1 Independent Living: An Autobiographical Travelogue Presentation by Catherine Frazee CILT AGM September 20, 2006
2 What is an “ Autobiographical As I grew up and into Travelogue ”? myself and my place of belonging, participation and contribution, my choices and opportunities have been • A Few Photos shaped by the Disability • A Few Reflections Rights and Independent Living Movement. • A Few Lessons • A Few Minutes • A Few Liberties
3 Three Lessons from the Independent Living Movement “Independent Living (IL) is a vision, a philosophy • The Meaning of Community and a movement of persons with • The Meaning of Activism disabilities.” • The Meaning of Independence CILT website, 2006
4 The Meaning of Community “Independent Living is founded A Life in Two Photos on the right of people with disabilities to: 1. My First Job, circa 1981 � Live with dignity 2. My Current Work, 2006 in their chosen community...” CILT website, 2006
A Life in Two Photos: 1. My First Job 5
6 A Life in Two Photos: 2. My Current Work
7 The IL Community To claim "I belong", in two simple words, invokes the strength and spirit of those who have battled and laboured and dreamt to make our way clear. To claim "I belong", situates us in an endless landscape of IL history, politics and philosophy. It is a claim of defiance and embrace, choice and hope, yearning and satisfaction.
8 The Meaning of Activism “Independent Living is founded Activist Portraits on the right of people with disabilities to: 1. Activism in the Streets … 2. Activism in the Academy � Participate in all 3. Activism in the Arts aspects of their life…” 4. Activism in the Everyday CILT website, 2006
9 Portraits of Activism 1. In the Streets The independent living movement mobilized the political energies of disabled people, allowing us to push back against the forms and structures of inequality, to challenge every notion of our lives as tragic and our bodies as broken.
10 Portraits of Activism 2. In the Academy “From small beginnings … disability studies has secured a hard won place … in the curricula of some universities and we can be confident that from these small beginnings will emerge a vibrant force for educational and social change.” Michael Oliver, 1999
11 Portraits of Activism 3. In the Arts If there is one single truth at the core of Independent Living, it is that the stories of our lives, however performed, are a wellspring of truth and power. Whenever we position ourselves as the subject, not the object, we perform the ultimate act of resistance.
12 Portraits of Activism 4. In the Everyday The claim of a right to participate is a claim that few of us come to easily. It is a precarious claim that none of us dare regard carelessly. It is a claim that rises up from the stories and struggles of our individual lives.
13 Activism & Independent Living Disability activism is found in politics, advocacy, scholarship, artistic work and every single act of speaking out. It is a project which involves both celebration and struggle, solidarity and subversion, the reclaiming of histories and the shaping of radically new futures. Disability activism is strongest, as in IL, when the experiences, identities and voices of disabled people are central and uncompromised.
14 The Meaning of Independence “Independent Living is founded Two Different Framings on the right of people with disabilities to: 1. Calling the Shots? … 2. Webs of Support? � Control and make decisions about their own lives.” CILT website, 2006
15 Pictures of Independence 1. Calling the Shots? Does Independent Living demand that we be self- directing captains of our own individual ships?
16 Pictures of Independence 2. Webs of Support? Or does Independent Living presume and acknowledge webs of recognition, support and “invisible labour”?
17 3 Lessons from the IL Movement • Locate myself within ever ‐ expanding communities of solidarity and recognition. • Mobilize collectively to resist invisibility and injustice and promote deep cultural change. • Embrace a nuanced account of independence that builds ‘social capital’ in common cause with carers and supporters.
18 Citations & Acknowledgments • Photographs by Patricia Seeley, 2004 ‐ 2006. • Latimer Vigil images from Fireweed Media, 1995. • Visual Art by Persimmon Blackbridge, 2005. • Michael Oliver, “Disabled People and the Inclusive Society: or the Times They Really Are Changing” , Public Lecture, April 27, 1999. • Harriet McBryde Johnson, “Too Late to Die Young”, Picador, New York 2006. “Living our lives openly and without shame is a revolutionary act.” Harriet McBryde Johnson
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