KPFA - Pushing Limits

The stories of people with disabilities are often lost in the midst of armed conflicts, seen as just another tragedy amid the horrors of war.  But a new paper by Human Rights Watch shows a pattern of harm and offers specific recommendations to mitigate the suffering.

Today, we talk about war and other current issues with our listeners.  If you live with a disability or are part of our disability community as a family member, care-giver or friend, call us at 1-800-958-9008.

Should the prevention of war be a top priority for the disability justice and rights movement?

What do you think about the controversy over a wheelchair accessible path to the Greek Acropolis?

Will housing desperation cause us to accept segregated housing developments?

And, how about that Sacramento rally on Tuesday for Single Payer Health care in California!

Eddie Ytuarte and Adrienne Lauby will be taking your calls.

They produced and host this program with thanks to Ann Garrison and Disability Scoop for research support.

The post War, Wheelchairs & Housing – Pushing Limits – June 18, 2021 appeared first on KPFA.

Today’s Program:  Disrupting Ableism with Artful Activism

Featuring Lateef McLeod and D.J. Saravese

Lateef McLeod is a poet, blogger, activist, and PhD candidate in the Anthropology and Social Change Doctoral program at California Institute for Integral Studies. His poetry, activism, and scholarship are all informed by his experience living in the Bay Area with cerebral palsy. He published his first book of poetry, A Declaration of a Body af Love, in 2010, and his second poetry book, Whispers of Krip Love, Shouts of Krip Revolution, in 2020.

David James Savarese is an artful activist and founder of Listen2Us: Writing Our Own Futures. The recipient of an Open Society Foundations Human Rights Initiative Community Youth Fellowship in 2017-2019, he is also co-producer and narrative commentator of the Peabody award-winning documentary Deej: Inclusion Shouldn’t Be a Lottery. A graduate of Oberlin College, he has published widely, including his chapbook, A Doorknob for the Eye, and a notable essay in the 2018 Best American Essays, “Passive Plants.”

This event was part of  The Hastings Center’s events series, “The Art of Flourishing: Conversations on Disability,” supported  by the National Endowment for the Humanities. https://www.thehastingscenter.org/who-we-are/our-research/current-projects/the-art-of-flourishing-conversations-on-disability-and-technology/

photo: Ksenia Makagonova via Unsplash

The post Disrupting Ableism with Artful Activism – Pushing Limits – June 4, 2021 appeared first on KPFA.

A half-hour radio show providing critical coverage of disability issues and bringing the insight of the grassroots disability movement to the general public. The show alternates weekly and airs on Odd weeks Friday 2:30pm.

The post Pushing Limits – May 21, 2021 appeared first on KPFA.

In this program we play music from Mary Lambert, talk some about being disabled and finding yourself in a yet another crisis, and give a big shout out to those of us with mental disabilities.   We also open the phones for listener calls.

You might know Mary Lambert from her work with Macklemore on the song “Same Love” or, as I call it, “My Love She Keeps Me Warm” or from her hit song, “Secrets”.  Her latest album, Grief Creature, she says, centers around trauma and mental illness.  She’s courageous, fun and a wonderful singer!

Because of the music in this program, this archived version will only be available for 14 days.

Hosted by Mollie McLeod & Adrienne Lauby

Production help from Shelley Berman, Sheela Gunn-Cushman, Rod Akil and Jose Gonzalez

The post Mental Disabilities, Mary Lambert’s Music & More. Pushing Limits – May 7, 2021 appeared first on KPFA.

Able-bodied people tend to freeze up when someone with an unfamiliar disability shows up in their environment.  They suddenly turn away, speak foolishly, or bumble too aggressively in our direction.  The result is awkward – and sometime dangerous.

Questions arise:  Should I help someone by pushing their wheelchair?  Can blind people cross the road without assistance?  What do I do if I don’t understand someone with a speech limitation?

The disability etiquette that answers these questions is our starting point with our guests this week.

Laura Millar and Bobbi Pompey, two activist/service providers from the disability community, don’t stop with etiquette.  They use these common questions to open doors to fundamental issues.  Going deeper than Miss Manners ever did, they’ll talk about assumptions, the limits of assistance, stereotypes, the beneficent helper syndrome and more.

Join Eddie Ytuarte for a validating and challenging thirty minutes.

Biography of Laura Millar:  Laura Millar a blind sex educator, community organizer, researcher and self-proclaimed disruptor! With a Master of Public Health as well as a

Masters in Human Sexuality, Laura conducts research and facilitates conversations that examines how individuals who are blind or low vision learn about and navigate the world of dating, sex and intimate relationships.

Laura offers everything from one-on-one education to in-services, trainings and workshops, for individuals who are blind or have low vision, their family members and the organizations that serve them. Laura is committed to ensuring that sexual health information and services are comprehensive, inclusive and accessible for everyone. If you have questions or would like to talk to

Laura directly you can email her at [email protected].

Let’s create a culture of consent together.

Bobbi Pompey is a Rehabilitation Teaching Specialist at San Francisco’s Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

This program was produced and hosted by Eddie Ytuarte.

The post Beyond Disability Etiquette w/ Laura Millar & Bobbi Pompey – Pushing Limits – April 23, 2021 appeared first on KPFA.