Image description: Judy Heumann speaking at a 504 protest.
Judy Heumann, also known as “The Mother of Disability Rights,” passed away on March 4th, 2023. She was one of, if not the most, influential people in the disability rights movement. Judy helped pass the ADA, IDEA and was a leader in the historic 504 sit-in. She is legitimately the reason we, as disabled people, have a lot of the rights that we do.
Not only was she so incredibly important to the disability rights movement, Judy played a crucial part in most young disabled people’s advocacy journeys, including my own. I remember the first time I read her memoir, “Being Heumann,” it changed the course of my advocacy.
When I first started my disability advocacy blog at age 11, I didn’t know any disability advocates. I didn’t really have anybody to consider a role model. That was until I discovered Judy. Reading her story made me aware of what the disability community has gone through as a whole and gave me the motivation to keep advocating and follow in her footsteps.
Judy became disabled as a toddler when she contracted polio. Her advocacy career began at an extremely early age when she was denied the right to go to school because she was considered a fire hazard. She and her mother advocated for her right to go to school until the state of New York put her in a school specifically for disabled people.
A few years later, after college, she went to the New York Board of Education again, this time to get a teaching license. She was denied her right, yet again because she was physically disabled. She went on to sue the New York Board of Education. Judy then went on to be a leader in the 504 sit-in, which is still the longest sit-in in a federal building, and was a huge part of why the Americans With Disabilities Act was passed.
I’m not the only one Judy’s legacy is still impacting. Her legacy is something disabled author and public speaker Tatum Tricarico thinks about often. “Through my advocacy work I also got to know her a bit personally and her wisdom changed my life,” she said. “I specifically think about the time I interviewed her about Ed Roberts’ life. Then later meeting her in person it was clear that those friendships extended to me and the whole disabled community.”
Judy obviously helped pave the way for change within the disability community and helped inspire younger generations to continue her work. As disability advocate Kirstianna Guerrero put it, “She especially inspired me to use every opportunity in my life not only to fight for change, but also to inspire, guide and challenge all the change-makers of the future that will continue this important work. Her tenacity, authenticity and honesty touched my life and continue to stir my passions.”
Even almost one year after her passing, Judy Heumann continues to empower so many disabled people. I believe the disability community is one of the strongest communities in the world, and I credit so much of it to Judy. Even though she is gone, her legacy will continue to help, as Judy put it, “feisty disabled people change the world.”
