Tuesday, October 13, 2015

ACTIVISM AND ADVOCACY FOR ALL


In honor of GraceLee Boggs.

Stop. If you only have three minutes, please read the above profile of an astounding and inspiring woman instead. Otherwise, read about her and then come back. Please and thank you.

I’d been writing this post on advocacy and activism (topics dear to the Full Spectrum heart) when I heard that Grace Lee Boggs had passed. A fellow Mawrtyr (graduate of Bryn Mawr College: Ms. Boggs was a Bryn Mawr Ph.D.), she was known for a lifelong commitment to justice and equality for ALL. In a time in which all of the following combinations were practically unimaginable, she was a *Chinese-American *female *scholar married to a *Black man. She was a lifelong feminist, worked hard for labor and the environment and her community, and advocated powerfully and effectively for universal civil rights –HUMAN RIGHTS.

My original post explored how we come to activism: how I’ve watched people with cancer (or loved ones with cancer) become cancer activists, people with sensory processing differences become SPD activists, autistic people and their families and loved ones become autism activists...

But my main point was and is that I believe and hope that people whose hearts and minds are opened up by the particular, personal injustices of the world are inclined to open those hearts and minds further to include the desire for justice, fairness, equality, and inclusion for ALL. Grace Lee Boggs represented this beautiful tendency.

She had the vision to see the humanity and worth in all people. Knowing what I know of that vision, I know implicitly that she would have embraced the concept that autistic and neurodiverse people are inherently worthy of equal rights and respect, and that families of mixed ethnicity are simply, and fully, families, and that people with sensory processing differences experience the world in completely valid ways, and...and...

Perhaps it’s this little word, “and,” that’s key. We choose “and” instead of “or:” because there are enough rights to go around. We don’t have to choose whether it’s race OR ability OR sexuality OR identity OR whatever particular “type” that “gets” to have rights.

We ALL do. 

Those with big, generous hearts remind us of the world's potential, sometimes-hidden bigness and generosity, even when it is hard for others to see. Those of us with growing hearts can look to people like Grace Lee Boggs and take hope. 



Figure I – When We Become Rainbows of Inclusion in a Sometimes Limited-Vision World

I’ve wondered why some people come to activism on their own, through a strong sense of more generalized compassion, or whether most come only through experiences of difference, discrimination, challenge...

I’ve also considered how – let’s face it – TIRING it can be to see injustice everywhere, never mind to combat it with all you’ve got. Grace Lee Boggs (okay, she didn’t have children; however she did care a great deal about them!) managed to truly live her commitment to justice for 100 years!

What is your cause? Particular, universal, or both...? And even when you don’t have the time or energy or opportunity to advocate, activate, etc., do you have a broader vision of who should be considered fully equal and human and why? I dare to hope so.

Love,
Full Spectrum Mama





Welcome to the Sensory Blog Hop — a monthly gathering of posts from sensory bloggers hosted by The Sensory Spectrum and The Jenny Evolution. Click on the links below to read stories from other bloggers about what it’s like to have Sensory Processing Disorder and to raise a sensory kiddo!





8 comments:

  1. "There are enough rights to go around..."

    Love this! Thank you for introducing me to the life of a brilliant woman. What amazing contributions she has made to this world!

    It is interesting to thing about how people come into the advocacy/activism world. I personally recall that when my son was diagnosed, the social worker told me that I would become an advocate not just for him, but for all children. My son was definitely begun my road into advocacy, but I have found that the doors have swung wide open, and any person who is marginalized in this world, who does not fit in that box created by our society, is part of his tribe. And, as such, it is my mission to do what I can to help make their voices heard and, in the case of the children at the school where I teach, make sure that the supports are in place to honor their needs. I have never been by nature a confrontational person, but I am definitely finding my inner advocate. I have learned that I cannot sit quietly by in the face of injustice any longer...no matter what form that injustice might take.

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    1. Beautiful, beautiful, a post in itself!
      Yes - we have become advocates for ALL.
      I remember always having a strong sense of injustice and starting an Amnesty International and stuff like that at school but I know it was at least partly because I'd always felt different and sometimes been marginalized...Now the need is so much stronger...though the Avaialble Time is so much lesser ;)
      Thanks and love,

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  2. Wow, thank you for sharing your info and insights on Grace Lee Boggs - I'm going to check out the documentary and put her autobiography on my list! Advocacy is so important and it's such an interesting question how people come to it. When I was younger, I became strongly opinionated about women's rights because I was growing up and learning what that meant for me personally. I voiced opinions about gay rights because my friends in theatre taught me much about the discrimination they faced. I didn't become an advocate for special needs and autism until I became this boy's parent. But advocacy spreads I think - once you see the humanness in one, you just have to see it in all, don't you? I hope so too. Great post, very thought provoking!

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    1. Exactly! We grow gradually to be AWARE of different subgroups (oops, my inner sociologist is coming out!) and at the same time, ideally, we become more inclusively-oriented.
      Humanness...Love it.
      Thanks and love,
      FSM

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  3. So glad you introduced me to Grace Lee Boggs, I'm going to check out that documentary on her. Answering your question, personally I became an advocate for my son, but that has motivated me to speak for many others still fighting for acceptance and equality. And also for those that need help, children, elderly, and I could go on and on...Thank you for this thoughtful post and for celebrating a lovely and strong woman who planted gardens on vacant lots. May we all do that.

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    1. Isn't she AMAZING?
      I think however you get "in" for advocacy, it seems like it opens your eyes and you cannot bear for anyone to be treated with injustice or inequality...
      Thanks and love,

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  4. Hmmmm I think I like to advocate for so many causes because I know so bitingly what it is like being a minority...
    She sounds like an amazon person and It was neat to learn about some people I have never known before! thank you for the inspiring education:)

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    1. Thanks so much, dear.
      Me too!!!!
      I am just thinking about how as minorities form communities they become stronger, and hopefully uplift others with them. For example, as we advocate for ourselves and our children through our writing and other means, hopefully THEY will experience less marginalization than we have...BUT! Let's hope they also continue to advocate in their own ways...
      Love,

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