PRAGNYA celebrates and pays homage to the life of Judith Heumann - A legendary Disability Rights activist who fought tirelessly for the segregation of people with disabilities to stop, here in America. Section 504, Of the ADA and the subsequent passing of several laws to stop discrimination against those with disabilities, are all thanks to the efforts led by Judy. She left our realm on March 4th - in the Jewish tradition they say that in order to honor someone, it is important to hold memories close, and keep their legacy moving forward - Even in death, Judy sent a strong and powerful message to every single one of us - March 4th !! March forth !! March forth we will Judy - because even today, people with disabilities are still an afterthought when it comes to education, employment, community building, and society in general ….. Thank you for being the Unrepentant Warriors all your life and inspiring us to be relentless disability justice activists !!!
Speaking on the news of Judy's passing, Kavita Sreedhar, parent advocate and co-founder of PRAGNYA said, "Up until the 1970s, Children with disabilities were not even allowed to attend public schools; Education for them was considered merely a privilege and it was the parents’ prerogative to privately fund their education…. Thanks to Disability Justice activists like Judith Heumann that we are at least protected from discrimination based on disability but there still is a long way to go … even today, children are segregated and out in special education classrooms at age 3 based on their differences; even today at places like the Milpitas Unified School District, Students with disabilities suffer in silence without quality education and are consistently failing, in the red, there is little being done to actively add to their quality of life and support them …. As Unrepentant an advocate as Judy was …may we all become relentless allies in the disability rights and justice movement as well … R.I.P Judy .. thank you for leading the way … As PRAGNYA pointed out .. even in death on March 4th, you sent a message to keep Marching forth "...
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