The Heumann Perspective

In honor of the one year anniversary of Judy’s passing, this bonus episode of The Heumann Perspective features unpublished, behind-the-scenes moments. You’ll hear Judy interacting with guests before and after interviews, as well as the occasional voices of her podcast producers.

The transcript for this podcast episode is available here.

Interviews featured in this episode:

This episode was produced by Kylie Miller with the assistance of Rebecca Katz through the Goucher College Micro-Internship Program.

Intro music by Lachi. Outro music by Gaelynn Lea.

CONTENT WARNING: Brief mention of sexual violence.

The conversation featured in this episode was recorded a few weeks before Judy Heumann passed away on March 4th, 2023. This is last of 5 final episodes of The Heumann Perspective. All episodes of The Heumann Perspective will remain available indefinitely at judithheumann.com.

The transcript for this podcast episode is available here.

This episode is also available in video format on YouTube.

Gloria Steinem is a writer, lecturer, political activist, and feminist organizer. She travels in this and other countries as an organizer and lecturer and is a frequent media spokeswoman on issues of equality. She is particularly interested in the shared origins of sex and race caste systems, gender roles and child abuse as roots of violence, non-violent conflict resolution, the cultures of indigenous peoples, and organizing across boundaries for peace and justice. She lives in New York City, and is the author of the travelogue My Life on the Road.

Photo by Katie Lyman.

Related Links:

Intro music by Lachi. Outro music by Gaelynn Lea.

CONTENT WARNING: Mentions of sexual and gender based violence.

The conversation featured in this episode was recorded a few weeks before Judy Heumann passed away on March 4th, 2023. This is the fourth of 5 final episodes of The Heumann Perspective that will be published over the next few weeks. All episodes of The Heumann Perspective will remain available indefinitely at judithheumann.com.

The transcript for this podcast episode is available here.

This episode is also available in video format on YouTube.

Abia Akram has been engaged in the Disability Movement since 1997. She is known as one of most active women with disabilities leader globally. In the struggle of giving voice to women with disabilities, she has been lobbying with parliamentarians, UN high level representatives focusing on developing advocacy strategies to raise awareness, network, and build capacity and at the UN level in relation to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Inclusive Development. She also coordinates efforts of including persons with disabilities in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its sustainable development goals. In particular, she established National Forum of Women with Disabilities, Special Talent Exchange Program (STEP), Aging and Disability Task Force (ADTF), and has been recently assigned the responsibility as Chair, Asia Paific Women with Disabilities Network. She is the Co-Coordinator, Asia Pacific Women with Disabilities United and Coordinator, South Asia Disability and Development Initiative (SADDI) Project, Executive Board Member, Commonwealth Disability Forum. Abia is also a Trustee for the Sightsavers UK and a Board Member of Asia Pacific Women, Law & Development (APWLD).

Zahida Hameed Qureshi lives in Multan, Pakistan. When she was just 6-months-old, she got polio and as a result, both of her legs were paralyzed. She began using a wheelchair and found independence doing her daily chores without depending on her family. Zahida went to school, college, and university just like any other independent student. She completed her Masters in Economics from Bahauddin Zakriya University. After completing her education, Zahida was rejected from jobs in her field because of her disability. She finally landed a position at an organization called SPO where people with disabilities are encouraged to work. Working with SPO enabled Zahida to pursue her passion to work for people with disabilities, especially women with disabilities. This passion became an institution in 2007 when Zahida setup a DPO called Society for Special Persons. It works on the concept that “Disabled people are their best advocates” and provides them a platform to express their problems openly and fight for their rights. Zahida strongly believes that people with disabilities should not be view as a burden on society of their families. They must try their best to create opportunities for themselves in order to help improve the country.

Related Links:

Stay tuned for the final episode of The Heumann Perspective dropping next Wednesday.

Intro music by Lachi. Outro music by Gaelynn Lea.

The conversation featured in this episode was recorded a few weeks before Judy Heumann passed away on March 4th, 2023. This is the third of 5 final episodes of The Heumann Perspective that will be published over the next few weeks. All episodes of The Heumann Perspective will remain available indefinitely at judithheumann.com.

The transcript for this podcast episode is available here.

This episode is also available in video format on YouTube.

Amy Kenny is a disabled scholar whose writing on disability has been featured in Teen Vogue, Sojourners, Shondaland, Reader’s Digest, and Huff Post. Her award-winning book, My Body Is Not A Prayer Request mixes humor, personal narrative, and theology to invite faith communities to rethink their unintentional ableism and learn from the embodied wisdom of disabled people.

She serves as a facilitator for Freedom Road Institute for Leadership and Justice, coordinates support for people experiencing homelessness in her neighborhood, and is a co-founder of Jubilee Homes OC, a permanent supportive housing initiative in her local community.

Currently, she is launching the Disability Cultural Initiative at Georgetown University, a role that seeks to celebrate the diverse disability community and cultivate a culture of access intimacy across campus.

Mona Samer Minkara is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Northeastern University, where she uses computer simulations to obtain a better understanding of the chemical interactions that occur at the air-water interface inside the lungs. Her goal is to use this research to engineer better treatments and methods of drug delivery.

Mona was born to devoted Lebanese immigrant parents and raised with two younger siblings in the Boston area. When Mona was 7, she was diagnosed with macular degeneration and cone-rod dystrophy. One specialist told her mother that it was not worth it to spend a penny on her education. In defiance, Mona’s parents supported her through the Massachusetts public school system. Upon graduating high school, Mona was accepted to Wellesley College with scholarships. After graduating from Wellesley, Mona continued doing research for a year, funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, before being awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship. Mona later attended the University of Florida for her Ph.D.

Rabbi Lauren Tuchman is a sought after speaker, spiritual leader and educator. Ordained by The Jewish Theological Seminary in 2018, she is, as far as she is aware, the first blind woman in the world to enter the rabbinate. She provides consulting to individuals and organizations across the Jewish community on a variety of matters pertinent to disability access and inclusion. She has taught in numerous synagogues and other organizations across North America. She was named to the Jewish Week‘s 36 under 36 for her innovative leadership concerning inclusion of Jews with disabilities in all aspects of Jewish life. In 2017, she delivered an ELI Talk entitled We All Were At Sinai: The Transformative Power of Inclusive Torah.

In addition to her work in the disability inclusion space, Rabbi Tuchman passionately believes in the power of spiritual and contemplative practice as a path of transformational personal and collective change for the Jewish world and beyond. She has trained and continues to teach Mussar with Rabbi David Jaffe and the Inside Out Wisdom and Action Project.

Related Links:

Stay tuned for the next of the 5 final episodes of The Heumann Perspective dropping next Wednesday.

Intro music by Lachi. Outro music by Gaelynn Lea.

CONTENT WARNING: Brief mention of suicidal ideation and suicide.

The conversation featured in this episode was recorded a few weeks before Judy Heumann passed away on March 4th, 2023. This is the second of 5 final episodes of The Heumann Perspective that will be published over the next few weeks. All episodes of The Heumann Perspective will remain available indefinitely at judithheumann.com.

The transcript for this podcast episode is available here.

This episode is also available in video format on YouTube.

Chimére L. Smith is an author, speaker, panelist, and thought leader who unapologetically shares her unique Long COVID journey including balancing the effects of the destabilizing condition on her emotionally, physically, and financially as a Black woman and patient. She has been featured on many media platforms including CNN, MSNBC, and in The New York Times. She has also written for Huffington Post, Medium, and She Knows. She is currently on a virtual book tour, celebrating the release of Fiona Löwenstein’s The Long Covid Survival Guide of which she is a contributing author and can be found at chimereladawn.com. And she also works with #MEAction to encourage diversity in volunteerism.

Terri Wilder is a writer, activist, and community organizer. She was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) in March 2016. Since her diagnosis she has worked with elected officials, public health departments, health care providers, and activists to raise awareness about ME/CFS in New York, Minnesota, and across the globe. She was finishing her PhD in Sociology at Georgia State University when she became ill; however believes she has had the disease since 1996. She is currently a consultant with #MEAction, the chapter leader of #MEAction Minnesota, and represented the organization on the federal Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC). She uses the skills she learned from the AIDS movement and the LGBTQ community to fight for the ME community. Terri is a 1992 graduate of the University of Georgia (UGA) School of Social Work where she earned her Master of Social Work. She graduated from UGA with a Bachelor of Social Work in 1989.

Related Links:

Stay tuned for the next of the 5 final episodes of The Heumann Perspective dropping next Wednesday.

Intro music by Lachi. Outro music by Gaelynn Lea.

The conversation featured in this episode was recorded a few weeks before Judy Heumann passed away on March 4th, 2023. This is the first of 5 final episodes of The Heumann Perspective that will be published over the next few weeks. All episodes of The Heumann Perspective will remain available indefinitely at judithheumann.com.

The transcript for this podcast episode is available here.

This episode is also available in video format on YouTube.

Molly Burke is a speaker, YouTuber, content creator, and disability advocate. At the age of four Molly’s world changed forever when she learned that she would eventually go blind. Less than a year later she decided to empower herself by public speaking to raise awareness about blindness.

Later, she not only competed for the title of Miss Teen Canada International, but won. Hungry to uplift young women worldwide, she chose to give up her crown to speak and advocate on stages around the world such as  the United Nations Headquarters and Davos World Economic Forum. She’s spoken about empowerment, inclusivity, and equality alongside figures like Malala, Meghan Markle, Richard Branson, Demi Lovato, Martin Luther King III, and Justin Trudeau.

Molly decided to share her message in a more universal way. She thus started her YouTube channel as one of the platform’s first disabled creators. Over time she amassed over two million subscribers. She then decided to expand even further, and started creating content across platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat where she has already built communities of millions more followers.

Molly has appeared in commercials that have aired during the Academy Awards, The Super Bowl, and more. She has been featured in leading press such as the Today Show and People Magazine and she has been both a nominee and recipient of numerous Shorty and Streamy Awards.

Molly’s Links:

Stay tuned for the next of the 5 final episodes of The Heumann Perspective dropping next Wednesday.

Intro music by Lachi. Outro music by Gaelynn Lea.

This interview is also available in video format with ASL interpretation on YouTube here.

The transcript for this episode is available here.

This episode was created by Quinn Hodgson as a part of Goucher College’s Micro-Internship Program.

Dr. Melanie McKay-Cody is a Cherokee Deaf Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona in the Department of Disability & Psychoeducational Studies. She earned her doctoral degree in linguistic and socio-cultural anthropology at the University of Oklahoma. She has studied critically-endangered Indigenous Sign Languages in North America since 1994 and helps different tribes preserve their tribal signs. She also specialized in Indigenous Deaf studies and interpreter training incorporating Native culture, North American Indian Sign Language and ASL. She is also an educator and advocate for Indigenous interpreters and students in educational settings. Besides, North American Indian Sign Language research, she had taught ASL classes in several universities, schools and community for over 42 years. She is one of eight founders of Turtle Island Hand Talk, a new group focused on Indigenous Deaf/Hard of Hearing/DeafBlind and Hearing people.

Related Links:

Do you have a question for Judy? Send a voice memo for our Ask Judy Segment to [email protected].

Intro music by Lachi. Outro music by Gaelynn Lea.

The transcript for this podcast episode is available here.

This episode was created by Devin S. Turk as a part of Goucher College’s Micro-Internship Program.

Related Links:

Do you have a question for Judy? Send a voice memo for our Ask Judy Segment to [email protected].

Intro music by Lachi. Outro music by Gaelynn Lea.

The transcript for this podcast episode is available here.

Ryan J. Haddad is an actor, playwright, and autobiographical performer based in New York. His acclaimed solo play Hi, Are You Single? was presented in The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival and continues to tour the country. Other New York credits include My Straighties (Ars Nova/ANT Fest), Noor and Hadi Go to Hogwarts (Theater Breaking Through Barriers), and the cabaret Falling for Make Believe (Joe’s Pub/Under the Radar). Regional theatre: The Maids, Lucy Thurber’s Orpheus in the Berkshires (Williamstown Theatre Festival), and Hi, Are You Single? (Guthrie Theater, Cleveland Play House, Williamstown Theatre Festival). He has a recurring role on the Netflix series “The Politician.” Additional television: “Bull,” “Madam Secretary,” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”

Haddad is a recipient of IAMA Theatre Company’s Shonda Rhimes Unsung Voices Playwriting Commission and Rising Phoenix Repertory’s Cornelia Street American Playwriting Award. His work has been developed with The Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theatre Workshop, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Noor Theatre, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Primary Stages, and Pride Plays. His writing has been published in the New York Times, Out Magazine, and American Theatre. Ryan is an alum of The Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group and a former Queer|Art Performance and Playwriting Fellow, under the mentorship of Moe Angelos. @ryanjhaddad and ryanjhaddad.com.

Related Links:

For 2023, we’re inviting our listeners to participate in Ask Judy in a new way. We want you to send us voice memos with messages and questions for Judy that we’ll feature in an episode of The Heumann Perspective. If interested, please send yours to [email protected]

Check out the video version of this episode on Judy’s YouTube channel. 

Intro music by Lachi. Outro music by Gaelynn Lea.

The transcript for this podcast episode is available here.

About Elizabeth Bonker

Elizabeth Bonker is the Executive Director of Communication 4 ALL, a nonprofit with the mission to gain communication for the estimated 31 million non-speakers with autism worldwide. Elizabeth learned to type on a letterboard at age six and later, on a keyboard. Soon after, she began writing poems that were published in I Am in Here. In 2022, Elizabeth wrote the lyrics for an I Am in Here album with the music by The Bleeding Hearts. Her decade of advocacy work has included a PBS feature, a TEDMED Talk at the Kennedy Center, and bipartisan support for her mission on Capitol Hill. In May 2022, Elizabeth graduated as a Valedictorian from the Honors Program at Rollins College. Her Commencement Address went viral with more than 4 billion media impressions creating visibility and momentum for her mission. Elizabeth is a member of Autism Society of America‘s Council of Autistic Advisors and frequently a speaker at conferences interested in neurodiversity.

Related links:

For 2023, we’re inviting our listeners to participate in Ask Judy in a new way. We want you to send us voice memos with messages and questions for Judy that we’ll feature in an episode of The Heumann Perspective. If interested, please send yours to [email protected]

Check out the video version of this episode on Judy’s YouTube channel. 

Intro music by Lachi. Outro music by Gaelynn Lea.