Hi all!

The post below here is a little after the fact, but the message is
still very powerful &well worth paying attention to!!

Thanks-Gary


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 01:35:03 -0400
From: Alejandra Ospina <[log in to unmask]>
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
Subject: Fw: Don't Support Jerry Lewis This Labor Day

A forwarded, but important message.
---

Subject: Don't Support Jerry Lewis This Labor Day
From: Martina

Dear Fellow Activists,

I write today to ask you as a show of solidarity to NOT donate your
hard earned dollars to the Jerry Lewis labor day telethon for the
reason that follow.  Please remember to call the local office at (413)
567-5500 and inform them of your decision.

1) Jerry Lewis says insulting things about disabled people, including
that we are half-people.

2) The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) now refuses to allow
disabled people to be volunteers at its summer camps.  This is
ploblematic because summer camp is a venue for disabled youngsters to
be exposed to role-models and ask questions without mom and dad
around.  For me, camp was the first place I learned about Personal
Assistance Processes, disability scholarships and supports, and most
importantly listened to the stories of my friends, who were as
disabled as me,succeed at college.

3)Most of the money doesn't go towards providing people with muscular
dystrophy (MD) with supports they need(such as wheelchairs, breathing
therapies, personal care, ect.)  Instead, money goes to research and
overhead.  Not that research is not important, but any "cure" is far
away (and wouldn't work completely because muscles that are not
regularly used present their own problems which will not vanish
obernight) and a theoritical cure is no so important if you cannot
leave your home because you don't have a chair.

On the above items, please visit http://www.stoppity.org and/or read
poet and activist Laura Hershey's essay "From Poster Child to
Protester", (which is available on her website
http://www.cripcommentary.com and a really good introduction to the
issue.

Lastly, and in my opinion most importantly, telethons permote the
image of disabled people as helpless.  This is particularly damaging
to children, who learn that the only way to get what they want or
need is to act helpless.  Hardly the most useful lesson when getting
which you need as a disabled person generally involves being
assertive and self-assured.  Additionally, as the telethon is a major
source of media imagery about disabled people, many able-bodied
people think all disabled are not capable of managing themselves.
This attitude makes the lives of disabled people in general much
worse.

So, PLEASE don't contribute to this event. Instead, support
disability rights initiatives such as the Medicaid Community
Attendant Services and Supports Act, a bill which would establish a
federally funded, national personal assistance program.  Go to events
such as the Free Our People March on September 17th in Washington, DC
(http://www.freeourpeople.org) and volunteer in disability rights
organizations and project.  You may also want to become a personal
care assistant, either paid or unpaid, as this service is vital to
many people with disabilities

If you truly want to contribute monetarily to the well-being of
people with Muscular Dystrophy, please contact the Muscular Dystrophy
Family Foundation.  This organization was founded by two rock
musicians with MD and focuses on providing wheelchairs, lift vans,
ect. to people who need them while using empowering donor request
materials.  Their website is http://www.mdff.org and they're worth a
visit.

Please forward this message to anyone you can think of.