Judy Heumann
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Y’all, every single person I choose for a Badass Bitch From History is, of course, phenomenal. But few have had the impact as a singular person as Judy Heumann. Let’s get into it!
Judith Ellen Heumann was born in Philedelphia in 1947 to Werner and Ilse Heumann, German Jewish immigrants. Around 18 months, Judy contracted polio which required her to use a wheelchair for mobility for the rest of her life. However, in the early 1950s, it was not common for Disabled children to be allowed to attend their neighborhood public schools and Judy was told that she was a fire hazard (1). Imagine being a full grown adult and blaming your own prejudices on a kindergartner! At a time when many Disabled folx with higher support needs would be shuttled off to an institution for their whole lives, there wasn’t much support in the public schools. She was expected to be educated at home by her family, presumably without any guidance. I guess the thought was that people with disabilities didn’t need to bother with silly shit like education since they would never be able to get a job anyway. Or some bullcrap like that.
Image found here.
Heumann’s mother fought the school district and it was agreed that they would provide a few hours of in-home tutoring a week. After a few years of this, Judy was allowed to attend a school for children with disabilities beginning in fourth grade, but it was expected that she would return to in-home, solitary education for high school. Ilse, however, said “fuck your nonesense” and she fought against this along with other parents until the district relented and Judy was able to attend high school (2). Badassery runs in the family, turns out.
If you’ve seen the movie Crip Camp on Netflix, you’ll know some of what comes next. Judy attended every summer for many years of her youth. The camp was a place designed specifically for Disabled children and teens and it was the only place and time in which their disabilities did not define their lives. They still needed assistance at varying levels, but they were allowed to just be because accommodations were provided and they were amongst people used to Disability. So much of being a Disabled person in public spaces revolves around making sure you have appropriate accommodations so that you can access society the way abled people can, that to be in a place where Disability was the norm gave them what ableds face every day: support, comfort, and access. (3)
It also gave them connections. And that is extremely important for activism.
I’ve already written about the 504 Sit-Ins in 1977, but that wasn’t Judy’s first rodeo. Not only did she attain primary education, but she went on to college. She earned a degree and passed all the tests required to become a teacher, only for the New York Board of Education to come back with that same old tired fire hazard crap. Like, for reals, guys?
So she sued those assholes (2) and she won because fuck yeah she did!
The lawsuit made the media and the media infantilized her, as they always do with Disabled people.
The Post, in its sensationalistic way, adored her — describing her as “cute” and “perky” (2)
Photo found here.
But Judy wasn’t gonna be held back by any adolescent adjectives, that Badass Bitch used the platform to speak for her community. A few years later she was forced off a flight for - I bet you can see what’s coming, right? - “safety” reasons.
Please take a moment to sit with this. Disabled folx have had to fight for the most basic access to the most basic places. For many, many years, they were not even able to have a conversation about their rights because abled people could not see the inaccess. To abled people, the Disabled community is merely a tiny minority that doesn’t really need to be considered because they are so few. Not only is this flatly inaccurate (approximately 13% of Americans (4) are disabled which is approximately 1 in 8 people), but it also utterly erases their needs by pretending the few don’t matter because they are few. Take a moment this week to pay attention to accessibility as you are out and about. Where are the elevators? Are they in the back, hidden? Are they even in working order? Do stores make sure to have room for electric wheelchairs to squeeze through? How tall are counters?
Judy never stopped working for equity until her death earlier this year in 2023. This woman, who was once told she could not attend kindergarten went on to work in with multiple presidents as she worked to create equity. She founded multiple Disability Rights organizations ad sat on the board of others. She traveled the world for her work, even in her wheelchair, even on airplanes.
Fuck ableism!
You can buy Judy’s memoir here, and her YA book here.
Sources
JudithHeumann.com: https://judithheumann.com/project/about/
New Mobility’s Person of the Year: https://newmobility.com/new-mobilitys-person-of-the-year-judith-heumann/
Crip Camp documentary. Available on Netflix.
Pew Research: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/07/24/8-facts-about-americans-with-disabilities/
