The disability community is built upon mutual flourishing. We know that our survival depends on each of us caring for one another in collective solidarity. As a disabled person I often feel quite lonely in my experience of disability. It can be a solitary endeavor to lie alone in your sick bed for days, weeks, [click to continue...]
June is Pride Month, a month of profound and unending gratitude for me. I am an openly queer and disabled clergy person. Without the radical dreaming and action from our queer and disabled ancestors, my path would not be possible. Disability and Queerness have always been intertwined, from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) classifying [click to continue...]
Queer and trans disabled folks are at the center of queer trans history and disability history, because the movements incubate and cross pollinate each other. For instance, during the 504 occupation, the owners of the lesbian bar in the East Bay brought shampoo and conditioner and washed people’s hair in an act of tangible solidarity [click to continue...]
During this Mental Health Awareness month, I’ve been reflecting on how faith communities address mental health needs and become more inclusive in this area. While there still is a need for more education and decreasing stigma about mental health, it is encouraging to see more communities being willing to discuss these topics and offer ways [click to continue...]
In the disability community, we know that mental health-related disabilities are disabilities. It still feels like the rest of the world has yet to catch up. As a person of faith myself who has mental health-related disabilities along with fellow family members, I have wondered why this identity disparity existed between mental health conditions and [click to continue...]
Ben Spangenberg is the Senior Manager of RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program. Ben was born with Spina Bifida in Long Beach, California in 1981. His mother had amniocentesis, but the test got switched and his development was seen to be within the ‘normal’ range. They did not confirm his diagnosis until his mother went into labor. [click to continue...]
As the program manager of the Minneapolis Jewish Community Inclusion Program for People with Disabilities for 13 years, I was invited to speak about the program at numerous Jewish community events. I spoke about changing attitudes and fighting stigma to advance inclusion. Following many presentations, someone from the audience waited to speak to me, waiting [click to continue...]
Neil Jacobson may not have known, but he was my teacher. Neil Jacobson was one of the earliest pioneers in Jewish disability inclusion and belonging. His grassroots advocacy and action in his own congregation became a call to action for other synagogues and Jewish organizations in the Reform movement and beyond. Neil’s influence and his [click to continue...]
I interviewed Neil and Denise Jacobson, following a Jewish community screening of the film, “Crip Camp.” They were featured in the film along with Neil’s childhood friend, Judy Heumann, of blessed memory. Neil was a child of Shoah (Holocaust) survivors. Neil described his father as “the happiest, friendliest, most easy-going guy I have yet to [click to continue...]
The summer I was eight, I was sent to a sleep-away camp for the month of July. The girls slept in a big dormitory, and my bed was in the center aisle. I have only one other memory about the camp—just one incident that has stayed with me all these years: The time my bed [click to continue...]
