Los Angeles, May 13, 2021 – Justin Borses, a journalist with cerebral palsy who works at Moorpark University, stars in his own segment of “What Do You Pray For?” The film was made by Ben Rosloff, a talented emerging filmmaker on the Autism spectrum who serves as a Jewish Inclusion Fellow in RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, May 13, 2021 – Ariella Barker, an attorney, policy advisor, and communication specialist who was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, stars in her own segment of “What Do You Pray For?” The film was made by Ben Rosloff, a talented emerging filmmaker on the Autism spectrum who serves as a Jewish Inclusion Fellow in RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program. [continue reading…]
Nelly Nieblas is the Manager of Policy, Advocacy and Engagement at RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.
Nieblas is a first-generation college graduate from the University of Southern California and a proud Latina with a physical disability. She also holds an MPA from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. [continue reading…]
This perspective is a little different than what we usually publish. One of our talented speakers, Aaron Seglin, has an amazing story to tell, but spoken word and music, more than the written word, are his chosen media. In order to share his story with you, he set down with one of our Fellows, Ben Rosloff, to talk about his life and his passion. Ben, along with Samantha Haas, another Jewish inclusion Fellow, wrote this article to share his perspective. Enjoy!
Aaron Seglin
Aaron Seglin is a blind Jewish musician, Growing up in West Orange, New Jersey, his story is not only one of overcoming stigma and barriers, but of a tremendous level of musical accomplishment, talent and skill.
Growing up, Seglin had parents who supported his interest of music. His father was an instrumentalist who had a big part in his talent. He provided instruments for Seglin to try out. However, he passed away when Seglin was young. Seglin’s mother taught fine art which helped expose Seglin to those art skills. Once his father passed away, his grandmother and brother played music with Seglin. His mother was amazed when she noticed that her son could harmonize while playing the piano at the same time. He also could take what he heard on the radio and play it on his own without knowing the notes. Seglin became familiar with three or four families of instruments but felt so passionate about the harmonica that he now teaches it to young people. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, CA, May 6 – A new report from Think Tank for Inclusion & Equity (TTIE), Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and Women in Film shows that more writers rooms are including BIPOC and women writers, but other communities, including the disability community, still are being left out. The report, titled “Behind The Scenes: The State of Inclusion and Equity in TV Writing,” covers the results of an online survey with 1,226 participants, plus results from two focus groups.
According to the report, “93.0% of writers said their most recent writers room had no Disabled or Deaf writers.” Upper-level Disabled or Deaf writers are even more scarce, with only 2.6% of writers reporting that their most recent writers room had at least one upper level Disabled or Deaf writer.
In rooms with Disabled and Deaf representation, 91.7% of Disabled writers said they were the only staffed writers from their underrepresented communities in their most recent writers room. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, May 2 – Having worked in inclusive public policy since the 1990s, Ollie Cantos is a firm believer in getting comfortable with being uncomfortable in order to create change in the world. Currently serving as Special Assistant in the Office of the Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) as well as Vice Chair of RespectAbility’s Board of Advisors, Cantos assures that the frank conversations birthed from uncomfortable questions have the very real and attainable potential to transform negative vehicles of law, policy, and practice into empowered ones. The courage toward honest discourse of convulsive topics has diversified America’s governing power as years progress. [continue reading…]
Vanni Le
Vanni Le is RespectAbility’s first-ever Entertainment Outreach Program Manager. She brought brand strategy and program management experience from both the entertainment and nonprofit fields, having previously worked at the Walt Disney Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, March of Dimes and most recently A+E Networks.
“Vanni Le has only been on our team since November of last year, but she already has made a massive difference,” said Lauren Appelbaum, Vice President of Communications at RespectAbility. “As our work in the entertainment industry continues to rapidly expand, we are so lucky to have her on our team.” [continue reading…]
The Edlavitch D.C. Jewish Community Center (EDCJCC) has a long history of inclusion and acceptance. Since its initial creation in 1911, the DCJCC welcomed members of the Jewish community from all backgrounds. The building had extensive renovations in 2019 and is now accessible to all who enter its doors. In 2016, the Center was renamed in honor of Ginny and Irwin Edlavitch, long time philanthropists and community leaders. EDCJCC’s values include Judaism, community, teamwork, diversity, personal development, responsibility, excellence and hospitality. Each of those values make the EDCJCC an inclusive, welcoming and accepting community. [continue reading…]
Joshua Steinberg
I am a person with disabilities. Mine are nonvisible, and because of that, it is not immediately obvious to others that I have disabilities, but they are there. However, even though I have disabilities I want the same things as other people. I want a good job, a house, a nice car, a vacation, and I want to fall in love and get married. It has always been difficult to determine when the right time is to disclose that you have a disability when you are talking to someone new. [continue reading…]
An earlier version of this article appeared on the website Kol Birah, which has since gone out of business. It has been lightly updated and reposted with the permission of the author.
Ariella Barker
14 years ago, I appeared in front of the Rabbinical Council of America to gain their permission to officially convert to Judaism. The Rabbi asked me one pointed, unforgettable question: “As a [non-Jew], you are able to marry most anyone in the world. Why would you convert and limit yourself to less than 2 percent of the population?” For me, the answer was simple. I only wished to marry a Jewish man and to raise my children with Jewish values. If I remained a non-Jew, I would be unable to marry anyone. Alas, over a decade later, I am still unmarried.
Before joining the Jewish community, despite my disability, I rarely struggled to find a partner. But once I was Jewish, and I was dating with the purpose of marriage, my love life changed dramatically. [continue reading…]
