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Nothing About Us Without Us -- Mantra for a Movement...

By Eli A. Wolff, Contributor and Dr. Mary Hums, Contributer
Educator, Innovator, Advocate
Professor of Sport Administration, University of Louisville
Sep 5, 2017, 09:20 AM EDT
Updated Sep 6, 2017

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“Nothing about Us Without Us” emphasizes how people with disabilities must be valued as integral and essential contributors to every sector, industry and community including entertainment, fashion, education, sports, medicine, business and law. While people with disabilities need to be leaders of disability-focused organizations, that is not enough. We also need to be front and center in mainstream local, national and international organizations. 

For example, in the entertainment industry, people with disabilities need to represent themselves and be visible in movies, TV and advertising. Similarly in the world of sports, people with disabilities need to be leading the Paralympic, Special Olympic, and Deaflympic Movements, but also need to be front and center within the Olympic Movement, professional sport, intercollegiate athletics and youth sports.

The powerful phrase “Nothing About Us Without Us” ignites a vision for people with disabilities that represents pride and power rather than stigma and pity. It helps us realize that the disability community is an empowering and uplifting community that unites us and works for our rights and dignity. The phrase reinforces the possibilities for people with disabilities to be meaningfully included, and if we wish to, seamlessly become leaders in every type of organization and institution. We need to have a valued voice in every facet of daily life.

“Nothing About Us Without Us” moves us to re-define, re-imagine and transform what it means to be a person with a disability in all aspects and all avenues of our global society. It inspires a movement that extends beyond the status quo while demanding progress toward equality and justice. Hopefully “Nothing About Us Without Us” will continue to serve as a social justice call to action in mobilizing future generations.

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https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nothing-about-us-without-us-mantra-for-a-movement_b_59aea450e4b0c50640cd61cf

 

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