Summer is a time for movie blockbusters, superhero epics and spending $9.50 on a concession stand slushie SO cold that your brain freezes just as your tongue turns an alarming shade of blue raspberry. But what if going out to a theatre doesn’t sound appealing to you? Maybe you don’t care to see Spiderman save the world for the 37th time. Maybe you don’t want to waste a gallon of $6.00 gas to drive to a theatre to spend another $35 just to sit in a room with strangers for 142 minutes.
If, like me, the idea of doing these things makes you shudder (which is a possibility given we still live in a world where COVID lurks more readily than the Green Goblin!), then maybe you’re looking for something to watch in the comfort of your own home. Maybe something about real people wanting to make the world a better place in a way that doesn’t involve men wearing full body leotards?
Well, if that’s the case, I’d like to submit a movie suggestion for your review.
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
If you’re a supporter of Anthesis, then disability rights and advocacy is probably something you care about. But many narratives about these subjects tend to be shared from a nondisabled lens— highlighting the work that the able-bodied have done to assist the disabled.
Crip Camp seeks to change that. This award-winning documentary is distributed by Netflix and gives first-hand accounts into the formation of the revolutionary disability rights and independent living movement— led by a group of disabled folks that met as kids at a summer camp called Camp Jened in New York.
The story of Camp Jened is little-known. But the camaraderie and common ground that these disabled kids built together during those summers at camp became a powerful catalyst. Armed with the support of one another, they grew up to become the leaders of the disability rights movement that began in the 70’s and culminated in the successful 504 Sit-Ins of 1977 and the eventual passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.
Simply put, this film is a must-see. Not only is it a crucial bit of disability history, but it’s also a vital chapter in the fight for civil rights and equality.
Here’s a little background.
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 sought to expand the role of the federal government in providing services for those with disabilities. It impacted access to public education, social programs, and held that federal agencies and contractors must make efforts to accommodate the disabled and couldn’t discriminate based upon disability. Section 504 of the Act went further and instructed that children and adults with disabilities receive expanded opportunities in education, employment, and other areas. To achieve this, reasonable accommodations must be undertaken by agencies (and others receiving federal funds) to ensure their services are accessible to the disabled.
“No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States shall solely on the basis of his handicap, be excluded from the participation, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” Section 504.
In theory, this law was a big step forward. But, in practice, it didn’t result in any change in policy. Why? Because most federal agencies, and those bound by the law, simply refused to follow it. Further, those that did acknowledge the law sought to delay its implementation by saying it was “too expensive” or they didn’t have the guidance necessary to make the changes happen.
The Camp Jened alums were ready to fight for the rights they were being denied. So, after nearly four years of non-action on Section 504, that group of trailblazers, led by Judith Heumann, staged a series of historic “Sit-Ins” in 1977 to bring attention to the issue.
And, that story is at the heart of Crip Camp.
The documentary will make you think, and it will make you angry. But it will also make you laugh and make you cry. What more could you want in a movie?
So, please check it out on Netflix. You won’t regret it.
Happy Summer to you from everyone at Anthesis!