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Abilities Magazine
| February 22nd, 2004 | |
The ForumRyerson UniversitySummer 2002. Issue 51: p. 39 Forumby Catherine Frazee "Fifty years ago, renowned black artist, actor and activist Paul Robeson, forbidden to speak out under the McCarthy regime in America, stood one foot inside the Canadian border to denounce injustices done to black people in America and around the world in the Cold War era. Tonight, it�s like history repeating itself - I am here, passport in hand, to talk about the injustices experienced by my disabled brothers and sisters of colour." Thus began the engaging and powerful presentation of African-American poet and social activist Leroy Moore, who came to Ryerson on March 21 and 22 to take part in events recognizing the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Moore�s public presentation, entitled, "Disabled People of Colour: Oppression is the Womb of Self-Determination," incorporated personal, historical, political and cultural elements, weaving his own poetry with research and personal experience in both the disability movement and the black community. "I volunteered for 14 years at non-profit disabled organizations, and hardly saw anyone who looked like me," Moore declared. This absence stimulated his interest in searching out historical contributions made by disabled people of colour to American history. Did you know, for example, that Harriet Tubman was disabled as a result of a brain injury inflicted in an assault by a slave "owner"? The evening was moderated by award-winning broadcaster Rita Deverell of VisionTV. Well-known now for her own lifelong crusade to shatter stereotypes, Deverell fought her own battle against racial discrimination in 1985, when she challenged the CBC�s refusal to let her audition for a dramatic role as a Saskatchewan farm woman. Moore�s visit was the second event in the Distinguished Visitors Series, presented by the Ryerson-RBC Foundation Institute for Disability Studies Research and Education. The first event in the series, featured in the Winter 2001 issue of ABILITIES, took place during Holocaust Remembrance Week last November. At that time, Dr. Simi Linton from New York University presented the documentary film Liebe Perla, and guided students and faculty toward an interpretation of its historic and contemporary significance. In keeping with Ryerson�s reputation for relevance and innovation, the Distinguished Visitor Series, funded by a generous grant from the Royal Bank Foundation, seeks to explore issues arising at intersecting sites of social disadvantage. Organized around the broad theme of "Intersections," the series emphasizes that people with disabilities must not be seen in isolation. We have complex identities, and our experiences are shaped by a multitude of historical, cultural and social forces. Our exploration of "Intersections" engages not only distinguished visitors, but also Ryerson faculty and students from a broad range of academic perspectives, as well as members of the community at large. Responding to Moore�s presentation on March 21 were Sheena Scott, the Director of Legal Services for the African Canadian Legal Clinic, Peggy-Gail DeHal-Ramson, a community legal worker at Parkdale Community Legal Services, and Omaya Rakieh, a founding member of Ethno Racial People with Disability Coalition of Ontario. Each panelist brought unique expertise and insights to the evening�s discussions, ranging from sobering statistics about lingering racial inequality in Canada to compelling personal accounts of struggle and resistance. Rakieh, for example, recounted experiences of organizing for disability services in her native Lebanon, then having to turn her creative energies toward establishment of a new organization after coming to Canada and finding her "peer group" to be white and twice her age, disabled in a different outbreak of polio half a century earlier than the epidemic in Lebanon. Moore also participated in a panel discussion on race, disability and activist culture on March 22, examining the ways in which artistic and cultural expression contribute to anti-oppression work. The panel highlighted ways in which people with disabilities are accessing creative and performing arts to express our social identity and advocate for social justice. The Ryerson campus actually rocked with selections played from Moore�s spoken word recording, "Black Disabled Man with a Big Mouth and a High IQ"! Stay tuned to this column for future events in this exciting series. (For more information, contact Catherine Frazee, Co-Director, Institute for Disability Studies Research and Education, at Ryerson University, (416) 979-5000, ext. 7037.)
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