Fighting for a Cause

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We all have a thought in our head when we hear the phrase, SOCIAL JUSTICE. According to the UNITED NATIONS, social justice may be understood as the fair and COMPASSIONATE distribution of the fruits of ECONOMIC growth. Comparingly, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS defines social justice as the view that everyone deserves equal economic, POLITICAL, and social rights. And lastly, the CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL JUSTICE defines social justice as the VIRTUE which guides us to organized human interactions. While formal definitions for social justice vary, there are three main components; equal rights, equal opportunity, and equal treatment.

SPELL: UNITED NATIONS  COMPASSIONATE   POLITICAL
What is the lesson about today? SOCIAL JUSTICE
Name one of the three organizations mentioned above. UNITED NATIONS, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS, CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Center for Economic Growth defines social justice as a _____? VIRTUE
Name one of the three main components mentioned above. EQUAL RIGHTS, OPPORTUNITY, AND TREATMENT.
What’s another word for justice?
What do you feel is the most important component of social justice and why?
Point to justice in the image below.

One way I like to learn about social justice is by watching DOCUMENTARIES. A documentary is a form of FACTUAL record or reporting that can be composed of a film, journal, or news report. Over QUARANTINE, I watched a very informative documentary called CRIP CAMP. Crip Camp aired on Netflix and was produced by BARACK and MICHELLE OBAMA. The documentary won the 2020 Audience Documentary Award at the SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. The documentary followed footage from a camp called CAMP JENED, formed in the 1970s before the DISABILITY RIGHTS MOVEMENT. The camp was located in the CATSKILLS of New York. Let’s talk about the film and the social justice movement!

SPELL: DOCUMENTARY  QUARANTINE  JENED
What is a documentary? FACTUAL RECORD OR REPORTING.
Name a form of documentary mentioned. FILM, JOURNAL, NEWS
Who are the producers of the documentary? BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA, THE OBAMAS
At what festival did the film receive an award? SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL.
If Camp Jened was formed in 1970, how many years ago was that? 2020 – 1970 = 50
Where is the camp located? CATSKILLS, NEW YORK, UPSTATE
What is the capital of New York? ALBANY

In the early 1970s, teenagers with disabilities faced a future shaped by isolation, discrimination, and INSTITUTIONALIZATION. Camp Jened, a RAMSHACKLE camp “for the handicapped,” exploded those confines. Jened was their freewheeling UTOPIA, a place with summertime sports, smoking, relationships, and, most significantly, equal treatment occurred. Campers experienced LIBERATION and full inclusion as human beings. Their bonds endured as many migrated West to BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA — a hotbed of ACTIVISM where friends from Camp Jened realized that disruption, CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, and political participation could change the future for millions. As outlined in the documentary JUDITH HEUMANN was a true TRAILBLAZER during this movement.

SPELL: INSTITUTIONALIZATION  RAMSHACKLE  TRAILBLAZER
Name one of the three things teenagers with disabilities faced in the 1970s. ISOLATION, DISCRIMINATION, INSTITUTIONALIZATION
Name an adjective that was used to describe Camp Jened.
At Camp Jened, campers experienced? LIBERATION
What does it mean to migrate?
West Berkeley, California, was a hotspot for? ACTIVISM.
What are your thoughts on activism?
What does it mean to be deemed a trailblazer?

Let’s watch the trailer for the documentary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRrIs22plz0
What sticks out to you?

Let’s spend some time talking about the Disability Rights Movement. Treatment and PERCEPTIONS of disability have undergone TRANSFORMATION since the 1900s. These transformations happened largely because people with disabilities have demanded and created those changes. Like other CIVIL RIGHTS movements, the disability rights movement is EXTENSIVE history. Examples of back-to-activism can be found among various disability groups dating 1800s. Many events, laws, and people have shaped DEVELOPMENT. To date, the 1990 Americans Disabilities (ADA) and the subsequent Amendments (2008) movement’s greatest LEGAL achievements. Major civil rights prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities vigorously for equal rights and have made huge strides in that fight for social justice.

SPELL: PERCEPTION  TRANSFORMATION  AMENDMENT
What has undergone a major transformation since the 1900s? TREATMENT or PERCEPTIONS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
What kind of history does this movement have? EXTENSIVE
Give an example of something listed that has shaped this development. PEOPLE, EVENTS, LAWS
What is one of the movement’s greatest legal achievements? AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OR AMENDMENTS ACT
Name another civil rights movement.

The US Congress has passed many laws that SUPPORT disability rights either directly or by recognizing and ENFORCING civil rights. Civil rights laws such as BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION (1954) and its decision that school SEGREGATION is UNCONSTITUTIONAL laid the groundwork for recognizing the rights of people with disabilities. Several sections of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, which specifically address disability discrimination, are especially important to the disability rights movement. SELF-ADVOCACY groups have had a major contribution in shaping the NATIONAL conversation around disability, such as the group that was started at Camp Jened. In all, the United States Congress passed more than 50 pieces of LEGISLATION between the 1960s and the passage of the ADA in 1990.

SPELL: ENFORCING  SEGREGATION  LEGISLATION
What have passed many laws that support this social movement? US CONGRESS
In Brown vs. Board of Ed, segregation was deemed what? UNCONSTITUTIONAL
If Brown vs. Board of Education was in 1953 and Rehabilitation Act was in 1973, how many years apart was it? 1973 – 1953 = 20 YEARS
What is a self-advocacy group?
What is legislation?

As stated in the documentary, no one at Camp Jened could’ve imagined that their summers in the woods together would be the beginning of a REVOLUTION. Crip Camp is the story of one group of people and captures one moment in time. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other EQUALLY important stories from the Disability Rights Movement that have not yet received adequate attention. The documentary makers are committed to using the film’s PLATFORM to ABILIFY additional NARRATIVES in the disability rights and disability justice communities – with a particular emphasis on stories surrounding people of color and other intersectionality MARGINALIZED communities. They (WE) stand by the creed of nothing about us, without us. For too long, too many were excluded, and it is time to broaden the number of voices and share the mic.

SPELL: ABILIFY  INTERSECTIONALITY  MARGINALIZED
Camp Jened was the beginning of what? A REVOLUTION
Many other stories and groups have yet to receive ______. ADEQUATE ATTENTION
The platform of the film is used to? ABILIFY NARRATIVES, EMPHASIZE STORIES
What is another marginalized community?

Eyes on the picture above… What word sticks out to you? Why?
In the first hunk of information, we reviewed different definitions of social justice. What is your own definition of social justice?
How, if at all, has this movement affected your life? The life of someone you love? Do you have your own version of Camp Jened?

Resources:
https://www.sdfoundation.org/news-events/sdf-news/what-is-social-justice/
https://www.nps.gov/articles/disabilityhistoryrightsmovement.htm
https://cripcamp.com/officialvirtualexperience/