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EXTRA! Sept., 2001 AGAINST PITY website -- hear interviews with activists
 PROTEST reports from Colorado Massachusetts Charleston, SC Washington, DC Memphis, TN
Rocky Mountain News coverage
How the fight began Jerry's 'Stay in your house!' remark O'Dwyer's PR newsletter on the controversy
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Telethon 2001
I've been watching the MDA telethon for the past hour . . .
On Sept. 2nd we held our first "action", well, it really was a
demonstration, but it was a momentuous occasion as it is the first time ADAPT
has graced the streets of Amherst as a group. Like the meetings, there were
less than ten of us there, and we lined up along the common with the Peace
Vigil folks who have a permit to gather every sunday between 12 and 1. We
liked them, they liked us, it worked out quite well. We had signs that said,
PISS ON PITY, and EQUALITY NOT PITY, and CIVIL RIGHTS NOT TELETHONS, and of
course, LUCY, service dog extraordinaire wore a sign that said SERVICE DOGS
YES , TELETHONS NO!
We talked to many people who were very open to us, and quite a few
stated that they always felt uneasy about telethons, but werent quite sure
why. THey seemed to resonate with the concept of children being exploited
and presented as creatures to be pitied as opposed as blossoming people with
disabilities who had their whole lives ahead of them to share and explore.We
passed out over a hundred leaflets to folks that actually seemed to want the
information and got a good chunk of signatures on our national petition.
No media showed up, there was no need for police, and I didn't even
remember to bring a tambourine, but something very profound happened on the
Amherst common today. Local radical crips who felt disenfranchised and
dropped in the middle of a rural, complacent gimptopia found each other, and
didn't feel so damned alone in our ideas of equality, inclusion, and equal
access. And for once, we didn't have to break yet another remote control from
throwing it at the tv over labor day weekend. Yep, a good action for sure.
mary frances platt
Visitors arriving at the hotel were greeted by a giant banner, unfurled from a fifth-story balcony, reading "Dump Jerry." The banner hung above the hotel parking lot for over an hour before being removed by management. Seven protesters were arrested after charging through the Omni Hotel lobby, chanting and carrying anti-Telethon signs. We were heading for the ballroom where the Thon's local segment was being aired. We didn't quite make it before being stopped by police but, even though we were officially "in custody," we stayed right there and continued chanting loudly -- "No More Pity!" and "Give Jerry the Boot!" Everyone coming in and out of the ballroom was very aware of our presence, and of our position! The police radioed to request wheelchair-accessible vehicles to take us to the police station. It would be a long wait before these vans arrived. So we had plenty of time to run through our repertoire of chants, and to converse with several passersby. Eventually we were driven to the Broomfield Police station, where we were fingerprinted, photographed, and charged with trespassing. We were ordered to appear in court on October 17. Meanwhile, around two dozen other protesters lined up along Interlocken Loop Boulevard, just outside the entrance to the hotel parking lot, and made a strong visible statement against the Telethon's pity messages. They kept up a spirited demonstration for over three hours, despite having very little shade to protect them from the 90-degree heat! They held up posters bold with pride and defiance. They shouted, "Out Of Our Houses and into the Streets!" and "Stop the Pity! Stop the Lies! Stop to think! Don't patronize!" They offered flyers to drivers. They were interviewed by TV news reporters. And they endured repeated pestering from the cops, who kept showing up to order demonstrators to move their cars out of the hotel's parking lot. (They already had.) As if all this weren't enough to rattle the nerves of the MDA, three protesters actually managed to infiltrate the broadcast itself! Debbie Lane, Julie Reiskin and Carrie Lucas had signed up in advance to volunteer for phone answering duty at the local Telethon. Both Julie and Carrie were ejected from the studio after being recognized from last Friday's news report about our anti-Telethon rally downtown Denver. However, Debbie continued to work the phones until an opportune moment, when the MC was interviewing several local fundraisers. Then Debbie began shouting "Stop the Pity!" over and over, until she was finally thrown out. Fortunately I was videotaping the entire Telethon broadcast at home, and Debbie's very vocal protests are quite audible! Laura HersheyDenver
Chanting, singing and speaking out, around 40 people with disabilities protested the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon. Organized by Capital Area ADAPT, the protest was a show of unity with many national and local disability groups represented. Speakers stressed that Lewis and MDA perpetuate the image of people with disabilities as objects of pity in need of medical supervision rather than the view that those with disabilities are individuals with civil rights working to take their places in society. At a time when unemployment of those with disabilities runs over 70%, the publicity garnered by Lewis and MDA presents a view that does serious damage and shapes negative public attitudes that result in unemployment and societal exclusion. The protest was held at the conference center at Gallaudet University where the Washington, D.C. Metro Area segment of the telethon was being broadcast. "Stop Pity" was the theme. Robert Coward, leader of Capital Area ADAPT, emceed the program. Speakers included Justin Dart, Jr., national disability rights leader and winner of the Congressional Medal of Freedom; Andrew J, Imparato, President of the American Association of Persons with Disabilities (AAPD); Fred Wiener, Office of The President, Gallaudet University; Chris Kaftan, President of the Student Body, Gallaudet University, and Mwenea Ajanaku, a member of Capital Area ADAPT who has Muscular Dystrophy. "Using Lewis and his pity mongers to raise money for a disability related issue is like using a minstrel show to raise money for an African American cause," stated Robert Coward. "We are members of a civil rights group seeking to lead productive lives in the community not pitiable objects in some outdated medical model. Lewis has consistently shown contempt for people with disabilities. He's called us 'half a person' said wheelchairs are 'steel imprisonment' and most recently said on CBS SUNDAY MORNING that if we don't want to be pitied, we should 'stay home.'" Coward mentioned the September 3, 2001 Washington Post article noting that CBS MORNING had cleaned up Lewis's comments and edited out the bigoted reference for the rebroadcast. That the event was being broadcast from Gallaudet University, with its largely deaf student body, initially concerned organizers of the protest. However Fred Wiener of the Office of the President apologized. He noted that the Conference Center is a private facility and Gallaudet University does not have control over what groups used it. He stated that the University supported the protest and is fully behind civil rights and self-determination for people with disabilities. Gallaudet staff and students vocally supported the protest indicating unity between the deaf community and the broader disability rights movement.
Janine Bertram Kemp The 11th annual Telethon protest in Charleston stuck to the tried and true. We had 16 total protesters, about a dozen out at any given time, and we picketed and distributed handbills on all four sides of a major tourism/shopping intersection. The narrow one-way streets with slow traffic are perfect for the "Honk if you Hate Telethons" sign. It was a steamy overcast morning, with less foot traffic than usual. Still, we distributed about 450 handbills in just over 2 hours, most going to groups of 3-5. They definitely got read and passed around, and the situation is perfect for chatting. All the protesters were well informed and answered questions, both about the Thon and about where to eat and local sights of interest. One fellow took responsibility for offering empathy and condolences to those who were distressed by the fact that Saks Fifth Avenue, located on his corner, was closed. In the heart of America's "Most Polite City," we are probably America's "Most Polite Protest." We got no hectoring, although some people politely refused to accept handbills. Most expressed interest, and many outright support. My father, a retired Spanish professor, explained the whole thing to Spanish-speaking visitors. Two TV stations showed. The Thon affiliate did an interview and took lots of film, but I'm not sure what they used, if anything. It would have been at 11:00 and I was asleep by then. I'm sure someone will tell me. This station also produces the Fox news at 10:00. There we were bumped by a good story on the Charleston 5 -- something worth getting bumped for -- and several dumb stories. (The dumbest: "Police were called to a local beach when a shark was spotted, but the shark had left by the time police arrived." I guess the shark, like Laura Hershey and her comrades, might have been charged with criminal trespass if it refused to leave the ocean when ordered to do so.) The ABC affiliate covered us at 5:00 and 6:00. The original story was slightly negative, but not bad -- actually, it may have been "balanced" and I just feel like it's negative because I get so furious by the way they always glide into "but it makes a lot of money." But at 6:00 the lead (or lede, as Mary Johnson writes) had been improved, "It may seem like a Labor Day tradition, but the MDA telethon is getting protests from THOUSANDS of those it is supposed to serve nationwide, and about a dozen here in Charleston." I have no idea where they got that, but how delightful! The local paper did not come out, but I guess they feel like they did their duty publishing my op-ed the Friday before. That is still getting excellent response. Strangers are calling my office, declaring new-found enlightenment. We adjourned noonish for the post-protest luncheon. There were 11 at the table, which amused me since Jerry used to like to say, "So I have 11 critics!" We ate mousaka, gyros, spanakopita, Greek salads, chicken, etc., and enjoyed wide-ranging conversation in which lawyers, a SILC director, a poet, a retired Spanish professor, a young biomedical researcher, and the Darling Nieces were fully included. I rolled home and -- gritting my teeth -- watched the Thon to the bitter end. And bitter it was. As bad as any in my memory. It led with Jerry trembling and almost-weeping about how many had died of MD since last year's broadcast. Near the end, he told a story of a 15 year old who decided to go off the vent, but wanted to "talk to Jerry first." I find myself unable to repeat this story. It's too horrible. However, it should get the attention of Not Dead Yet. In the 4-5 hours I watched, it was a parade of children. Those who insisted they were happy and enjoying life were a source of astonishment, and all credit was given to MDA for improving their quality of life. The big summer camp montage was accompanied by an original song, "If I were brave" -- reminding me why I had a "doctor's order" that my photograph could not be taken when I used to go to Easter Seal camp. This year's poster child looks a lot like I did at age 7 and seeing her objectified and learning to "say the right thing" was very hard to take. So, for all the effort I put in to get media, offer the community an alternative view, and all that, when it comes down to it, this fight is really very personal, a matter of self-defense. The Thon still gets to me, and I just don't think I could live with myself without doing some kind of counterattack. The support of friends and activists all over the place means so much. Getting phone calls from Taylor Hines -- reporting from LA -- and Laura Hershey -- physically exhausted but hopped up in Denver -- was the perfect antidote to Jerry. And I should also mention the marvel of doing live radio just before the Thon opened, with Greg Smith in Florida, Laura in Denver, and Cris Matthews producing in Chicago. It is peculiar, and causes some sadness, that I was the only protester with a visible disability out in Charleston. (A quad college student did stop by, which pleased me enormously, but he couldn't stay.) I wish more folks here would stop hiding and know the joy of confronting the forces against us. I therefore continue to issue the invitation and gently twist arms, but on the whole I simply rejoice in the remarkable assortment of family and friends who come out without a direct personal stake in the fight. The struggle continues! Harriet JohnsonCharleston, SC
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