Stand Up for the Whole Community
The following is the fourth installment of the GCDD First Thursdays blog series, a monthly blog that will share the thoughts and ideas of GCDD staff members.
Stand Up for the Whole Community
In her book Inspired Jewish Leadership, Dr. Erica Brown equates communities to a circle and she writes about how leaders are constantly trying to expand the circle and bring those outside into the community. For us at the Georgia Council of Developmental Disabilities (GCDD), this has meant reaching out not only to people with developmental and other disabilities, but to others who share common experiences. Many people in our society have been left out of the circle because of economics, color, religion, sexual orientation and educational status. We, at GCDD, believe these are the same people who need to join our community and help us expand to make Georgia a better place to live for people with disabilities and those disenfranchised and living outside our circle.
I know there are those of you who are saying, "Eric, you don't really mean we should join with those people." I read it on Facebook all the time. People with disabilities and family members who advocate for less support for some other group because they are different simply do not realize that the issues are the same, but just have a different face.
It reminds me of the Martin Niemoller poem "First They Came for the Socialist" written about Nazi Germany. The poem talks about how the Nazis came for different groups and how the individual did not do anything because he/she was not part of that group. Only until they came for his group, there was no one left to protest.
Today, it may be okay to say our taxes should not be used to help people who are hungry and need food. But, what happens when services for poor moms who have children with disabilities are stopped? Or what happens when they have saved all the money they can from managing health care and decide they want to manage and reduce services and support to our community to save money? Who will be there to stand up and say, "we have a responsibility to make sure that people with disabilities and others who are struggling have real opportunities to live a better life?"
We have to recognize that inequality for any group results in inequality for all of us. We are stronger when we stand together against policies that result in people, disabled or not, being denied access to healthcare, services or food.
Make it your commitment during 2014 to say to our elected officials that we must do a better job of supporting not only people with disabilities, but all people who are left out of the circle.
Join me on GCDD's 16th annual Disability Day at the Georgia State Capitol on February 20, 2014 and share this message with our elected officials. Follow what is taking place during the legislative session by signing up to be a part of our advocacy network. http://www.ciclt.net/sn/sec/join.aspx?ClientCode=gcdd
Eric Jacobson
GCDD Executive Director
