On ‘Being Huemann’

As part of a volunteer opportunity, I signed up to read and review a book for Words Alive’s program Page Turners which crowdsources book reviews to volunteers. Words Alive is a not-for-profit organization which hosts book clubs and readings for kids and teens. If a book receives positive reviews Words Alive will include the book in their education curriculum. I selected Being Huemann because it’s different than what I would normally read and seemed interesting.  

Before reading, I wasn’t familiar with Judith Huemann nor did I know anything about the disability rights activism movement. After finishing the book, I can honestly say it might be one of the best books I’ve ever read - not for it’s prose but it’s content. Judy gives readers remarkable insight into her life-long fight for disability rights and equality, framing disability rights activism as a civil rights movement. While reading, lightbulbs kept going off in my head as I became aware of injustice towards the disabled community and how this affects our society as a whole. This feeling of learning about terrible, horrible injustice and then wondering how I didn’t know about it sooner was familiar - I experienced this during the George Floyd protests when I realized our country’s struggle with racism was far from over. 

Heumann and her colleagues dedicated their lives to fighting for their civil rights, which were largely forgotten or ignored in our society. Huemann fought for access to education, healthcare, and basic human decency. After decades of activism, the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed on July 26, 1990. I am grateful for Judith Heumann’s work and for this book. I was reminded that disability is a part of the human experience - we all may become disabled as we age, even if we were born ‘normal’. 

Until next time,

KW