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July 25, 2005
Starting off...
It's ADA Week -- that is, the week in which July 26 falls. That's the date Pres. George H. W. Bush -- Dubya's Daddy -- signed the Americans with Disabilities Act. And there's a lot to comment on.
We might as well start off with tomorrow's PBS airing of the POV documentary "The Self-Made Man." It's about, as Not Dead Yet puts it, "an elderly man deciding to commit suicide rather than face possible disability...." Talk about irony! Yes, let's.
Not Dead Yet, for those of you who don't know, is the national disability activist group which has been working to get people to see the dangers of assisted suicide -- politely called the "right to die." Dangerous to disabled people, who society often sincerely thinks are better off dead. If you don't know the group or know much about how they frame the issue, you can start by visiting the articles section of their website. Pay particular attention to Barry Corbet's article.
Today Not Dead Yet has a press release out: Calling "The Self-Made Man" "a program about a person so terrified of aging and disability that he commits suicide" (and that's a pretty accurate description as far as I can tell), the group castigates PBS: "In terms of sensitivity to diversity issues, this puts PBS in the same league as the Fox News Channel. And, no, that is not a compliment."
No, it isn't.
Read what PBS says about "The Self-Made Man."
COMMENT-AUTHOR:mtbclarion
COMMENT-DATE:7/25/2005
COMMENT-BODY:Mary,
You rock!
Thanks for this. I plan to be a regular reader and, who knows, a writer perhaps? This is a real important service for us all.
Free Our People
Michael Bailey
Portland , OR
COMMENT-AUTHOR:imfunnytoo
COMMENT-DATE:7/26/2005
COMMENT-BODY:Great blog !
The showing of "Self Made Man" has not hit my Timezone yet, but I do find it odd and almost insulting that they chose this day, of all days, to air it.
COMMENT-AUTHOR:Mamathing
COMMENT-DATE:7/26/2005
COMMENT-BODY:I work for a company where good efforts have been made to accommodate my acquired disability. The thing that continues to amaze me, however, is how store owners don't think twice about blocking a sidewalk with a huge sign or a huge flower planter, causing me to have to backtrack or even not be able to reach my goal. I've finally got my neighbors trained to not block the sidewalk with their cars and trucks. Needed a little police ticketing help in one instance. How do we get accessibility into people's consciousness?
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Posted by mjohnson at July 25, 2005 02:12 PM