Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability - Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability

We Received An Important New Grant!

Nathan Burns — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 21:09:17 +0000

We are incredibly excited to share that we received a generous award from the Ford Foundation for core support for the Longmore Institute!

Thanks to this new funding, we will have the flexibility to continue and expand online programming that became popular during the COVID pandemic, such as Superfest Disability Film Festival, our Disability Justice panel series, and the annual Longmore Lecture in Disability Studies. All events offer spaces for disabled people to recover collectively from wider discrimination by providing opportunities to learn and to connect. At each one’s core, participants discover innovative forms of access and hard-hitting content that come from foregrounding disability expertise. Together, they help fulfill the Longmore Institute's vision to create a society where everyone believes the world is better because of disabled people.

Our biggest new initiative, "The 5A Club," is a partnership with our new Longmore Senior Fellow artist and SFSU alum JS Shokrian to expand her interactive workshop model and toolkit to promote disability justice discourse within, and ultimately beyond, the disability community. By fleshing out the 5A's of Access, Anti-Incarceration, Anti-Oppression, Accountability and Abundance, the initiative will create a publicly available toolkit of curriculum, handouts, and resources that allow other groups to use the 5A's rubric for teaching and facilitation. We will begin this project with a cohort of those most impacted by the 5A's, and then extend to a five-part summer 2022 series of public programs sharing the model while educating about the 5A's. Throughout, we will create opportunities for San Francisco State University students with disabilities to learn about the 5A's while gaining professional development as they work to support this project.

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Russia Recap: Bringing Superfest to Volga Encounters Festival

Visitor — Thu, 25 May 2017 19:02:33 +0000

By: Emily Beitiks

When I received the invitation from the Eurasia Foundation to visit Russia and participate in their Social Expertise Exchange (SEE) Program, which has a disability initiative underway, I jumped at the opportunity to learn what is happening on the ground for disability issues. As coordinator for Superfest International Disability Film Festival, which always strives to feature an array of international films, getting to travel abroad and learn about disability in a different national context seemed like an important enough experience to justify the stress of being out of the office nine days, and even more challenging, time away from my two young children and husband.

After a 14-hour flight and a few hours of sleep in a hotel, I headed to the lobby, excited to begin my trip. In addition to four staff people from the Eurasia Foundation’s SEE program, I met four high schoolers and their teacher, all from Geneva, Illinois with no background in disability, who had won SEE’s “30 seconds to Russia” video contest. The students’ trip was paired with mine, as we were all to attend the Volga Encounters Festival in Cheboksary along with 400 Russian youths interested in filmmaking and journalism. While the students were invited to attend as participants, I was there to host a “master class” on disability in film, as well as an evening screening of Superfest’s past films.

But before heading to Cheboksary, we had two packed days in Moscow.

We visited the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences and met professor Alexander Solovyev, who studies the lack of job opportunities for people with disabilities. Responding to what he has found to be a pervasive lack of employment opportunities, he is publishing a paper that debunks some of the myths employers often believe about disabled workers. Like in the United States, stigma, not impairment, is holding back disabled people from reaching their full potential.

Wheelchair access to Moscow Metro. Very few stations have elevators.

As we headed into the metro, I put something together. I’d noticed a little track running along the side of the staircase earlier in the day and questioned what it was for. Seeing it a second time, I realized that it was the only means of access for a wheelchair rider to get down into the metro.

Our next stop was НАШ СОЛНЕЧНЫЙ МИР" / "OUR SUNNY WORLD," a lead organization in Russia offering community and education for autistic children and adults.

The visit was wonderful (and not just because they served some amazing Russian cakes and tea). They’d recently moved into a big new building, and as they took us on a tour (or “excursion” as all the organizations I visited called it), I was immediately disoriented. Every hallway and corridor looked the same as the last, but they’d open the doors to reveal exciting spaces for ensuring that autistic people have access to experiences that go beyond services – a room where a group of women sat around making paper flowers that they showed off to us, a theater space with photos from some of their past performances, a studio for film animation,and a model classroom where students can grow comfortable in a classroom setting before being mainstreamed - to name a few examples. I hope someday we will see some of the films they are making at Superfest!

In the evening, I trekked over to see Red Square and St Basil’s church. Exhausted, I returned to my hotel room, excited by how much I’d already experienced on my first day.

Day 2: We headed to Перспектива/Perspektiva, which actually developed out of the Bay Area’s World Institute on Disability. Their 70-person staff (which includes many disabled people) is working on inclusive education, adaptive sports, employment, and also preparing for their next “Breaking Down Barriers,” a disability film festival that was inspired after the Executive Director attended Superfest many years ago.

Meeting Tanya, Breaking Down Barrier’s coordinator, was a highlight of the trip. How often do you get to meet someone who does the exact same job as you in a different country? Close in age to me as well, we fell into a conversation easily. (ADD PIC). We swapped notes on recent films that our respective festivals had featured and compared strategies for providing the complex access features that hosting a disability film festival requires.

We uncovered differences between our two festivals too. Because Moscow still has a lot of work to do to make the city accessible, their venues are often only partially accessible, and she shared how they recently had to construct an accessible bathroom outside one of their host sites. In addition, Breaking Down Barriers has definitely been more successful at receiving mainstream media attention, and often includes jurors who are well known in the mainstream Russian film scene, a group we’ve yet to fully tap into for Superfest.

"Corrections Class" falls in line with "disability as tragic" trope.

When I shared that I’d be giving a presentation for the Volga Encounters Festival on common tropes of disability in mainstream American films, Tanya was able to confirm that they see all the same stereotypes in Russia, and provided a list of examples.

After sneaking in some last-minute souvenir shopping on the way back from our last meeting, we headed to the airport and flew to Cheboksary, the capital city of the Chuvashia Republic, over 400 miles outside Moscow. We were greeted at the airport by 5 students from the local university who were volunteering their time as interpreters for the Volga Encounters Festival.

We loaded up in a van and drove to the hotel with the American teenagers and the Russian college kids, all discussing their favorite American movies and music (most of which might as well have been Russian groups, as they were all foreign to me). Still jetlagged, I headed to bed as soon as we arrived at the hotel.

Day 3: The Eurasia Foundation arranged for the American teenagers to tour a local tv station, which includes a news show run by youths, and lined me up to be interviewed for their program. When I walked off the set, it was explained to me that the kids at the TV studio had set out a glass of Coke instead of water for me to drink, assuming this is what all Americans drink. And I thought I’d just be working to challenge disability stereotypes while over there!

We headed to the opening ceremony for the Volga Encounters Festival, which involved not one, not two, but THREE songs written specifically for the festival I was about to attend by past attendees. Though I couldn’t understand any of the lyrics, my excitement for the festival had still increased by the end. We then rode a boat to the main location for the festival, a children’s camp in a forested area off the Volga river that reminded me of my days in the Girl Scouts. I received lots of attention from Russian kids attending the festival while on the boat, who were eager to meet an American. However, by the time we reached the camp, word had spread that there were also American teenagers traveling to the festival, and while their celebrity status grew, so I was no longer the main recipient of all that celebrity attention.

Day 4-7: For the next few days, I hung around the festival, eating delicious food and giving presentations. I co-presented a master class with Russian filmmaker Georgii Molodtsov, who makes PSAs that change perceptions of disability. Together, we laid out strategies for avoiding the common stereotypes of disability through film.

After a sparsely attended workshop, I was pleased to see a full room for my evening screening of Superfest films. It was an ironic venue: a repurposed gym, surrounded by exercise equipment, but as the camp was originally built for health and fitness, spaces like this were what the organizers had to work with. I worried in advance: would the films that we select for our Bay Area audience resonate in a different culture? Fortunately, the first hand raised responding to the first film I’d screened (“The Interviewer,” Best of Festival 2014) put my concerns to rest: “That was the best film about disability I’ve ever seen!” The success of the session, especially in contrast to the low attendance of my master class, reminded me what I love about Superfest; films provide such an inviting, accessible way to transform people’s thinking about disability.

During my downtime, I continued to meet with some of the festival attendees. I particularly enjoyed meeting two students with disabilities. One student, Simon, shared a dream of starting a camp in Russia for kids with disabilities and envisioned it as a place where American kids with disabilities would come to attend too. I also met Ksenia, a young filmmaker in a wheelchair who was interested in documenting the challenges and strategies of traveling with a disability. She lit up as I told her about John Hockenberry, a wheelchair rider like herself who is an NPR journalist on “The Takeaway” and encouraged her to read his book Moving Violations, which includes experiences of his travel around the world.

By the closing ceremony, which included a remarkable magic show, I was missing my kids and had picked up a cold, so I felt ready to return home.

Day 8-9: After a day of sight-seeing in Cheboksary, I flew back to Moscow and then took off for San Francisco early the next morning.

So how do I take what I observed and use the knowledge I gained to help me better do my work? I imagine I’ll be considering this question for some time, but one lesson from the trip has preoccupied a lot of my thinking since I’ve returned.

In hosting Superfest, we receive a fair amount of films that might be very significant in their home country, but are rejected because in the Bay Area, the content will seem too basic. For example, we’ve seen a number of non-US submissions about how minimal access is in the filmmaker’s country and the journey to increase access. Our jurors often call these films “Disability 101,” whereas Superfest looks for “disability 201,” seeking to engage our audience with new issues in disability that go beyond basic access issues, personal journeys to accept disability identity, and the like.

Yet, as I traveled in Russia and learned about where the Russian disability movement is right now, seeing what access looks like in the metro for example, or learning that inclusive education has only recently been mandated and still only happens in about 2% of Moscow schools, I realized that we in the Bay Area could benefit from more opportunities to learn about what is and isn’t being provided for disabled people in Russia and other countries outside the US. Whether or not Superfest is the right place for sharing these stories, I’m still pondering, but regardless, I know that I benefited tremendously from this rare and privileged opportunity to learn about the experiences of disabled people outside my community. We cannot claim a victory for the fight for “disability equality” until it has reached disabled people in the United States, Russia, and everything up, down, and in between. Many people with disabilities have made this point already, but there’s nothing like leaving the bubble to help you see it.

Emily poses with Eurasia Foundation's SEE staff.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the US-Russia Social Expertise Exchange or Eurasia Foundation.

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Quilts for Starting Conversations

Visitor — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 21:31:06 +0000

By: Guest Blogger Corbett O'Toole

On August 8, 2012 I received a wonderful email inviting me to create a quilt for the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University. This honor brought with it many questions. What purpose would the quilt serve? Where would it hang? What focus? Who would be the audience?

The quilt project is intrinsically tied to Paul. His unexpected death created the reason SFSU permanently established the Institute and named it for him. Many of us involved in the quilt had strong personal ties to Paul. Should the quilt be a memorial to him? Should it include his vast collection of disability political t-shirts?

The quilt discussions became an opportunity for us to discuss our fondest memories of Paul and to explore which aspects of his legacy we wanted to immortalize in the quilt. Although Paul died four years ago, his former students still attend SFSU and his mark on the campus is strong. Paul’s international mark on the field of disability history is rooted in the classrooms at SFSU where he led many explorations of how disability and history intersect. His answer: everywhere. SFSU also hosted several important milestones in Disability Studies: 2000 NEH Institute on Disability Studies; 2000 Symposium on Disability, Sexuality and Culture; 2002 Queer Disability Conference; and 2008 Disability History Conference.

After many discussions with the Institute Director, Catherine Kudlick, and Eugene Chelberg, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, an initial direction emerged. The quilt would hang in the Institute’s library and conference room with a direct sightline from the entrance of the Institute. The large surface, 4 by 6 feet, provided an open canvas. Paul’s deep interests in disability history, activism and culture emerged as the guiding representational themes.

In addition to capturing Paul’s interests, the quilt needed to support the Institute’s mission to create opportunities for unexpected conversations, for making new connections, and for bringing all people's diverse relationships to disabilities into the room. The breadth of these goals soon outgrew one quilt so we created two.

The Windows Quilt offers a peek into the diversity of disability communities. Consisting of sixteen photographs, three graphics, two quotes from Paul and a portrait of him at the center, this quilt uses a classic quilting technique called Attic Windows. These images represent slices of disability past, present and future. Each image opens opportunities for discussions.

In one image, Deaf students hold up a “Deaf President Now” banner in front of the U.S. Capitol. Why did the Deaf students shut down Gallaudet University until the Board of Trustees selected the first deaf President? Just the way I wrote that sentence opens up discussions. People who have hearing impairment and who identify as part of the Deaf community, use the capital Deaf usage to show their cultural affiliation. This protest builds upon the U.S. history of underrepresented people fighting for representation in public leadership positions. Yet this is the first time that most Americans became aware of the issues. How is that protest relevant to the history of deaf people? To the struggle to prevent American Sign Language from disappearing? To students sitting in the Longmore Institute today at SFSU?

Some stories, while compelling, did not make it onto the quilt. Stories such as the long and tragic history of institutionalizing people with physical and mental differences; the deaths of thousands of people with hemophilia from tainted blood supplies and the ongoing poisoning of the next generation with the hepatitis virus; the struggle between people with disabilities and the nondisabled people who “speak for” them; the parallel struggles of the HIV/AIDS communities and other people with disabilities; and so many more.

The quilts, at their best, merely begin the discussions. The work of the Longmore Institute provides many opportunities to deepen and expand those discussions and to initiate ones not yet imagined.

The pull to provide a specific memorial for Paul proved too strong to resist so we created a second quilt, the T-shirt quilt. At his death, Paul’s colleagues collected 54 of his favorite political t-shirts for preservation. Eugene Chelberg and David Meissner collected, catalogued, washed and ironed them. From this collection, we chose thirteen. From the whimsically designed yet insightful “Why be normal? Normal is so mediocre” to the direct “Nothing About Us Without Us,” these shirts are but a taste of Paul’s deep belief in full equality and his love of the mischievous such as in the drawing of a group of blind gondoliers over the words “The Venetian Blind Society.”

Each of the two large quilts, the Windows Quilt and the T-shirt Quilt, reflect and honor the work of Paul K. Longmore and his specific connection to SFSU.

As with all creative projects, many people worked together to create these amazing quilts. Babette Schmitt provided many artistic insights, found obscure images after the rest of us gave up, kept our spirits up during late night sessions, and made the work feel effortless. Cathy Kudlick provided a clear direction, brought diverse and needed resources, and carried Paul’s spirit throughout the project. Graphic designers shaped the design and made our images useful, most notably Terri O’Hare and Alex Ho. Quilter extraordaire Melissa Quilter lent her nimble fingers to the ever-growing project. I provided the metaphorical rubber bands that held us all together throughout this exciting and challenging project.

I hope that you enjoy these quilts as we honor and continue the work of Paul K. Longmore. He changed the landscape of disability history and SFSU. He is missed.

Quilt block descriptions:

Beginning at top left: A light-skinned female dancer wears a sleeveless, thigh high black dress. Her body is without arms. She leans her head back and kicks her right leg high into the air, toes pointed, while her left foot rises onto her tip-toes. Her long dark curly hair hangs down her back as her face looks upwards. Behind her a thin, white curtain falls down to the ground with a strong light behind it.

Block 2: Oakland based Deaf performer and dancer Antoine Hunter leans forward, forearms reaching, hands touching with fingers open and reaching. Antoine's dark African-American skin shows strong dancer's muscles, particularly in his arms and shoulder. He is wearing a red tank top, black pants, a necklace with an oval white disk with two holes in it. He appears to be in his late 30s, has a dark moustache and beard, and a short afro. He faces the camera, looking slightly above it.

Block 3: The word ‘love’ is spelled out with large silhouetted fingers against the wall of a building. In the bottom left corner, a yellow wheelchair rider stick figure holds hands up triumphantly in the air. Over the hands the background writing says “Accessibilidad universal.”

Block 4: A close-up self-portrait painting of Frida Kahlo, the 1933 "Self-Portrait with Necklace." Frida is a medium-skinned Mexican woman with dark bushy eyebrows and a faint moustache over lipsticked lips. Her dark hair is pulled back into a braided bun at the base of her neck. She wears a white blouse with lace trim and a necklace of pre-Columbian jade beads.

Block 5: A quotation by Paul K. Longmore printed onto bright green fabric that reads, “We are building a culture of pride, freedom and self-determination. “

Block 6: A light-skinned man (apparently a father) kneels down next to a young, light-skinned blind girl, approximately 6 years old (apparently his daughter). She holds a white cane in her left hand. The background is a garage and driveway.

Block 7: Illustrated images of 7 different hands, including 5 hands belonging to different ethnicities, a dog paw, and a hand with a hook. All of the hands are forming a circle making different hand shapes including the American Sign Langauge "I love you".

Block 8: Three members of Axis Dance Company strike a stunning pose; the center dancer, Bonnie Lewkowicz, as a light-skinned female wheelchair rider, opens both arms out to her sides. The other two dancers, both light-skinned women, leap back to symmetrically frame the center person. They both are bent at the waist, toes pointing towards Bonnie, arms stretched backwards with fingers pointing away from Bonnie. All three dancers wear black tank tops and black pants. Bonnie wears black shoes, the other dancers are barefoot. This photo is by Margot Hartford of a rehearsal of the Axis Dance Company production of "Fantasy in C Major," a 2000 dance choreographed by Bill T. Jones.

(ROW 2) Block 9: Image of the Capital in Washington DC with a large banner reading “ DEAF PRESIDENT NOW.” Behind the banner are supporters of this cause holding three vibrant waving flags; blue, yellow and red.

Block 10: An Asian woman has extensive burns on her face and her forearms are amputated six inches below her elbow and have burn scars. Her face stares intently towards the caligraphy paper where she draws the apparently-Japanese characters. She holds the long bamboo brush between her arms. She has short dark hair and wears a black shirt covered by a read sweater and a black smock. On the table are an ink well, some completed drawings and a lock that is holding down the edge of the drawing paper.

Block 11: The centerpiece image of this quilt is a photo of Paul K. Longmore (1946-2010). Paul, a grey-haired, middle-aged white man, leans forward in his wheelchair. He wears a black turtleneck shirt and a dark grey suit jacket. He holds a ventilator hose in his mouth as he stares intently forward.

Block 12: A light-skinned young person approximately 15 years old stands at the beach wearing a black tshirt with a large teal wave design and the words "ADAPT SURF". They are laughing with mouth wide open, hands raised up and smiling eyes. They have thin wet short medium brown hair.

Block 13: Three white people surround a recumbant tricycle that holds a sign that reads “Pride Revolution: Chicago Disability Pride 2010.” In the center is a painting of a red heart with a yellow raised fist. Eli Claire, author from Vermont, rides the recumbent bike. His feet are up on the pedals, he wears a sleeveless black tshirt, black shorts, a few tattoos, a black bowler hat, black-framed glasses and a large rainbow paper flower lei. To his right (left in the photo) stands Riva Lehrer, artist from Chicago, wearing a black tank top, green shorts, high-top black boots with rainbow shoe laces, a red purse with the strap slung across her chest, dyed red hair with a front forelock of grey. To Eli's left (right in the photo) is Samuel Lurie, a social worker from Vermont, who wears a white tshirt, blue jean shorts, black sneakers, a very large rust-colored floppy sun hat, and a matching rainbow lei.

Block 14: Phamaly Theatre Company (formerly known as The Physically Handicapped Actors & Musical Artists League) performs the Wizard of Oz. In this photo (from left to right) the Scarecrow is a deaf actor in a very blue costume and makeup, Dorothy is a young light-skinned blind woman who's black lab guide dog plays Toto, the Cowardly Lion holds up a white blind cane, and the Tin Man is a female actor using a wheelchair.

Block 15: A Tom Olin photograph of a disability rights demonstration: A crowd of people of many different skin tones, mostly all in wheelchairs, form a long line side-by-side facing the camera. One holds a protest sign that reads "Redirect 25%" while another person hold a large flag similar to the American flag but with stars making an outline of a person sitting in a manual wheelchair.

Block 16: The logo of the organization ADAPT, which assures the civil and human rights of people with disabilities to live in freedom. This image is a rendition of the universal disabled image of the person in the wheelchair but the figure's arms are raised in fists and the chain that attached the two wrists over the head is now broken. The image is printed on green fabric. Over the figure is the word "ADAPT" and under is the phrase "Free Our People."

Block 17: A 50 year old African-American woman, Deborah Dixon aka Dix, with a non-apparent disability smiles with pride, wearing her Bachelor's graduation garb.

Block 18: A medium-skinned blind woman shows her cell phone to the photographer, revealing the braille on its keys.

Block 19: A second quote, this one printed on brown fabric, from Paul K. Longmore states, “Discrimination is a bigger obstacle to overcome than any disability.”

Block 20: A dark-skinned man wearing a police uniform of blue long-sleeved shirt and black pants pushes his manual among parked cars. On the back of his black wheelchair is a large white sign with black letters that says "Police." His smiling face is turned to the right.

Block 21: A dark-skinned African-American man is protesting by lying next to his power wheelchair holding a sign stating “Nursing Homes Kill!”

Block 22: A group of disabled veterans bowling together. In this photo, the man in front is a light-skinned man in a red manual wheelchair who has just released the bowling ball. He wears a tan tshirt with the words "Home of the Free," a khaki baseball cap and blue jeans. Behind him is a dark-skinned man wearing glasses with a blue tshirt and blue jeans in a blue manual wheelchair.

Block 23: This pen-and-ink drawing shows a line of children moving together. Leading the group is an Asian-appearing young woman wearing a plaid jumper and sweater riding with white socks and shoes in a rear-wheel drive Everett & Jennings power wheelchair with a tray top where her arms are leaning as she drives forward intently. Holding onto her chair is a light-skinned child about the same age wearing a dark tshirt, dark pants and dark hair with roller skates. Holding on next is light skinned child with a v-neck shirt, light shorts, white skates and shoulder length blond hair. The fourth child is light-skinned and blond wearing a long-sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow and blue jeans with dark skates. The fifth child, a medium-skinned girl, has dark hair, white skates, wears a light tshirt and dark skirt. The final child is light-skinned, medium-blond hair, wears a dark tshirt, blue jeans and dark skates.