode
cover of Mouth's issue on reclaiming our heroism. It shows an old photo of FDR, the only known photo of the man in a wheelchair.

"Some of us think that if we become superhuman, they'll accept us as merely human. This is why I say it is time to take back our heroism. It won't be easy.
"There will always be some Jerry Lewis out there trying to force us back into our tragic but brave prisons. Or some Kevorkian trying to force us into a bravely suffered for so long grave. We can't let them do this to us. It flies in the face of everything we have learned about ourselves as a people.
"Risking our bodies, our jobs, or just social embarrassment to defend our civil and human rights is bravery. Stopping traffic on an Atlanta highway in the battle to free our people from institutions is heroism.
"When the most oppressed of our citizens becomes powerful in defense of our rights, that's inspirational."
-- Josie Byzek

"If talking and educating worked, we'd be there by now. We'd be done. Centers for Independent Living need to remember that advocacy is not just writing a letter to the editor. It's getting out and doing something. It's making some noise and getting attention."
-- Gina McDonald

"Every parent who has entered the wonderful world of special education starts out knowing very little about the process, and either sinks or swims when the rain of special expertise comes down and the creek starts to rise."
-- Laura Glozier

"Now the outcasts of the outcastes become the leaders of today... the ones we used to throw away to die.... And there's more than one way to be strong."
-- song by Elaine Kolb
from the Not Dead Yet rally
at the Supreme Court, January 1997

"Eighteen months ago, before I learned about the disability rights movement, I did not want to be associated with anything, or anybody, that had to do with disability. I would not align myself with the losing team. Today my friends in the movement are teaching me how to accept my disability and carry myself with pride. In working to free our people, I free myself."
-- Tammy S. Thompson

"Shame is central to life with disability. By our very existence, we transgress. Society shuts us out. We react to that banishment not with anger but with abiding shame
"There is an escape from the exile of shaming and shunning. It is -- I know it -- to put ourselves forward in the world, shamelessly disabled, to live our lives rather than excuse ourselves for living."
-- Lucy Gwin

cartoon of a fundsucker bird (this one looks like a peacock), with a gratful crip kissing his ring

"[Charity is] pity peddling, misery merchandising. The money doesn't go to the people who are pitied. It's a bait and switch tactic. People who are labeled are the bait.
"The switch is that the money goes to pay professionals."
-- John McKnight

"Arrested? Me? I don't think so. I didn't even skip school on Senior Skip Day. But eventually I ended up right in the middle of the action... The getting arrested part wasn't so bad. Imagine being incarcerated [in a nursing home] when your only crime is disability and your day of freedom comes when you get that one last ride in a big black hearse."
-- Tessa Johnson Goupil

"Officials are no more evil than the average run of human beings. But their office gives them license to do evil things on behalf of institutions which they would almost never do as private persons....
"Remember the sign that Dr. King kept in the office of the Montgomery Improvement Association: Love thy enemy. It will drive them nuts."
-- J. Quinn Brisben

"The driver grabbed my feet as they dragged me feet-first, head-down, into that bus. My hands reached out to grab something -- anything -- to keep from falling. When we reached the seat, they had me facing the rear of the bus, straddled on an armrest.
"They'd put a whole new meaning on 'Riding the Dog.' Screw Greyhound? Sure! Have sex with it? No way!"
-- Daniese McMullin

onward, ever onward
to the hysterical, historical year of 1998
| HOMEPAGE | ABOUT MOUTH | SUBSCRIBE |

back to the Mouth Chronicles index page

The photo on the MiCasa page is by Tom Olin.

The fundsucker cartoon is by Scott Chambers.


				1997
	"If you have time to bitch, you're probably not doing enough." -- Jimmi Schrode "Some of us think that if we become superhuman, they'll accept us as merely human. This is why I say it is time to take back our heroism. It won't be easy. "There will always be some Jerry Lewis out there trying to force us back into our tragic but brave prisons. Or some Kevorkian trying to force us into a bravely suffered for so long grave. We can't let them do this to us. It flies in the face of everything we have learned about ourselves as a people. "Risking our bodies, our jobs, or just social embarrassment to defend our civil and human rights is bravery. Stopping traffic on an Atlanta highway in the battle to free our people from institutions is heroism. "When the most oppressed of our citizens becomes powerful in defense of our rights, that's inspirational." -- Josie Byzek "If talking and educating worked, we'd be there by now. We'd be done. Centers for Independent Living need to remember that advocacy is not just writing a letter to the editor. It's getting out and doing something. It's making some noise and getting attention." -- Gina McDonald "Every parent who has entered the wonderful world of special education starts out knowing very little about the process, and either sinks or swims when the rain of special expertise comes down and the creek starts to rise." -- Laura Glozier			"Now the outcasts of the outcastes become the leaders of today... the ones we used to throw away to die.... And there's more than one way to be strong." -- song by Elaine Kolb from the Not Dead Yet rally at the Supreme Court, January 1997 "Eighteen months ago, before I learned about the disability rights movement, I did not want to be associated with anything, or anybody, that had to do with disability. I would not align myself with the losing team. Today my friends in the movement are teaching me how to accept my disability and carry myself with pride. In working to free our people, I free myself." -- Tammy S. Thompson "Shame is central to life with disability. By our very existence, we transgress. Society shuts us out. We react to that banishment not with anger but with abiding shame "There is an escape from the exile of shaming and shunning. It is -- I know it -- to put ourselves forward in the world, shamelessly disabled, to live our lives rather than excuse ourselves for living." -- Lucy Gwin "[Charity is] pity peddling, misery merchandising. The money doesn't go to the people who are pitied. It's a bait and switch tactic. People who are labeled are the bait. "The switch is that the money goes to pay professionals." -- John McKnight "Arrested? Me? I don't think so. I didn't even skip school on Senior Skip Day. But eventually I ended up right in the middle of the action... The getting arrested part wasn't so bad. Imagine being incarcerated [in a nursing home] when your only crime is disability and your day of freedom comes when you get that one last ride in a big black hearse." -- Tessa Johnson Goupil "Officials are no more evil than the average run of human beings. But their office gives them license to do evil things on behalf of institutions which they would almost never do as private persons.... "Remember the sign that Dr. King kept in the office of the Montgomery Improvement Association: Love thy enemy. It will drive them nuts." -- J. Quinn Brisben "The driver grabbed my feet as they dragged me feet-first, head-down, into that bus. My hands reached out to grab something -- anything -- to keep from falling. When we reached the seat, they had me facing the rear of the bus, straddled on an armrest. "They'd put a whole new meaning on 'Riding the Dog.' Screw Greyhound? Sure! Have sex with it? No way!" -- Daniese McMullin





	onward, ever onward to the hysterical, historical year of 1998 \| HOMEPAGE \| ABOUT MOUTH \| SUBSCRIBE \| back to the Mouth Chronicles index page			The photo on the MiCasa page is by Tom Olin. The fundsucker cartoon is by Scott Chambers.