Kathleen Daughety

“The power of story is to heal and to sustain. And if we are brave enough to tell our own story, we realize we're not alone, again and again.”
― Suleika Jaouad, Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted

“When I think about the history of slavery and racism in this country, I think about how quick we are to espouse notions of progress without accounting for its uncertain and serpentine path.”
― Clint Smith, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

“When other people see you as a third-class citizen, the first thing you need is a belief in yourself and the knowledge that you have rights. The next thing you need is a group of friends to fight back with.”
― Judith Heumann, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist

“But it wouldn’t happen—the government would not take any responsibility—unless we made it impossible for them to ignore us. The idea of bringing a lawsuit against the Board of Ed was daunting, and I had no clue how to do it. I didn’t even know where to start. I definitely didn’t know any lawyers. The people I knew were butchers and cops, teachers and firefighters. How did one go about finding a lawyer? How could I possibly find one who would see the Board of Education’s decision as an issue of civil rights? If the ACLU didn’t get it, what hope did I have of finding a mainstream lawyer who got it? We decided we needed publicity. A disabled guy I knew from school was a journalism major and stringer for the New York Times. I called him and told him about the Board of Education’s decision. The next day a reporter named Andrew Malcolm called to interview me. A week later, the article, “Woman in Wheel Chair Sues to Become Teacher,” came out. It was 1970, and I was twenty-two years old.”
― Judith Heumann, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist