The Disabled & Proud Session Rooms are named to honor three important activists in the Disability Movement. We have some information about them here.
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Edward Verne "Ed" Roberts (January 23, 1939 – March 14, 1995) was an American activist. He was the first student with severe disabilities to attend the University of California, Berkeley. He was a pioneering leader of the disability rights movement.
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Roberts_(activist) |
Christopher M. Bell (1974-December 25, 2009) was a disability studies scholar working in the area of HIV/AIDS, race and ethnicity. He was the former president of the Society for Disability Studies and contributed to national discussions about race, ethnicity and disability studies. His posthumously published anthology, Blackness and Disability: Critical Examinations and Cultural Interventions, grew from his early critique of disability studies as a "white discipline" that ignored the racial dimensions of studying disability. His 2006 essay, "Introducing White Disability Studies: A Modest Beginning," was published in the second edition of the Disability Studies Reader and established him as a notable disability studies scholar.
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Bell_(scholar) |
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Leah Katz-Hernandez is a speaker, author, and advisor with the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation Advisory Committee. Previously known as the celebrated Receptionist Of The United States for President Obama “ROTUS,” Ms. Katz-Hernandez is a leading expert on disability inclusion, public communication strategy, and civil rights. Through her dynamic career, she gained experience with the nonprofit sector, presidential campaigns, Capitol Hill, and the Obama White House.
As a highly visible White House employee, Ms. Katz-Hernandez skillfully welcomed world leaders to the West Wing while simultaneously urging equal access for the Deaf, Disability, and Latina communities. Ms. Katz-Hernandez now uses her expertise to advocate for equality all over the world, with a focus on supporting marginalized communities. She earned her MA in Strategic Communication from American University in 2016 and a BA in Government from Gallaudet University in 2010. (source: https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/celebritytalentbios/Leah+Katz-Hernandez/402976) |