Pushing Limits Radio Joins Facebook

Pushing Limits has joined facebook with an official fanpage!

If you are a member of facebook, please join the conversation by "like"ing our page. From there, you let us know about topics Pushing Limits Radio should cover in future shows, or share your thoughts about topics presented on previous shows. We would love to hear from you and, this way, you will be sharing your thoughts with the Pushing Limits listener community as well!

You can find us by clicking here, clicking on the "like" button below, or by searching for "Pushing Limits Radio (KPFA)" on facebook.com.

We're looking forward to hearing from you!

Community Voices

Listen 29 min
Do candidates running for state offices have a disability rights agenda or awareness? We polled candidates for governor. The Peace and Freedom Party and Libertarian Party responded.

People in substance abuse programs showed up in numbers at Wednesday's large protest of the California budget proposals.
Photo: 28 people holding 18 boxes of letters inside the state capital building.
They brought the 4,000 letters defending the Drug Medi-Cal program, the result of a massive street mobilization by addicts from the Oasis Community Clinic in Oakland. Sacramento addicts also joined the protest.


Are you a danger to people with disabilities when you are driving? Check your habits here.

And, the ongoing mobilization against P.G. & E.'s so-called Smart Meters shuts down a warehouse in Santa Cruz County.

http://stopsmartmeters.org

Eddie Ytuarte and Adrienne Lauby host.

Photo: Gathering signatures for drug treatment programs. Three women on street corner.

Gustopo Tactics Against IHSS Users & Workers

Modesto Bee article

Turning the Ship of State

LISTEN 28 min

Policy vs Protest. Insiders vs Outsiders.
(R to L) Sunaura Taylor, Jessica Lehman, Marianna Ruybalid surrounded by police. Photo by Jameson Ligni

We look at this centuries-old debate as it plays out for people with disabilities in California's budget debate.

The Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision ruled that people with disabilities have a right to remain in their communities, even if they need government services to do it. But, how can people with disabilities manifest the promise of Olmstead while slogging through the stagnant politics of Sacramento?



Guests:
Mary Lou Breslin, long time disability activist, senior policy analyst & co-founder of the Disability Education and Defense Fund (DREDF).

Mary Lou Breslin as a young activist

Bancroft Library Photo

Sunaura Taylor, one of 23 arrested for blocking a street in front of the state capital two weeks ago. Sunaura is a member of Communities United in Defense of Olmstead (CUIDO), the group who organized the Arnieville protest.

Adrienne Lauby and Eddie Ytuarte host.

Musicians Living with a Disability

Listen 28 min

A sampling of musicians who found success as they lived with significant disabilities. From pop star Michael Bolton and his profound deafness in one ear to a one-arm drummer with the hard rock band, Def Leppard...

Chick Webb. At a young age, he contracted spinal tuberculosis that left him with a hunchback and little use of his legs.

Rick Allen. Def Leppard drummer, one arm amputee.

Rick Allen, smiling, with one arm in the air. Photo by Matt Becker

Michael Bolton. Vocalist, deaf in one ear.

Jeff Healey. The Jeff Healey Band. Lost his sight to retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes.

Derek Pavaricini, autistic prodigy, Pianist.

Susannah McCorkle Jazz & pop vocalist who killed herself because of her mental illness.

Leah Gardner and Eddie Ytuarte spin the tunes and talk about the artists.

Twenty Years of the ADA

Listen (28 min)
Marilyn Golden, policy analyst for Disability Rights
Education & Defense Fund, discusses the merits
and history of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

People in the U.S. are celebrating the 20th anniversary
of the ADA.

Has this law significantly moved the disability rights
movement forward?
Are there some things that cannot be achieved with
the ADA?

Hosted by Eddie Ytuarte and Leah Gardner.

20th Anniversary of the ADA

By Adrienne Lauby

A few days ago, I heard of a 90 year old woman who refused an IV line because the doctor said she would have to go into a hospital if she had it put in. She wanted to spend her last days at home.

What the...?!?!

I know, and many of you know, that this is a non-issue. There are ways for people who need I.V. treatments to have them at their homes.

A few days ago, I heard that a local homeless advocate wanted to set up a campsite, so those who are homeless would have another choice than sleeping in doorways or sidewalks. But the city didn't think it would work.

What the...?!?!

The L.A. County jail continues to be the largest institution for those with emotional disabilities in the nation. The county where I live, one of the richest in the U.S., has no in-patient treatment for people with emotional disabilities.

What the...?!?!

Twenty years after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed, problems like this, problems with common sense solutions, continue to fester.

ADAPT is a national group with a history of nonviolent direct action group dedicated to bringing people with disabilities out of institutions and into the community. They said it very well:

"...knowing that you are protected against discrimination in employment means nothing when the hub of your life is a bedroom you share with a stranger. Knowing that buildings and public accommodations are accessible means nothing when the facility staff won't let you leave; and even having access to lifts on buses - as dear to our hearts as that is - means nothing when you cannot afford to go anywhere on the allowance that is left over after the institution has taken its share of your money."

The ADA is not a failure. The ADA brought us accessible buildings, bathrooms, sidewalks, buses. It gave many children and young adults the opportunity for education, travel and social lives. Despite the business whining that ADA access is too burdensome for their bottom line, the ADA brought people with canes, sign language, protective masks and wheelchairs into our public spaces. Picture by Neil Marcus. The text reads, "Disability is not a brave struggle or courage in the face of adversity; Disability is an Art. It's an ingenious way to live." The image is a pen & ink drawing of a human and a wheelchair.

I celebrate this anniversary with a re-dedication.

Freedom for people with disabilities is not about bringing more workers into a capitalist system. Freedom is about dignity and membership in the human community. I dedicate myself to the fight for this freedom.

Today, people who could live in the community are forced into for-profit institutions because society believes their physical condition is too troublesome to care for individually. People with mental and emotional disabilities are offered few treatment options and, if they end up on the street, their final destination is often jail.

We have no choice. We must stand with those who are not yet among the free.