Tag Archives: advocate

Celebrating Women

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As Women’s History Month comes to a close, it’s only right that I highlight the achievements of the fierce females who, this year alone, have broken barriers and paved the way for future generations of girls with a dream.

The first all-women Navy flyover in the Super Bowl

The fly-over team for Super Bowl LVII includes, from left to right, Lt. Arielle Ash of Abilene, Texas; Lt. Margaret Dente of North Salem, New York; Lt. Naomi Ngalle of Springfield, Virginia; Lt. Jacqueline Drew of Waltham, Massachusetts; Lt. Suzelle Thomas of Birmingham, Alabama; and, Lt. Kathryn Martinez, also of Springfield, Virginia. (U.S. Navy Office of Information)

On February 12, 2023, history was made at the Super Bowl, and it wasn’t by the male athletes. Prior to kickoff and following the singing of the National Anthem, a team of all women piloted the US Navy flyover. This was to commemorate 50 years since women were allowed to be Navy pilots. Lt. Arielle Ash and Lt. Saree Moreno, who led the diamond formation, spoke on this honor. “It’s definitely a huge honor to be asked to do this and to celebrate those women that have paved this way for all of us,” said Ash. Moreno added, “I think it’s a message not just to young girls, but to young people that they can do whatever they set their mind to…And if they want to be a jet pilot, that is well within possibility for them.” These heroic ladies exude pride in their service to this country and in their position as women in the military. They deserve honor not only for having to prove their value in a field that, even still, consists of mostly men, but for being a part of history at one of the world’s most-watched sporting events.

First all-female MLB broadcast team for ROOT SPORTS Network

From left to right: Julia Morales (Astros), Jen Mueller (Mariners), Angie Mentink (Mariners), Jenny Cavnar (Rockies), were the on-air voices serving as play-by-play announcer, analyst and sideline reporters during the Mariners vs. Rockies Spring Training game on March 11, 2023.

During the 2023 Spring Training, ROOT SPORTS Network gathered women reporters from various baseball teams and networks to come together and hold its first-ever game broadcasted completely by women. While this was not a first for MLB, these ladies cemented their names into history by becoming just the second fully female broadcast crew. Cavnar reflected on this opportunity by saying “I think just walking around a baseball clubhouse or walking around fields at Spring Training and being able to see several women in several different areas—it is so refreshing, and it just goes to show you the hard work that a lot of us have put in for decades is spreading.” For decades female sports reporters have had to work hard to be taken seriously and prove their proficiency in working for a men’s sport. This move by ROOT SPORTS Network was a step in the right direction for future knowledgable, sports-loving ladies. Prior to the game, Mueller stated “It’ll just be female voices that are leading those conversations. And I think that’s an important thing, because we all have different points of view. But also, it shows people that it’s possible and that it’s normal.” These respected reporters are living proof that women aren’t going away anytime soon in the world of sports.

Michelle Yeoh becomes the first Asian woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role

Michelle Yeoh accepts the best actress award for Everything Everywhere All at Once onstage during the 95th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Images

While her career spans many decades, actress Michelle Yeoh is finally receiving her rightful recognition, at the age of 60. Following the release of the film Everything Everywhere All at Once just over a year ago, the screenplay quickly began receiving many accolades. For her role in the film as Evelyn, a first-generation Chinese immigrant and owner of a laundromat, she previously won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture. Yeoh then went on to make history with her win at the 95th Academy Awards for the same role. On March 12, 2023, by winning an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role, she became the first Asian woman to win in such category as well as the first-ever Malaysian-born actress to win in any category at the Academy Awards. Yeoh, who is known to perform many of her own stunts in her action films, including her latest, has worked tirelessly throughout her career to make a name for herself, not only as an Asian, but a woman in a male-dominated industry, and it seems to finally be paying off. In her acceptance speech she professed, “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof that…dream big, and dreams do come true. And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime. Never give up. This leading lady is certainly an inspiration to aspiring actors and actresses alike.

Watch Michelle Yeoh’s full acceptance speech here

Honorable Mention: Judy Heumann

Special Advisor on Disability Rights for the US State Department Judy Heumann at her office in Washington, DC on November 8, 2010.

While this activists’ contributions go beyond just this year, it would be a disservice to the disabled community if I failed to mention this inspiring woman, who sadly passed away on March 4, 2023. I’ve already once written about her on this blog in discussing the Disability Rights Movement and the summer camp she and others attended, Camp Jened, featured in the 2020 Netflix documentary Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution. Heumann, who contracted polio at age 2, devoted her life to advocacy for the rights of those with a disability. At the age of 5, she was denied the right to attend school because she was considered a “fire hazard”. She recounts this time in her memoir, Being Heumann, writing “Kids with disabilities were considered a hardship, economically and socially”. As an adult, she was denied a teaching license after failing her medical exam, even though she passed her oral and written exams. After suing the Board of Education, she was able to become the first teacher who was a wheelchair user in the state of New York. During President Obama’s presidency, he appointed Judy as the first Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the U.S. Department of State, where she served from 2010-2017.  Heumann was a key leader who, through her activism and protesting, helped the passage of multiple laws for the disabled community such as Section 504, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act. While discussing the lack of authentic disability representation and inclusion in films in a 2021 interview, she argued “They need to be bringing disabled people to the table in the development of their materials, and they need to be hiring disabled people for a part or all aspects of the work…Ultimately, it’s not just about looking at more Crip Camps and more films on disability, but it’s really also about understanding that disabled people, both on the sets and off, have much to contribute around disability, but also in general.” While we’ve seemingly made progress in recent years, we surely have a long ways to go. The tireless efforts of her and others who fought for the rights of the disabled community is not lost on me. She is a prime example that we’re all “Heumann”.

Judy Huemann, amongst others, protesting during the Disability Rights Movement

All these stellar woman who have made waves in their respective industries are just some of many that make me proud to be a woman!

Flight Risk: Why We Should Care About Airlines Mishandling Wheelchairs

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It’s not often that I feel personally affected by a social media post, but when I came across Tammy Le’s heartbreaking viral video, I was stunned. It was the second video I had seen, within weeks of each other, that showed a young woman in distress after an airline company had mishandled and damaged her wheelchair. Lately this has become a recurring issue and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. It was important to me that I help in getting this woman’s story out. I was lucky enough to contact the woman shown in the video and get to know her, as well as interview her about her experience on that dreadful day.

Above is the viral video captured by @gsp_bobby on Instagram that captured an audibly dejected Tammy discussing with United Airlines employees about her damaged wheelchairs.

Tammy is a C4/C5 quadriplegic who was injured in a car accident at age 17. She gave me insight into what it’s like to have to adjust to living with a disability. She shared “It was almost…culture shock. Disability as well as spinal cord injury was a community, as well as an injury and a part of my anatomy that I was completely unaware of. I was extremely insecure and unwilling to accept my new body and ‘reality’. But as years went on, working hard and putting work back into myself helped me heal and find acceptance and a newfound sense of confidence.”

Now, it is her strong conviction that we keep disability in conversation and advocate for people with disabilities. She expressed to me “It’s important to raise awareness by amplifying the voices of the disabled community because we live in a world filled with diverse human beings with different bodies and level of functionality. Everyone will meet disability at some point in their life, so it’s important to build an inclusive society, community, and world…[So that] everyone can enjoy life.”

When I asked her about her hobbies and interests, she shared with me “I enjoy being creative. My favorite outlets to be creative is through videography, photography, and designing new logos and apparel for my clothing line called ‘RESILIENT’,” and resilient, she is.

Above are photos taken of Tammy’s primary wheelchair, the power chair that suffered damage when it rolled off a 10 ft. lift after the brakes had not been locked.

In late June, while traveling home from a vacation, Tammy had the unimaginable happen to her. Shortly after being seated, not only one, but two of her personal wheelchairs (a power chair and a manual wheelchair) were damaged when they were mishandled on a flight with Southwest Airlines. Even after specific instructions to handle the chairs with care, it was alleged that the wheelchair lift had malfunctioned and the chairs slid off it from a 10 ft. height. In her own experience, this incident could have been avoided if the emergency brakes had been locked as soon as the chairs were placed on the lift. She told me “my chairs were damaged…late Friday night, after a five hour delay.” Although a wheel had bent on her manual chair causing it not to roll smoothly, she had to rely on it until the airlines could provide her a loaner chair. She shared “I almost developed a pressure sore because as a higher level quad, I’m not able to weight shift myself in my manual chair…When they finally brought me my my first loaner my feet dangled…It was not the correct measurements for my weight and height.” In expressing her feelings about this experience, she stated she was overcome with immediate “disbelief, then stress and anxiety…I didn’t know how long it was gonna take and I had to think about how I was going to get by in a manual [chair] for the unforeseeable future…This whole ordeal stripped me of my independence…”

Images shared by @stfd_podcast on Instagram.

As a person with a disability, we are constantly met with discriminatory barriers that hinder our ability to live our life as “normal” as possible. When public places do not follow through with standard regulations needed to support people with disabilities, this only adds to our troubles. Prior to this incident, Tammy felt she had meticulously researched the right options for her to be able to travel alone. From the start, the airline company told her “they weren’t allowed to touch me and help me weight shift during my flight because I am a liability.” When you live with paralysis, shifting your weight is crucial when sitting in one place for extended amounts of time in order to prevent pressure sores or even worse, blood clots. Southwest also told her they would not be able to help her empty her catheters when they get full. Despite this, Tammy had put faith into this company and trusted them to handle her and her needed assistive equipment with care, so she could simply enjoy and return home conflict-free from a fun vacation.

Once home, she was able to get in contact and file a claim for both of her damaged chairs with a repair company, Global Repair Group. This is Southwest Airlines’ “third-party company…[that] helps look for vendors for loaner rentals that Southwest compensates for. They also send out technicians to get measurements for your chair replacements.” She informed me, “I pushed for my own vendor that I worked with for years because I didn’t trust a stranger to know much about spinal cord injury and my level of injury, and I’m glad I did.” Despite her valid frustration, she wants to highlight this repair company that worked with her during this difficult time. She believes “…Global Repairs is a really good third-party company. They are on top of reaching out to you and coordinating loaners/vendors. I think the issue is the airlines and the vendors that are greedy. The vendors charge up to $1200 a day for an extremely basic chair that does not fit you.”

Critics of Tammy’s dejection over this situation must understand that our wheelchairs are built to fit our specific bodies’ needs. To mishandle and break our wheelchair is like callously breaking someone’s legs. To be without our own chair is uncomfortable and devastating. It’s apparent that time and time again, airlines have gotten by with a hasty apology. No amount of compensation can mitigate the permanent ramifications of these unfortunate accidents caused by people who are misinformed and indifferent. In regards to her personal chair, Tammy feels “Ergonomically and functionally it provides me…independence and comfortability. I’m able to lean forward to stretch my back, recline in order to circulate blood and relieve pressure off my bottom, I’m able to elevate, I’m able to dress in my chair. I am more safe and secure due to the specific measurements and contouring.”

When asked what she wishes would be done about this issue, Tammy stated “I wish the world could slow down and empathize. Empathize and understand that every human being is worthy of being able to experience life. [The] disabled community should not be excluded and looked over as some pity party just because we need/want to feel included and heard. Something as simple as a ramp or to stay in our power chair to fly, or just simply asking others to slow down when taking care of our mobility aids — essentially our arms and our legs – our livelihood.” It’s disappointing that even 31 years after the signing of ADA, or the Americans with Disabilities Act, that some public places and means of travel still don’t provide quality assistance or follow proper protocol when handling mobility aids. It is paramount that in the near future, we see change in this seemingly unrelenting “flight risk” — the way airlines handle assistive equipment belonging to people with disabilities. It is time we care.

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Shoutout to Tammy for giving me the opportunity to share her story! Show your support by following her on Instagram @/resilient.comm or check out her YouTube channel Resilient. quad! Also, click the link below to shop her apparel: https://resilientquad.bigcartel.com