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Advocacy begins with
a Single Step:
Until one is committed there
is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always
ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of
initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills
countless ideas and splendid plans: that the
moment one definitely commits oneself, then
Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur
to help one that would never otherwise have
occured. A whole stream of events issues from the
decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of
incidents and meetings and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamt would have come
his way.
I have learned a deep respect for one of
Goethe’s couplets: “Whatever you can do, or
dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genious,
power and magic in it.”
from The Scottish Himalayan Expedition by W. H.
Murray, 1951
SHIRTS ON THIS PAGE AT A GLANCE
[ADVOCATE] [BARRIER REMOVAL TEAM] [DARWIN] [DAY OFF] [EXISTENCE] [HUGO] [LABELS] [LIFE] [MISSION] [NOT DEAD YET] [NOTHING ABOUT ME] [PISS ON PITY] [PYSCHOSCLEROSIS] [SAME STRUGGLE] [YOUR ATTITUDE]
ADVOCATE
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DESCRIPTION:
A Lake Blue Shirt with Dark Lavender Stamp on
front like a USDA Stamp. Stamp says, "100% A
D A Empowered, Trained and Tested." Around
the stamp it reads: "Access, Accommodation
and Acceptance through Advocacy and
Activism." On the back in the same lavender
color is a Martin Luther quote which reads, “I
have the right to believe freely, to be a slave
to no man's authority. If this be heresy so be
it. It is still the truth. To go against
conscience is neither right nor safe. I
cannot...will not...recant. Here I stand. No man
can command my conscience.”
Martin
Luther, in defense of his beliefs at the Diet of
Worms in 1521.
COMMENTS:
I did this because for friends in Michigan.
Looked so nice and the message is so powerful.
BARRIER
REMOVAL TEAM
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DESCRIPTION:
White shirt with Red Circle with Red diagonal
line signifying "NO" over a black
profile of steps on front.
COMMENTS:
I did this because we need to have a design to
make us look official when we are playing
"ADA Police". I have worn this into
restraurants for no particular reason and had
managers come up to me either nervous and fidgety
or proud of what they have done and wanting me to
see. Quite effective when two or more are wearing
them.
DARWIN
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DESCRIPTION:
White artwork on a Hunter Green colored shirt.
Picture on front of Darwinian evolution from
small gibbous monkey to homo sapien with last
character a person in a wheelchair pushing up a
ramp. Words below read: "Adapt or
Perish".
COMMENTS:
This design comes from Anna Stonum and her
company, Designs for All, out of the Chicago
area. As we sadly lost Anna a few years back, a
portion of the profits from this shirt go to the
Anna Stonum Fund to continue her work in
advocacy.
DAY OFF
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DESCRIPTION:
Black shirt with artwork of cartoon man in
wheelchair thumbing his nose and sticking his
tongue out. He is wearing a shirt that says
"Severely Euphemized". It also says
next to him, "There comes a time when even
the best advocates need a day off."
COMMENTS:
I did this shirt all the folks that get tired of
having to be "on" all the time.
Sometimes you feel like you have to be a diplomat
for the next guy coming along.
EXISTENCE
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DESCRIPTION:
Black shirt with blue and green world on the
front. White letters around the world say
"Working toward a world of awareness and
better understanding." Underneath the world
it says "Existence without meaning is
nothing. Make a difference."
COMMENTS:
The quote at the bottom of this shirt is a
collaboration between myself and a good friend,
Jean Dobbs, from New Mobility Magazine. It s
about manifesting the unique potential that
exists within each of us.
HUGO
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DESCRIPTION:
Navy shirt with white Victor Hugo quote on front
saying "What matter is deafness of the ear
when the mind hears."
COMMENTS:
While trying to explain to a friend of mine who
is deaf the subtle difference between the sound
of wind whispering through the pines and that of
a distant waterfall pounding stone I became a bit
melancholy and asked her if it ever bothered her
missing these beautiful nuances. Without a blink
she enlightened me ten-fold by showing me the
signs for both and sharing that, quite often, the
signs are as beautiful to be
LABELS
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DESCRIPTION:
White shirt with black and red four panel artwork
on front of a person chained to a wheechair,
flying through the air towards a chair, dragging
a chair by the rope tied to his ankle all with a
small caption reading "wheelchair
bound". The last panel has the guy flying
down a hill in a wheelie. It's caption reads
"wheelchair user." The bigger theme
around these images is the caption "It's the
labels that are confining!"
COMMENTS:
This message is directed primarily at the media
for they are the worst offenders. Archaic
terminology is degrading and perpetuates negative
myths. It shows one's ignorance. Person-first
language empowers and promotes awareness. It
presumes equity.
LIFE
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DESCRIPTION:
White shirt with a blue paint swash on front. The
word "LIFE" appears in the swash. The
back has this poignant saying
"Life...
Who
lives? Who dies? Whose life is given value? Whose
life is measured by cost? Society in every
generation seeks control of life and breath. We
never learn. Again people speak of murders of
people with disabilities not as evidence of
brutal bigotry but as compassion. “She was set
free of a life of disability.” “He is now whole
in God’s arms.”
We
are assured that there will be safeguards.
Doctors and tribunals will oversee the decisions
of death. It is an experiment that has been
tried. A society, not long ago, decided that
people with disabilities had ‘life not worthy of
life.’ They set up a tribunal of doctors to
review case histories. Each doctor would rate the
life of a person with a disability. If they were
deemed as having life not worthy of life a big
red “X” would be marked on the file. If the
person was deemed as having some redeeming value
the doctors would mark the file with a big blue
line.
XX =
Death -- = Life.
There
were few blue lines. With the full approval of
the medical community, with the co-operation of
doctors, the killing began. It is a chilling fact
that the first mass death equipment was test run
in a state medical facility. This fact must have
made the man who would soon kill millions, smile.
If you can imagine Hitler smiling.
Wearing
this blue line I assert that NEVER AGAIN will
others determine the value of the lives lived in
the disability community. Wearing this blue line
I assert that I will not be silent when the face
of bigotry wears a little black
mustache....Worthy of Life."
COMMENTS:
Before Hitler came for the Jewish people he
practiced on 600,000 people living with
disabilities. The words of Dave Hingsburger
remind us of our past and call us to vigilance.
MISSION
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DESCRIPTION:
White shirt with a colorful design of the earth
from space on front and a saying "Imagine a
world of diversity and interdependence where
people are respected simply for who they are;
where our commonalities are recognized and bring
us closer; and where differences are celebrated
for what they provide: opportunities to bring
something unique and individual to our
community." It has a larger message above
and below that says "Ours is a mission to
enlighten."
COMMENTS:
The genesis for this shirt was a campaign for DD
month for Public Images Network in Ohio several
years back. It has evolved over time into this
and calls us to take ownership for change.
NOT DEAD
YET
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DESCRIPTION:
Black shirt with white letters on front saying
"Not Dead Yet. The Resistance"
COMMENTS:
I don’t know about you but, with three quarters
of his victims being people with non-terminal
disabilities, the constant acquittal of “Dr.
Death” scared the bejesus out of me. Though he
is in jail now, his disciples continue... Since
1983, many people with disabilities have opposed
“right-to-die” proponents who have advocated
that people with severe disabilities should
receive suicide assistance, not suicide
prevention. Our opposition was ignored, and many
people with disabilities have already died as a
result. When all the facts are considered, in
these days of managed care, the threat to the
many people with disabilities, new, old and yet
to be, terminal and not terminal, who live in a
society which devalues our lives, is monumental
and pervasive. On April 27, 1996, Not Dead Yet
was formed to oppose the legalization of
physician-assisted suicide. January 8, 1997, in a
Supreme Court rally, the outcry of people with
disabilities chanting "Not Dead Yet"
was heard around the world. The Resistance was
born. Gotta voice? Gotta body? Join The
Resistance. To do so, call Diane Coleman at
708-209-1500 (V); 209-1826 (TTY)
Worried about
Sociopathologists eyeballing you for your organs?
Feeling maybe a little too sick for managed care?
Me too. There is safety in numbers.
Profits go to NDY to aid
in the struggle against the really bad guys.
NOTHING
ABOUT ME
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DESCRIPTION:
Natural colored shirt with a teal handprint on
the front. Across the hand are black letters
saying, "Nothing about me without me."
COMMENTS:
Speaking in Iceland a few years back, I met a
fellow speaker from South Africa. There, the
Disability Rights Movement had a credo,
"Nothing about Us without Us". A
perfect message of self-determination and choice,
I altered it a bit to be more personal. Thanks to
the gang at Mouth Magazine for the handprint
motif.
PISS ON
PITY
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DESCRIPTION:
Black shirt with the saying "Piss on
Pity" very large and hot pink on front.
COMMENTS:
Not only is it eloquent, it can be seen from a
mile away. You want a shirt that makes a
statement. I'd say this shirt fills the bill. A
goodly portion of the proceeds of this shirt goes
directly to Johnny Creshendo and D.A.N. to
support their fight. If you get a chance to catch
Johnny's act, take it. He's raucous, irreverent,
right-on and, to be quite honest, the closest
thing to spiritual since the invention of K-Y
PSYCHOSCLEROSIS
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DESCRIPTION:
Black shirt with the saying "Help stamp out
"Psychosclerosis" (Hardening of the
Attitude)" in big letters and then in small
letters below it says, "Open your mind. See
through bigger eyes. Listen completely. Be human.
Better yet, be humane. Embrace diversity."
COMMENTS:
Here is the one disability, no, not
disability, handicap (in no way synonymous) so
sinister, so pervasive, it can be found at the
very core of man’s inhumanity to man. It blinds
eyes to bigotry and hatred and closes the mind
and heart to thoughts of equity, respect and new
ways of solving archaic problems. We must work to
erradicate it from the planet.
SAME
STRUGGLE
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DESCRIPTION:
Black shirt with white handwritten message on
front saying "Same struggle, Different
Difference."
COMMENTS:
When it comes down to it, the Disability Rights
Movement is a child of the Civil Rights Movement
and we are all children of the Human Rights
Movement. There is power in this: the power of
shared experience, our common struggle.
YOUR
ATTITUDE
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DESCRIPTION:
Burgundy shirt with white letters on front saying
"Your Attitude just might be my biggest
barrier."
COMMENTS:
This shirt makes people think. Period. It is a
great shirt for the kid going to his first IEP.
[ ON TO DIVERSITY
SHIRTS ]
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