Being Heumann
An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist
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4.6 • 32 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year for Nonfiction
"...an essential and engaging look at recent disability history."— Buzzfeed
One of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human.
A story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn’t built for all of us and of one woman’s activism—from the streets of Brooklyn and San Francisco to inside the halls of Washington—Being Heumann recounts Judy Heumann’s lifelong battle to achieve respect, acceptance, and inclusion in society.
Paralyzed from polio at eighteen months, Judy’s struggle for equality began early in life. From fighting to attend grade school after being described as a “fire hazard” to later winning a lawsuit against the New York City school system for denying her a teacher’s license because of her paralysis, Judy’s actions set a precedent that fundamentally improved rights for disabled people.
As a young woman, Judy rolled her wheelchair through the doors of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in San Francisco as a leader of the Section 504 Sit-In, the longest takeover of a governmental building in US history. Working with a community of over 150 disabled activists and allies, Judy successfully pressured the Carter administration to implement protections for disabled peoples’ rights, sparking a national movement and leading to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Candid, intimate, and irreverent, Judy Heumann’s memoir about resistance to exclusion invites readers to imagine and make real a world in which we all belong.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
With its clever title, this immersive memoir of one woman’s extraordinary determination captured our attention even before we started reading. Partially paralyzed by polio when she was still an infant, Judith Heumann was all too aware of America’s unfair attitudes toward people with disabilities. The world Heumann grew up in made it nearly impossible for someone in a wheelchair to have a job, travel independently, or even participate in everyday life, so beginning in the 1970s, she became an outspoken champion for change. Like the heroine of a Hollywood biopic—if you haven’t seen the enthralling documentary Crip Camp, put it on your list!—Heumann fought for the legislation that paved the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act. We cheered for her as she goes up against cruel and dismissive adversaries, testifies before Congress, spearheads the takeover of government buildings, and becomes an unexpected celebrity in the fight for disability rights. Told with the same pluck and defiance that’s fueled Heumann’s mission for decades, Being Heumann is a galvanizing read.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this empowering debut, disability rights activist Heumann reveals her indomitable spirit as she battled prejudice and discrimination to gain equal opportunity. Recognizing that Americans with disabilities were "generally invisible in the daily life of society," Heumann, who was paralyzed by polio at 18 months in 1949, fought for inclusion in everyday activities, believing "it was the government's responsibility to ensure that everyone could participate equally in our society." Fighting to go to elementary school in Brooklyn after being called "a fire hazard," she first attended a segregated special education class before attending regular high school. Heumann attended Long Island University, where she led various student protests; after college, she won a lawsuit against the New York City Board of Education for denying her a teacher's license because of her condition. In 1977, she helped organize a 24-day sit-in at the San Francisco office of U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which pressured the Carter administration to finally execute protections for disabled people, eventually leading to passage of the American with Disabilities Act ("since we'd been left out of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we needed our own Civil Rights Act"). Thoughtful and illuminating, this inspiring story is a must-read for activists and civil rights supporters.
