Category: Spread the News!

A Friend Indeed – The Bill Sackter Story

Being fairly new to Iowa City I arranged to have delivered to my Inbox Tomorrow’s Best Bets from GoIowaCity as a means of getting to know the place.  I just read yesterday’s issue and as a result, I’m now making plans to attend the World Premier, yep you heard me, the WORLD PREMIER of "A Friend Indeed – The Bill Sackter Story"

Watch the trailer:

"44 years in an institution, unable to read or write, no family,  no place in society – an unlikely friendship changed his life forever…his story inspired millions…

Bill was really a big leader in a movement, unbeknownst to him, of normalizing people’s reactions to people with disabilities…"

To be honest, I’m not familiar with Bill Sackter’s story.  But as someone interested in how the media portrays people with disabilities, I am curious as to how Lane Wyrick, director/editor, has handled this responsibility – and I do consider it a responsibility. I’ve read Lane’s entry The Documentary Begins on the Bill Sachter Documentary Blog and I have no doubt this is a labor of love.  Let’s hope the audience loves it as well.

Steve and I will keep you posted.

~ Connie

LINKS:

Find numerous links to Bill Sackter on Abilities Awareness; A Friend Indeed Premiers…

Update: Here is Steve’s reaction after having seen the film.

[with]tv Launches New Radio Program for People with Disabilities…and everyone else!

A Different Perspective – Press Release

Coming Soon: a one-hour, weekly Internet Talk Radio Program entitled A Different Perspective set to premier on Webtalkradio.

A Different Perspective will be hosted by Howard Renensland, CEO of [with]tv: "a television channel of, by, and for people with disabilities…and everyone else" and PWdBC, a 501 c 3 dedicated to training people with a disability for careers in film and television.

To quote Mr. Renensland, “My experience of the past 23 years raising
and advocating for my daughter with disabilities has convinced me that
the single most debilitating factor limiting people with disabilities
is not their disability, but rather their image as portrayed in
mainstream media and the factors that contribute to that stereotypical
image. [with]tv will alter this situation by fully employing people
with disabilities in a mainstream media company where they, people with
disabilities, will control the medium and the message.”

A Different Perspective will present an
entertaining discussion of current issues from the perspective of
people with disabilities. Howard will, with the assistance of guests
and [with]tv volunteer reporters from the disability community, provide
this perspective intended for all listeners – not just those with a
disability. The ongoing progress of [with]tv, PWdBC, and the work of
the volunteers turning this vision into a reality will be discussed as
well.

Inquiries regarding advertising and corporate sponsorship are
welcome. A volunteer staff is seeking audio commercial placement along
with advertising and corporate sponsors for A Different Perspective, [with]tv, and PWdBC.  More information can be found on on Blog [with]tv and on the web site.

Cross-posted on Blog [with]tv.

Crimes Against People with Disabilities

Crimes Against People with Disabilities: A brand new blog and A Place to Tell It Like It Is 

In 2002, Professor Mark Sherry, then at the University of California, published an intriguing article about the grievous underreporting of hate crimes against people with disabilities in the United States.

The most important dimension of this piece resides in the FBI’s
suggestion that hate crimes against the disabled are statistically
negligible. The findings of an accompanying study by the UC Berkeley’s
program in disability studies suggest that police and law enforcement
officials are often reluctant to categorize crimes against people with
disabilities as hate crimes because officers aren’t sufficiently
trained to identify biased based crimes. Additionally, it is easier to
classify a crime as simple assault.

Alas, not much has changed in the six years since this article was
published even though disability rights advocates have continued to
point out the seriousness of this underreporting problem.

The aim of this blog is to give people with disabilities and their
fellow advocates a place to publicly record narratives of abuse against
PWDs. These narratives might be first person accounts or associated
stories drawn from the news media or the internet. They might be links
to blogs or links to announcements concerning public policy and law
enforcement initiatives aimed at addressing these problems. Other posts
might include articles or bibliographies about these issues.

Above all
else it’s safe to say that the gathering of this information will be
timely.

Cross-posted on Blog [with]tv

Your Opinion? Disability & Media Consumption Survey

Originally posted on Blog [with]tv

My name is Anna Pakman and I am a first year MBA student at Columbia Business School. I am
conducting a survey as primary research for my paper on Media Consumption &
People with Disabilities for my Consumer Behavior class. I would appreciate it
if you could take a few minutes of your time to answer some questions about
your consumption of television, film, Internet, and radio programming. As you
probably know, the Nielsen ratings track media consumption for just about every
population EXCEPT our community so the only way I can get this data is through
your assistance. All individual survey responses are anonymous and will be kept
strictly confidential.

You’ll find access to the survey on Blog [with]tv


The deadline for filling this out is March 31, 2008. Please feel free to
forward this on to any and all individuals and organizations that may have an
interest in completing the survey or getting their constituents to do so.

Should you have any further questions please feel free to contact me at apakman09@gsb.columbia.edu.
If the survey presents any problems for those using screen reading software
please let me know and I can figure out another way to get it to you.
Unfortunately, I need to use Qualtrics as it is the only surveying
software provided by Columbia University and I have no control as to how
accessible/unaccessible it is. If you have a lot of trouble, please record your
problems and e-mail them to me so I can forward it on to our IT people who can
then relay this feedback to the vendor. 

Thanks in advance for your time.

Regards,

Anna Pakman
MBA Class of 2009

Send a Haiku Postcard to the President

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Blue Girl? When was the last time you wrote a Haiku? 

Lance?
Dave?
Wren?
Ruth?
Ira?
Andrea?

On the Split This Rock Poetry Festival web site you’ll find a link to Blog This Rock where we can all read read haiku written to "Dubya" by attendees of the 2008 AWP Conference in New York City.

Let President Bush know how you feel.  We’re all invited to do just that.  Send a "Haiku Postcard to the President!" c/o

Split This Rock Poetry Festival
The Institute for Policy Studies
1112 16th   Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036

Here’s mine:

I support our troops
but you can’t have my children.
Not for your mistakes.

~ Connie

Our Support Needed for the ADA Restoration Act

The Road to Freedom leads us, among other places, to this list of 5 Things we can all do RIGHT NOW to support

"the ‘ADA Restoration Act’ that would restore vital
civil right protections for children and adults with physical, mental,
cognitive and developmental disabilities."

For more information, visit the ADA Restoration Act 2007 blog where you’ll find this ****ACTION ALERT!****

HURRY!

~CK

Cross-posted on Blog [with]tv

Congratulations Simi Linton, author of "My Body Politic"

As mentioned previously on this blog, Simi Linton has a blog called Disability Culture Watch, which she categorizes as "A disability-focused commentary on the arts".  Here is an excerpt from her "About" page:

"There is an emerging cadre of dancers, actors, writers, performance
artists, and painters who are actively engaging with both the fact and
idea of disability. The most exciting work explores what disability
provides the artist, rather than what feats someone can perform despite
disability. When disabled artists use their unique bodies and voices,
something innovative happens.  My job is to follow these turns and
twists on the cultural map, selectively reporting and critiquing this
vital phenomena."

Simi is the author of My Body Politic (University of Michigan Press, 2006) and recently she has been awarded grants, one from the Puffin Foundation and one from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, to develop a stage adaptation for the book.  Congratulations, Simi!  We can’t wait!

With permission from Simi, the summary of her book, as found on her web site, is copied below for our review.  Follow this link to learn more, as well as to hear two selections from the book, read by the author herself. 

Continue reading “Congratulations Simi Linton, author of "My Body Politic"”

Black Friday Deals on Amazon!

This year you can avoid the crowds and shop online at Amazon.com from
the comfort of your own home.  (Or from Grandma’s house…)  And when
you do, you can help support the [with]tv mission by using this link: www.amazon.com/blackfriday

"While we don’t have a cold, dark parking lot for you to line up in, we
do have a bunch of great deals to help you get your holiday shopping
done for less. Be sure to check back here on the day after Thanksgiving
to see our Black Friday 2007 specials. This year we’ve created a Black Friday page for
holiday shoppers at www.amazon.com/blackfriday.
Amazon.com will be offering hourly deals from 6am to 6pm PST along with
thousands of products on sale for a limited time. Also, customers will get gift
wrapping for $.99 per item."

So please, feel free to bookmark this link and if you wouldn’t mind,
spread the word!  Your family and friends may appreciate the link as
much as we do.

Thank you!

Cross-posted on Blog [with]tv

United Nations Launches New Website re: Rights of Persons with Disabilities

For Distribution:

From: Edoardo Bellando [mailto:bellando@un.org]
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 4:46 PM
Subject: Announcement: new Enable website – www.un.org/disabilities

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to inform you that the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), has launched a new website. The website in English is complete, while the new website in Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, and Russian will be launched in early 2008.

We invite you to visit the new website, and encourage you to update all links to the Enable website from your own organizational websites.

Happy browsing!

Best regards,

Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Please visit the UN Enable Website at:
http://www.un.org/disabilities

Cross-posted on [with]tv