Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist

Product Description
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year for Nonfiction
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...an essential and engaging look at recent disability history."—
Buzzfeed
One of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human.
A story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn’t built for all of us and of one woman’s activism—from the streets of Brooklyn and San Francisco to inside the halls of Washington—
Being Heumann recounts Judy Heumann’s lifelong battle to achieve respect, acceptance, and inclusion in society.
Paralyzed from polio at eighteen months, Judy’s struggle for equality began early in life. From fighting to attend grade school after being described as a “fire hazard” to later winning a lawsuit against the New York City school system for denying her a teacher’s license because of her paralysis, Judy’s actions set a precedent that fundamentally improved rights for disabled people.
As a young woman, Judy rolled her wheelchair through the doors of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in San Francisco as a leader of the Section 504 Sit-In, the longest takeover of a governmental building in US history. Working with a community of over 150 disabled activists and allies, Judy successfully pressured the Carter administration to implement protections for disabled peoples’ rights, sparking a national movement and leading to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Candid, intimate, and irreverent, Judy Heumann’s memoir about resistance to exclusion invites readers to imagine and make real a world in which we all belong.
Review
“Thoughtful and illuminating, this inspiring story is a must-read for activists and civil rights supporters.”
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Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“A driving force in the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act looks back on a long career of activism . . . A welcome account of politics in action, and for the best of causes.”
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Kirkus Reviews
“Consider this book an inspiring call for inclusiveness, courage, equity, and justice as well as a reminder of people’s power to change the world for the better.”
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Booklist
“Heumann’s personality shines throughout. Her voice is witty, persistent, and at times irreverent as she immerses readers in her story.”
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Library Journal
“With an energetic pace and a youthful voice, Ali Stroker narrates disability rights activist Judith Heumann’s memoir. . . . Along with her friend and mentor, the late Ed Roberts, Heumann is a freedom fighter Americans need to know. This audiobook makes getting acquainted a delight.”
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AudioFile Magazine
“Reading this memoir is like sitting down with a good friend and talking for hours, as self-described extrovert Heumann tells powerful and engaging stories from the frontlines of the disability civil rights movement.”
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Health Affairs
“A moving chronicle of social change,
Being Heumann will restore your hope in our democracy and the power of our shared humanity.“
—Darren Walker, president, Ford Foundation
“Judy’s advocacy for disability rights began as a fight for her own future and then, as a leader of the movement, spanned the nation and the globe. As secretary of state, I relied on Judy’s insights, knowledge, sass, and wit to elevate advocacy for disability rights in our diplomacy. This important book will help ensure that every person gets a chance to live up to their full potential and will always have a place at the table.”
—Hillary Clinton
“It’s one of the ironies of American life that the one category into which almost all of us will fit at some time in our lives—people with disabilities—is often the last on the list of included groups in this country. . . . I met Judy Heumann almost four decades ago, and her writing, activist skills, and kindness helped me to see this simple truth. Her life story as an activist will enlighten readers everywhere.”
—Gloria Steinem