Filmmaker, screenwriter, activist, community organizer, volunteer, trailblazer. Tameka Citchen-Spruce (she/her) has accomplished a lot in her 15+ years of disability advocacy—and she shows no signs of slowing down.

Born in Detroit and raised in Oak Park, MI, Tameka got into a car accident at six months old that left her paralyzed from the mid-chest down, also called a T2 spinal cord injury, which requires her to use a wheelchair. She relied on her community for support, which proved challenging as a Black and disabled woman in the Midwest.

“My parents raised me to be ‘durable’ and exposed me to everything, so I was never sheltered growing up,” Tameka said. “But, you know, it was hard for me to accept my disability.” She was the only Black girl and wheelchair user at school. She dealt with colorism, ableism, racism, and faced ignorance from some church members who “eagerly pray[ed] for God to heal [her].”

It wasn’t until Tameka participated in—and won—Ms. Wheelchair MI 2006 that she took charge of her story. [continue reading…]

As we roll out this new newsletter format, we are excited to have the opportunity to share recent and upcoming trainings. Where possible, we will include a link to registration or to a previous training. Even when it is not possible for you to register or watch a recording, we encourage our readers to carefully note subjects of interest. You may well be able to book a version of the same training through RespectAbility’s Disability Training and Speakers Bureau. Use these links to Meet The Speakers and learn about some of our existing Speaker Topics. If you find something of interest, you can Request Speakers Here.

On January 31, our Senior Director of Policy and Workforce Development, Wally Tablit, presented at the APSE Pacific Northwest Regional Event to more than 70 attendees from various states in the Pacific Northwest Region. This includes California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and Wyoming. There also were participants from Maryland, Oklahoma, and Philadelphia in attendance. Wally spoke to the critical need to infuse the concepts and movements of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility into the work of employment and workforce development for people with disabilities. Attendees learned of the importance and power of creating diverse teams, creating the necessary space to do the work of DEIA, and why it is an essential piece of your strategic plan and process to increasing employment outcomes for people with disabilities.

We also are excited to announce that we will be resuming our regular webinar schedule in early March with a presentation for Employee Resource Group members and other internal advocates on “Presenting the Business Case For Disability Inclusion Within Your Organization.” Learn more about that webinar and register to attend at our website.

RespectAbility has long emphasized the importance of basing our inclusion practices and decision on hard data. We always have provided this data in press releases and trainings, and upon request. This new data corner feature is designed to supplement these other sources and share the raw data directly with you. We are starting simply in this first month, providing you with basic disability employment information as provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Please feel free to share other data that you would like to receive. While we will be updating this information monthly, you can always find current data, and much more, at www.bls.gov. [continue reading…]

As part of our ongoing commitment to ensure that we are equipping our readers with the best and most up to date strategies for workforce inclusion, we are pleased to share on January 24, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released an updated resource explaining ADA requirements for individuals with hearing disabilities in the workplace. Called “Hearing Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act,” it details how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to job applicants and employees who are deaf or hard of hearing or have other hearing conditions.

The EEOC publication outlines how certain pre- and post-job offer disability-related questions can violate the ADA, describes easy-to-access technologies that can make providing a reasonable accommodation for a hearing disability free or low-cost, addresses employer concerns about safety, and shares realistic scenarios of potential discrimination. The agency points out that it both provides updated information about discrimination against job applicants and provides new or updated examples that reflect available technologies. [continue reading…]

Policy Apprentices are ambassadors for the policy work of RespectAbility and will support the broad work of RespectAbility’s Policy Department. Assigned projects will help to advance our nation-wide policy agenda, educate candidates for public office about disability issues, and support existing state-based coalition building strategies. Apprentices will work substantively to contribute to RespectAbility’s work by developing resources, researching new materials, and publishing reports.

A few weeks ago, we welcomed 13 new Apprentices, including 3 Policy Apprentices to our National Leadership Program. You can read their bios, along with a bio for our continuing Policy Apprentice, below. They represent the future of the disability rights movement! [continue reading…]

Last week, as he delivered his State of the Union Address, President Biden called upon Congress to “get seniors and people with disabilities the home care services they need and support the workers who are doing God’s work.” RespectAbility joins with the rest of the disability community in gratitude for this call to leadership, and further thanks the President for recognizing the value of the choice for those of us who rely on care to stay in our homes, and reminding us that these programs are already fully paid for. You can learn more about this issue in this informative article in Disability Scoop. We also are grateful to President Biden for calling out the critical need for stronger mental health support, especially for young people.

At the same time, we encourage the President and Congressional leadership to ensure that other important initiatives include people with disabilities. The President celebrated the creation of 12 million new jobs in his first two years in office, and pointed out that unemployment is at a 50 year record low, including record employment levels for Black and Hispanic workers. While people with disabilities also have benefited from this job creation, our employment rate remains less than half that of the general population. [continue reading…]

The Faith Inclusion and Belonging team is pleased to welcome three new apprentices to our team! They will be working on leadership skills and contributing to the growth of the department as we continue to develop our multifaith space. Below, read more about them! [continue reading…]

Park City, Feb 5 – Feature-length films that premiered at Sundance such as Is There Anybody Out There?, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, and The Tuba Thieves, as well as a number of shorts, explicitly included elements of disability and deafness throughout. However, several additional films featured casual inclusion of disability, which also helps to normalize having a disability in society.

For example, a teenage camper in Theater Camp uses a power wheelchair. We see him both in a montage while auditioning for a show, and later rolling through camp. He is portrayed similarly to other campers. In Slow, contemporary dancer Elena (Greta Grinevičiūtė) meets Dovydas (Kęstutis Cicėnas), who’s assigned to interpret for her class of deaf youth. While the film is not about this class but rather their relationship, the casual inclusion of this class helps normalize deaf students. In Magazine Dreams, aspiring professional bodybuilder Killian Maddox is a caregiver for his disabled grandfather. In a documentary about Little Richard, viewers learn that he had limb differences, mental health conditions, and later on in his life, became a wheelchair user. And in Chanshi, a series about a young Jewish Orthodox woman finding herself, mental health is discussed.

With one-in-five people having a disability in the U.S. today, the lack of representation – just 2.3 percent of characters in the 100 top-grossing films of 2019 and 8 percent in family films – means that millions of people are unable to see themselves reflected in media. While none of the films mentioned above are about disability, the casual inclusion of disability in them is important. [continue reading…]

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Los Angeles, Feb. 3 – A fiery escapism into the world of Little Richard, Director Lisa Cortés’ vision for storytelling is on excellent display throughout this entire documentary. We explore a side of Little Richard that even an avid fan myself found so much more insight and genius in who Little Richard was. The true pioneer and King of Rock N’ Roll, Little Richard inspired and launched the careers of so many legendary artists today such as Jimmy Hendrix, James Brown, Mick Jagger, The Beatles and more. Little Richard: I Am Everything premiered Jan. 19 at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

Little Richard explores his disabilities early on in the documentary, mentioning his limb differences, mental health, and later on in his life, becoming a wheelchair user. It was great to see Little Richard’s upbringing, getting a closer look on his journey and how early in his childhood he’s identified his gift through music. However, Little Richard went deeply into the things that he was struggling with. Whether it’s spiritual mortality, his musical legacy, getting the credit he deserved, or his sexuality in public spaces, you get a deep dive into Little’s Richard’s thoughts, regrets, perspective, and more.

CNN Films sold the rights to Little Richard: I Am Everything to Magnolia Pictures at Sundance, with plans to release the documentary in April. This is a much watch and I am looking forward to a chance of being able to see it again once released.