Friday, July 30, 2010

Week Nine - Memorable Adventure

The most important day of this week was Monday, and it is the day that I won't forget. I attended the White House with the other Interns. I watched Obama sign the executive order to increase employment for people with disabilities. I am so thankful for this because the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is quite high.

There will always be lack of accessibility for someone when an event takes place. I wish the White House had accessibility for everyone, they only had interpreters but they did not have closed captioning service. I had to watch the interpreter and I did not understand most of the speech. This is how I live my life, I don't depend on closed captioning but it is a necessary.

After the White House, I attended to the Disability Power & Pride event to celebrate the ADA Anniversary. It was crowded. I did not participate in a lot of conversations. I had a good time. They had closed captions during the speech so that's good news. There were a lot of applause and appreciation from important leaders who played big roles twenty years ago and today about the ADA.

From the speech, I really appreciate Mr. Coelho for reminding me that the United States has never fulfilled their promise in equality. The Declaration of Independence has only helped a few but many were left out. I agree that we should not wait for a hundred years to achieve equal rights for people with disabilities and everyone else.

If there was a scenario where everyone has achieved equal rights, I question myself, how long would it last? I can only dream that civilization continues to show kindness and goodwill for the next thousands years.

One more week until my internship ends, It is time for me to sign off and prepare for the Thank-you letters.

Knock on the sky and Listen to the sound. ~ Zen Proverb

No comments:

Post a Comment

Commenters must avoid profanity, harsh language and disparaging remarks on the basis of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or disability. All comments to the blog are moderated by AAPD, and can be subject to removal at any time.

Please use the comments section to engage in the ongoing dialogue between our program funders, current and former interns, our colleagues, and the broader disability community, and to respond to intern posts that intrigue you, to share your own stories, or to simply express your gratitude for being allowed into the world of our summer interns.