Photo credit: Senado Federal, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons (remixed with quote)
Change never happens at the pace we think it should. It happens over years of people joining together, strategizing, sharing, and pulling all the levers they possibly can. Gradually, excruciatingly slowly, things start to happen, and then suddenly, seemingly out of the blue, something will tip.
Judith Heumann, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist
It is with great sorrow that we learned about the passing of U.S. disability activist Judy Heumann.
Judy Heumann was a remarkable activist that progressed disability rights around the world.
She rose to prominence as a leader of the civil rights movement in the 1970s. Her work gave prominence to disability as a civil rights issue in the U.S. and the world. For example, she coordinated and represented a coalition of activists during a 24-day sit-in to force the U.S. Administration to enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. She played a fundamental role in passing the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. Before, she had successfully sued the New York Board of Education to receive her teaching license.
For this, many American disability activists dub her “the mother of the disability rights movement”.
In addition, she held prominent governmental roles under the Clinton and Obama administrations and at the World Bank. During her tenure as the first Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the U.S. State Department (under the Obama administration), she fought for the U.S. ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
She served as a mentor and inspiration to many across the world.
We mourn her passing and send our deepest condolences to her family and friends.
Yannis Vardakastanis, President of the European Disability, said on behalf of EDF:
Judy’s impact on the global disability rights movement cannot be understated – she was an example and inspiration to many. We, the European disability movement, consider her example and will continue to collaborate with movements across the world to advance human rights for all persons with disabilities.