The holiday weekend was perfect timing, I was sorely in need of sleep and a trashy TV marathon. Work has been good, and I am finally settling into a rhythm.
This week I've finally been giving some tours of the Capitol on my own. Its a nice daily reminder of how cool my summer is; sometimes its easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of day to day tasks and forget that everyday I'm working in THE Capitol with all its history and potential to impact millions of people's lives. Its also a good opportunity to brush up on my public speaking skills, practicing ways to engage varied audiences of different sizes. And I enjoy being able to highlight little bits of disability history on tours- like Helen Keller's statue in the CVC and discussing Abraham Lincoln's manic depression at his bust in the Crypt.
On Monday night a few of us had the opportunity to learn a little more about the work Jim Dickson does at AAPD. It was interesting to learn about another side of politics and advocacy. He told us a lot about traveling, grassroots organizing, and training people to advocate for themselves. I got a much better grasp on the mechanics of grassroots organizing and social movements to see how organizing can come to impact the formal legislative process.
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