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overlap's review against another edition
4.5
Genuinely made me tear up. I wish there was a little more of a call to action than just "vote" and more analysis on what disabled people are currently experiencing and how to advocate for change, but an absolutely beautiful memoir
maggiedoodlez's review against another edition
5.0
“If you’re of an age where you’ve grown up with all these benefits—curb cuts, disabled kids in class, captioning and audio description on television, and the myriad other ways disabled people are integrated into our communities—you would be forgiven for thinking that this is how it is, how it’s always been, and how it always will be. It would be understandable if you took these rights for granted.
But our government is constantly changing. It was created by groups of people and it gets changed by groups of people.
This presents us with a choice:
Do we want to be the people creating the government we believe in, or do we want to be the people simply accepting whatever comes our way?”
I will always cherish briefly meeting Judy Heumann in 2018 and having the opportunity to hear about her life first hand. This is a great overview of the civil rights movement for people with disabilities and my favorite chapters were hearing about the on-the-ground work many people did at HEW to have 504 passed with no changes.
But our government is constantly changing. It was created by groups of people and it gets changed by groups of people.
This presents us with a choice:
Do we want to be the people creating the government we believe in, or do we want to be the people simply accepting whatever comes our way?”
I will always cherish briefly meeting Judy Heumann in 2018 and having the opportunity to hear about her life first hand. This is a great overview of the civil rights movement for people with disabilities and my favorite chapters were hearing about the on-the-ground work many people did at HEW to have 504 passed with no changes.
sumrose11's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
chronicallyhanreads's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
swally2005's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Every disabled person living in the United States owes a huge debt of gratitude to Judy Heumann and her network of disability advocates, for all the work that they've done to transform the lives of disabled people in this country from what it was 50 years ago. The amount of change that she was able to affect in one lifetime is astonishing. As a lifelong disabled person, I first became aware of Judy and her work through the documentary film "Crip Camp," and will forever be thankful to Jim Lebrecht for making that film, and to the Obamas for choosing it to be a part of their Netflix distribution deal.
Though the film touches on lots of things that Judy mentions in this book, there is obviously a much more detailed breakdown of what it was like for her and the other activists that worked on getting Section 504 and the ADA signed and implemented. The level of discrimination and sheer contempt she had to deal with from government officials, politicians, and employers throughout her various positions in her very long and distinguished career, just baffles me. I found myself feeling much the same way that I did while watching "Crip Camp"--completely enraged on her behalf, and re-living the memories and trauma in my own life where I dealt with the same types of treatment and behaviors from able-bodied people. I will be frank; if you are a disabled person, this book will likely be very difficult for you to get through. I had to limit myself to only listening to this book for a few hours every day, because I couldn't handle more than that.
Speaking of listening, the audiobook is excellent, and I'm glad that Judy chose a narrator (the actress Ali Stroker, the first wheelchair user to ever win a Tony) who is also disabled, although I would've preferred to hear Judy herself narrate her own story.
This book is an extremely important read, and every disabled person should have it on their list. More importantly, every able-bodied person, who fashions themselves an ally or a good person, should also have this on their list.
We, as disabled people, still have a long way to go in our fight for equality, and with Judy's death in 2023, I worry about the fact that we've lost one of our strongest voices. But if Judy has taught us anything, it is that all it takes is one person to be the spark that starts the fire.
“Some people say that what I did changed the world. But really, I simply refused to accept what I was told about who I could be. And I was willing to make a fuss about it.” -Judy Heumann
Though the film touches on lots of things that Judy mentions in this book, there is obviously a much more detailed breakdown of what it was like for her and the other activists that worked on getting Section 504 and the ADA signed and implemented. The level of discrimination and sheer contempt she had to deal with from government officials, politicians, and employers throughout her various positions in her very long and distinguished career, just baffles me. I found myself feeling much the same way that I did while watching "Crip Camp"--completely enraged on her behalf, and re-living the memories and trauma in my own life where I dealt with the same types of treatment and behaviors from able-bodied people. I will be frank; if you are a disabled person, this book will likely be very difficult for you to get through. I had to limit myself to only listening to this book for a few hours every day, because I couldn't handle more than that.
Speaking of listening, the audiobook is excellent, and I'm glad that Judy chose a narrator (the actress Ali Stroker, the first wheelchair user to ever win a Tony) who is also disabled, although I would've preferred to hear Judy herself narrate her own story.
This book is an extremely important read, and every disabled person should have it on their list. More importantly, every able-bodied person, who fashions themselves an ally or a good person, should also have this on their list.
We, as disabled people, still have a long way to go in our fight for equality, and with Judy's death in 2023, I worry about the fact that we've lost one of our strongest voices. But if Judy has taught us anything, it is that all it takes is one person to be the spark that starts the fire.
“Some people say that what I did changed the world. But really, I simply refused to accept what I was told about who I could be. And I was willing to make a fuss about it.” -Judy Heumann
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
justine_ett's review against another edition
5.0
I quite literally read this book in one sitting. A beautiful story of both the good and bad of humans, the harsh realities of a society riddled by ableism, and a powerful woman entwined with it all. I awkwardly almost cried on the plane reading it. 5 stars and please someone talk to me about it.