It's true! Like, for real.
Hi Reader , Have you seen the documentary Crip Camp (2020)?* If you haven’t, I can’t recommend it to you highly enough. I saw it for the first time last week, when I braved the rain (and the prospect of going to an event where I wouldn’t know anyone) to attend a community screening. The film tells the story of how a radically inclusive camp for physically disabled people inspired former counselors and campers to become activists within the movement for disability rights and inclusion. In the film, you see these activists leading and/or participating in landmark protests such as the occupation of the San Francisco Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) building in 1977 or the 1990 Capitol Crawl, where people with physical disabilities crawled up the steps of the US Capitol to illustrate the need for Congress to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act. You see the activists sacrifice their comfort, and at times, their physical well-being to advocate for their rights. You see that they met with plenty of resistance and apathy as they pushed to make accessibility the norm in our society. Still, you see their strength, determination, and fierce commitment to their cause. Clearly, these activists were people who not only believed that the status quo was unacceptable; they believed that change was possible. One of my takeaways from the film is that everyday people really do have the power to change the world when we work together. Of course, this is something that I, like most people who care about creating a more just, humane world, believe intellectually. But in this political and social moment, I needed this story of camp counselors/attendees turned activists to remind my brain that it’s true. Like, for real. I’m grateful to organizations like Michigan United and Detroit Disability Power for creating spaces (like the film screening) for everyday people to connect with one another around shared causes and drive change. As I mention in episode 25, “How to Cope with Being Human, Part Two”: Sometimes
it takes someone else's courage to inspire me to be brave
or other people's hope to inspire me not to despair.
Who's inspiring you to be brave and hopeful these days? Peace, Janai * Note: You can watch Crip Camp for free on YouTube or find it on Netflix. NEW EPISODEIn this political/social moment I believe it’s more important than ever for those of us who want a more equitable, humane world to remind ourselves of strategies that we can turn to when we do find ourselves falling into a space of overwhelm, cynicism, resignation, or despair. As you listen to Episode 25, “How to Cope with Being Human –Part Two” and hear me share the last three of my five strategies for how to cope with being human, I invite you to reflect on how YOU cope. Feel free to share your reflections with me:
* Listen on
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Janai Gilmore
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Words. A New Episode. Other Goings On. Hi Reader , Before 2025, I had a pretty fixed image of what my role in changing the world was and was not. That’s because I had a pretty fixed image of the type of person I was and was not. I was not a “go-to-a-protest” type person. I was not a “go-to-Lansing-to-advocate-to-legislators” type person. I certainly was not a "door knocking,- phone banking,- or-approaching-strangers-at-community-events-for-a- political-campaign" type person. In short, the...
a young, smiling program manager @ the office in January 2020 Hi Reader , The tension is real for many of us professional do-gooders. We want to change the world. AND we want to pay off our student loans as quickly as possible. We want to be part of the revolution. AND we want to be able to retire one day. We want to dismantle (or at least reimagine) capitalism. AND we want to be able to pay our bills. It’s common for us to hold competing (if not downright contradictory) desires like these as...
Hi Reader , The last time we met here I asked you, "Who's inspiring you to be brave and hopeful these days?" Amber Hamilton, President and CEO of the Memphis Music Initiative (MMI), is on that list for me. Her work is expansive. She leads: MMI's staff and stakeholders in the work of providing young people in Memphis access to music instruction and space for creative expression. an innovative campaign to disrupt philanthropy by modeling what it looks like to invest in Black-and brown-led...