Cultural Expressions of Disability Pride - Art Poetry Creative Disabled

The door closes
And in the still and silence of my office
The roll of the chair
Creaks and cricks the hardwood floor.
My son, not Two
From the distance
Squeals!
And I mean Sq-u-e-e-e-ls with delight!

Running on stubby, falling forward legs,
Hands still raised for balance,
He knows I'm here.
He knows I'm home.

Suitcase down.
Briefcase down.
Car keys down.
Shoulders aching from the drive.
Ears still popping from the flight.
I drink in the color and smell of home
And I wait.

I await the smile and the touch
that mean so much
and instantly, magically melt
to the Daddy, Daddy, Daddy
Thumping closer,
Thumping louder,
Thumping faster
Through the kitchen and the hall.

Knowing nothing of inertia
He turns the corner
With the grace of an Albatross;
Like a cartoon.
With an Ert, Ert, Ert,
Of skidding foot
And groaning concentration,
He barely misses the Jade
And slams into my knees
With a slap of meaty hands
And a triumphant A-h-h-h of teeth
and wild hair.

How do I tell him ...
This beautiful boy …
This Beautiful, breathless, excitable boy,
Who tonight I'll hold and put to bed
When all are fed,
And all is said and done.

You Get Proud by Practicing
by Laura Hershey

If you are not proud
For who you are, for what you say, for how you look;
If every time you stop
To think of yourself, you do not see yourself glowing
With golden light; do not, therefore, give up on yourself.
You can get proud.

You do not need
A better body, a purer spirit, or a Ph.D.
To be proud.
You do not need
A lot of money, a handsome boyfriend, or a nice car.
You do not need
To be able to walk, or see, or hear,
Or use big, complicated words,
Or do any of those things that you just canít do
To be proud. A caseworker
Cannot make you proud,
Or a doctor.
You only need more practice.
You get proud by practicing.

There are many many ways to get proud.
You can try riding a horse, or skiing on one leg,
Or playing guitar,
And do well or not so well,
And be glad you tried
Either way.
You can show
Something you've made
To someone you respect
And be happy with it no matter
What they say.
You can say
What you think, though you know
Other people do not think the same way, and you can
keep saying it, even if they tell you
You are crazy.

You can add your voice
All night to the voices
Of a hundred and fifty others
In a circle
Around a jail house
Where your brothers and sisters are being held
For blocking buses with no lifts,
Or you can be one of the ones
Inside the jail house,
Knowing of the circle outside.
You can speak your love
To a friend
Without fear.
You can find someone who will listen to you
Without judging you or doubting you or being
Afraid of you
And let you hear yourself perhaps
For the very first time.
These are all ways
Of getting proud.
None of them
Are easy, but all of them
Are possible. You can do all of these things,
Or just one of them again and again.
You get proud
By practicing.

Power makes you proud, and power
Comes in many fine forms
Supple and rich as butterfly wings.
It is music
when you practice opening your mouth
And liking what you hear
Because it is the sound of your own
True voice.

It is sunlight
When you practice seeing
Strength and beauty in everyone,
Including yourself.
It is dance
when you practice knowing
That what you do
And the way you do it
Is the right way for you
And cannot be called wrong.
All these hold
More power than weapons or money
Or lies.
All these practices bring power, and power
Makes you proud.
You get proud
By practicing.

Remember, you weren't the one
Who made you ashamed,
But you are the one
Who can make you proud.
Just practice,
Practice until you get proud, and once you are proud,
Keep practicing so you wonít forget.
You get proud
By practicing.

If there was a country called disabled,
I would be from there.
I live disabled culture, eat disabled food,
make disabled love, cry disabled tears,
climb disabled mountains and tell disabled stories.

If there was a country called disabled,
I would say she has immigrants that come to her
From as far back as time remembers.

If there was a country called disabled,
Then I am one of its citizens.
I came there at age 8. I tried to leave.
Was encouraged by doctors to leave.
I tried to surgically remove myself from disabled country
but found myself, in the end, staying and living there.

If there was a country called disabled,
I would always have to remind myself that I came from there.
I often want to forget.
I would have to remember…to remember.

I am not one of the physically challenged-
I'm a sock in the eye with gnarled fist
I'm a French kiss with cleft tongue
I'm orthopedic shoes sewn on a last of your fears
I am not one of the differently abled-
I'm an epitaph for a million imperfect babies left untreated
I'm an ikon carved from bones in a mass grave at Tiergarten, Germany
I'm withered legs hidden with a blanket
I am not one of the able disabled-
I'm a black panther with green eyes and scars like a picket fence
I'm pink lace panties teasing a stub of milk white thigh
I'm the Evil Eye
I'm the first cell divided
I'm mud that talks
I'm Eve I'm Kali
I'm The Mountain That Never Moves
I've been forever I'll be here forever
I'm the Gimp
I'm the Cripple
I'm the Crazy Lady
I'm The Woman With Juice

Excerpt from Riva's website: "Circle Stories is a series of portraits of people in a variety of fields, including the arts, academia and political activism. Each has a significant physical disability, and an interest in exploring body issues in his or her own work. This project began in 1997 and currently includes nine works.

The word “Circle” refers to several aspects of the project. The portraiture method is a circular one, involving extensive interviews with each participant. We talk about their lives, work, and experience of disability. We both suggest possible imagery, seeking imagery that accurately reflects their experience. In this way we arrive at a collaborative composition."

Circle Story #2: Tekki Lomnicki
1999, mixed media on paper, 48" x 36"
Tekki Lomnicki, performance artist and writer, has done numerous solo and collaborative shows. Her work maps her identity as a Little Person, and her costume-embellished pieces explore, parody and manipulate the ways that small stature is perceived. A recent piece, Letting the Dead Rest, was featured at a number of Chicago festivals.

EMPOWERMENT EXPLOSION
Excerpt from Amy's website: "When I first began this project, my idea was to make a small wall hanging that would symbolize various aspects of our movement. It was to be something that would be empowering to look at, something that in times of distress would reenergize my spirit. Words that touch my soul have been embellished in this quilt. Quotes from Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Justin Dart, John F. Kennedy, Margaret Mead, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and many others have found their way into the many weaves of the lattices, because they, like the lattices are words and sentiments that bond us...I was wrong to believe that I could make something of this nature with the end result being a "small" wall hanging. For 20 months my mind did not rest dreaming up new squares and watching my quilt grow. Once it reached 94"x64" I knew that it was time to call it a quilt, realizing however, that not everything nor everyone that empowers me could not possibly fit within it's perimeters. That is why this is only the beginning of a series of quilts that I am creating that will focus on our heroes, our triumphs, and out defeats; telling our stories to pass on to future generations. The quilt contains 27 squares 23 are what I consider "universal" squares. They represent issues or Federal laws that all Americans with disabilities feel a connection with. One square represents a PA State law, and the remaining three are symbolic of my connection to the movement. The border which is made from the scraps of the squares reads "WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL" twice around the quilt. The pieced letters are 4"x4". It is for the most part; machine pieced with the exception of some hand applicaed squares that are quilted by hand. In the process of quilting it, I added multicolored glass seed beads to add variety and sparkle."

Excerpt from the website: "Tellin' Tales Theatre's mission is to build community through the art of storytelling. Our company gathers the stories of groups or individuals-including adults and children with disabilities-and creates theatrically innovative performances using mentoring and collaboration. Tellin' Tales is dedicated to providing a venue for bringing together diverse people. Our aim is to help our audiences and our performers recognize their commonalties and build a sense of community where none existed before."

Institute on Disability Culture Manifesto
Steve Brown

"The Institute on Disability Culture's mission since 1994 has been to promote pride in the history, activities, and cultural identity of individuals with disabilities throughout the world."

Excerpt from Mouth Magazine: "Tom Olin has covered the disability rights beat since 1983. Thanks to his photography, many of our finest activists will not be forgotten. Currently, he is archiving his work for the Smithsonian. Tom has a website under construction where you will be able to purchase rights to reproduce photographs from his half-million-image archive.

Still, when disability action is happening, Tom is there. He covers the national activism of Adapt and Not Dead Yet. He photographs conferences of the National Council of Independent Living, of TASH, of statewide independent living councils, and would likely photograph your group's work as well. (Note: he gets paid for these gigs.) Invite him by email to crippower@aol.com."

MOUTH Magazine:

http://www.mouthmag.com/
Free Hand Press, Inc.
4201 SW 30th Street
Topeka, Kansas 66614-3023
Editor-designer: Lucy Gwin
General Officer: Cal Grandy
Clipper: David Anthony
Illustrator: Scott Chambers
Voice: Marcia Yaroslow
Heroes: all of us listed under "survived by..."

http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/
"WHO WE ARE: Ragged Edge magazine is successor to the award-winning periodical, The Disability Rag. In Ragged Edge, and on this website, you'll find the best in today's writing about society's "ragged edge" issues: medical rationing, genetic discrimination, assisted suicide, long-term care, attendant services. We cover the disability experience in America -- what it means to be a crip living at the start of the 21st century."
editor@raggededgemagazine.com

Remember: Disability Is Beautiful. Difference Is Beautiful. That makes you Beautiful!