Past Events

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Election Topline – Word – PDF
Election-Eve Topline – Word – PDF

Now that the dust has settled on the outcome of the 2020 election, new data has poured in about voter preferences, turnouts, and ticket splitting. From the Democratic primaries all the way to election day, there have been unprecedented efforts by candidate for public office to talk about the issues most important to the approximately 38 million eligible voters with disabilities. Polling conducted earlier this year showed that the votes of the disability community were up for grabs all the way to November.

Watch the reveal of a new election day poll of over 2,400 voters completed by the national public opinion and political strategy research firm Lake Research Partners and in partnership with the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN). Our exciting panel helped make sense of how candidate outreach to voters with disabilities may have swung the election and where the disability community stands in relation to other underrepresented communities. [continue reading…]

A Conversation and Call to Action with Michael Morris

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Signed into law in 1977, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was created to encourage banks to meet the needs of all borrowers and work against the divisions created by discriminatory practices like redlining. The law has existed for 43 years to help low- and moderate-income neighborhoods through retail banking and community development. However, CRA has yet to fully support the inclusion of people with disabilities as an eligible group.

Now, the Federal Reserve Board is currently soliciting public feedback to guide future changes to the law, how banking regulations are created and how to promote greater inclusion. This is a critical opportunity for the disability community to get organized and send in our ideas.

According to the National Disability Institute, sixty percent of adults with disabilities only have a low or moderate income and that far too many Americans with disabilities live in neighborhoods that count as low- or moderate-income communities under the CRA.

Watch an exciting and dynamic conversation with Michael Morris, JD, the founder and Senior Strategic Advisor of National Disability Institute, about why CRA matters for people with disabilities and how we can make our collective voices heard. The conversation was moderated by Hon. Steve Bartlett, chairman of RespectAbility, former Mayor of Dallas and former President and CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable. [continue reading…]

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With the 2020 election just weeks away, candidates and campaigns are scrambling to reach persuadable voters and earn their vote. Researchers at Rutgers University estimate there are 38.3 million voters with a disability eligible to vote this November. From former Vice President Biden to candidates in down-ballot races at the state level, political candidates are reaching out to voters with disabilities and talking about the issues that matter most to them.

Featuring speakers from the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) and RespectAbility as well as self-advocates from the community, watch a fascinating discussion about what campaigns and candidates have been doing to reach out to the disability community. [continue reading…]

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Authentic representation of marginalized populations on screen is vitally important as what people view on screen influences how they act in real-life. This Hispanic Heritage Month and National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), we were proud to spotlight Hispanic and Latinx individuals with disabilities who are changing the landscape in the entertainment industry. [continue reading…]

Sukkot commemorates the years that the Jews spent in the desert on their way to the Promised Land and celebrates the way in which God protected them under difficult desert conditions. In this time of COVID-19 we too are experiencing the need for shelter at a difficult time. Yet, many of us do not have the ability to build a physical Sukkah even ritually “dwell” in one this year. We came together and built a Virtual Zoom Sukkah.

Join RespectAbility for a virtual lunch and learn, with a twist. Everyone is encouraged to use either a virtual backdrop or something that they can hold up to the camera to help build our Virtual Sukkah together. [continue reading…]

Presented in Partnership with DreamWorks Animation

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Have you seen DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar: A Little Wild on Hulu or Peacock TV yet? RespectAbility board member Delbert Whetter, along with Jevon Whetter and Justin Maurer, consulted on this series, which includes a deaf character who uses sign language; the character’s sister also signs. Chimpanzee siblings Dave and Pickles are breaking barriers and are part of a movement changing the landscape of disability representation in children’s television and streaming content. Dave and Pickles have a meaningful story arc throughout the entire series and Dave is not defined by his deafness. Learn from the team’s ASL consultants as well as Executive Producer Johanna Stein, Co-Executive Producer and Story Editor Dana Starfield and Supervising Director TJ Sullivan on how these teams worked together to bring about dynamic deaf characters.

“When it comes to animation, there’s no excuse not to create a show filled with diverse characters. As animators we are world builders, we are literally creating all of the elements from scratch,” said EP Johanna Stein. Learn More: “Madagascar: A Little Wild” Takes Deaf Representation to the Next Level. [continue reading…]

Presented in Partnership with The Walt Disney Company

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Disney Channel’s Emmy Award-nominated series Big City Greens is breaking barriers when it comes to ensuring authentic deaf representation. In the “Quiet Please” episode, the Green family visits the city library hoping to find a book that will spark Cricket’s interest in reading, but they quickly run afoul of a strict, eerie librarian. Determined to keep the library a quiet place, she threatens to throw them out if they make any sound, so they must communicate through gestures and sign language. RespectAbility’s board member Delbert Whetter, along with Jevon Whetter and Justin Maurer, consulted on this episode, which premiered on Saturday, September 19 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Disney Channel. Learn from these ASL consultants as well as Big City Greens Creators/Executive Producers Chris and Shane Houghton on how these teams worked together to bring about authentic representation of ASL. [continue reading…]

Date: Monday, September 28
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 p.m. CT / 8:30 p.m. MT / 7:30 p.m. PT

We came together to celebrate the bright possibility of this new year during a virtual Zoom break fast.

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[continue reading…]