Speaker 1: There's a young boys was cut up from our surgery.
Speaker 1: Prosthetic picts burgery telling me I'm normal, But normal would
Speaker 1: they never really menacing? They are always painting discriminated what
Speaker 1: the world around the world, there are laws that protect
Speaker 1: disabled people from discriminations, but in this episode we'll be
Speaker 1: talking about why some current legislations may not enable, empower, liberate,
Speaker 1: or protect disabled people as much as they should. I'm
Speaker 1: Sophie Morgan. This is equal to episode two, How we
Speaker 1: change the law? What can we do to push equality
Speaker 1: for for people with disabilities? In high school, the only
Speaker 1: thing that we could do was was to see I
Speaker 1: think it's about having you know, fairness of opportunity is
Speaker 1: a really big part of it, and I do think
Speaker 1: disabled people have to take some responsibility. Last camp being
Speaker 1: taken in a way and it's it's permanent in for
Speaker 1: the great reasons m oh your Market said, the persons
Speaker 1: have beloved the blood to hit the g Today, over
Speaker 1: one point to billion people around the world are living
Speaker 1: with a disability. We make up fifteen percent of the
Speaker 1: global population, and yet despite many countries establishing laws to
Speaker 1: protect our rights, no disabled person is immune to discrimination.
Speaker 1: Last year, across thirty six police forces in England and Wales,
Speaker 1: more than seven thousand, three hundred disability hate crimes were reported,
Speaker 1: but only one point six percent resulted in perpetrators being charged.
Speaker 1: Disability discrimination, often called able is um, comes in many forms,
Speaker 1: from not providing a wheelchair ramp or an interpreter and
Speaker 1: a press briefing two point six millions spent on the
Speaker 1: new press room, yet still no interpreter, to more extreme
Speaker 1: breaches in human rights, such as the practice of shackling
Speaker 1: or forced sterilization. All around the world, disabled people depend
Speaker 1: on laws to safeguard our rights. In the UK we
Speaker 1: have the Equalities Act. In the US there's the a
Speaker 1: d A. In Colombia there's Law sixteen eighteen, and in
Speaker 1: Australia there's the Disability Discrimination Act. In some countries, these
Speaker 1: acts took disabled activists years of blood, sweat and tears
Speaker 1: to bring in. I highly recommend watching the OSCAR nominated
Speaker 1: documentary cryp Camp to get an idea of how hard
Speaker 1: fought the A d A was in the US. But
Speaker 1: even when there are laws in place. When Ris searching
Speaker 1: for this podcast, we came to find that more often
Speaker 1: than not, it falls upon disabled people themselves to enforce
Speaker 1: those laws or in some cases outright change them. Yes,
Speaker 1: he goes again, going for the double in Even Paralympic
Speaker 1: legends like usas Tatiana McFadden, who can currently be seen
Speaker 1: on television screens all around the world as she competes
Speaker 1: in Tokyo. Even Tatiana experiences discriminations. But mcfanna while she's
Speaker 1: on the hunt for six golds now and that's the
Speaker 1: first of all. Growing up in the US, Tatiana began
Speaker 1: wheelchair racing at the age of eight. At fifteen, she
Speaker 1: competed in her first Paralympics in Athens in two thousand
Speaker 1: and four, bringing home to gold medals. But when she
Speaker 1: returned home to Illinois and started high school, Tatiana found
Speaker 1: even Paralympic champions would not be treated equally to non
Speaker 1: disabled high schoolers coming in into high school. I'll I'm
Speaker 1: one end to to do track. That's the that's a
Speaker 1: club that I wanted to do. Her school said she
Speaker 1: was not allowed to participate in high school sports due
Speaker 1: to her wheelchair being a safety hazard and creating an
Speaker 1: unfair advantage. I didn't want to do anything else that
Speaker 1: I didn't want to do Chazz. I didn't want to
Speaker 1: do be in the theater. I just wanted to do
Speaker 1: high school track. And my my first year, um, you know,
Speaker 1: I didn't think how how tough it was going to be.
Speaker 1: And I I was denied a uniform, and I was
Speaker 1: denied to run alongside of of the of the able
Speaker 1: bodied runners. And so I thought, you know what, what
Speaker 1: can we do to push equality for for people a
Speaker 1: disabilities in high school? And the only thing that we
Speaker 1: could do was was to sue. When we went against
Speaker 1: the state of Maryland. We won and that took four
Speaker 1: years in college, it became federal when we worked with
Speaker 1: Tatiana's lawsuit, which requires schools to provide equal opportunities for
Speaker 1: students with disabilities, was passed in two thousand and eight.
Speaker 1: It is now known as Tatiana's Law. Thinking about going
Speaker 1: through that lawsuit, and I thought of my sister Hannah immediately.
Speaker 1: She was also a Paralympic athlete, and I wanted and
Speaker 1: wanted her to have the best experience possible. And people
Speaker 1: following after that, and now that it's it's federal and
Speaker 1: it's nationwide, you know, it's it's called the Tatiana's Law,
Speaker 1: and it's it's so cool going going through that as
Speaker 1: a high schooler and it was extremely hard, and yeah
Speaker 1: it was it was really tough. Um, but it last
Speaker 1: camp being taken away and it's it's permanent in for
Speaker 1: the right reason. So what does this story teach us?
Speaker 1: It may have resulted in a positive and a lasting outcome,
Speaker 1: but isn't it shocking to think that equality of opportunity
Speaker 1: in sport may not have been possible for disabled children
Speaker 1: in the US had this Paralympic athlete not used every
Speaker 1: ounce of the resilience and determination we see her demonstrate
Speaker 1: on the track to make this happen. And why is
Speaker 1: it that the race for equality also has to be
Speaker 1: a battle? We all have human rights, so when those
Speaker 1: rights aren't being granted, what then? The U n c
Speaker 1: RPD talks about how countries should make sure that people
Speaker 1: with disabilities have the same rights as others. In two
Speaker 1: thousand and six, the United Nations adopted an international treaty
Speaker 1: to protect the rights of people with disabilities. It's called
Speaker 1: the Convention on the Right of People with Disabilities or
Speaker 1: the crp D. Its goal is to wipe out all
Speaker 1: forms of disability discrimination enabling disabled people to live independently,
Speaker 1: ensuring an inclusive education system, and offering protections from all
Speaker 1: forms of exploitation, violence and abuse. But it might shock
Speaker 1: you to learn that many countries have not yet ratified
Speaker 1: this convention, including the US. Deborah McFadden is a founding
Speaker 1: member of Athletics for All oh and she's also Tatiana's mom.
Speaker 1: Here she explains why the crp D matters. So it's
Speaker 1: very important that the U N ratifies the Convention on
Speaker 1: the Rights of People with Disabilities. We are a blessed
Speaker 1: country to have so many wonderful laws, such as the
Speaker 1: Americans with Disability Zack Tribal four two idea. But what
Speaker 1: we're saying is to the world, we can do it
Speaker 1: our own way, and we're not being an example to
Speaker 1: those countries that have asked us to be an example
Speaker 1: of what it's like to protect the rights of all
Speaker 1: people with disabilities. It's a policy statement, it's a leadership issue.
Speaker 1: We still have a long way to go in this country.
Speaker 1: But if they don't have to do it, why should
Speaker 1: we do it. It's an operational document. It's something to
Speaker 1: say that these are the standards that we need to
Speaker 1: have for people with disabilities around the world, and we
Speaker 1: need to be a leader in that to say all
Speaker 1: people have rights and protections, and the US isn't alone.
Speaker 1: There are many other countries yet to ratify the convention.
Speaker 1: In a later episode, will be asking whether the l
Speaker 1: A Paralympic Games might be the tipping point that encourages
Speaker 1: the US to take that step, and if so, what
Speaker 1: that might mean. Disabled people's organizations around the world agree
Speaker 1: that in order for change to be made, we need
Speaker 1: strong leadership with disabled people themselves is leading the charge.
Speaker 1: Nothing about us without us, as they say. In the
Speaker 1: first episode, we spoke with former British paralympian damed Tanny
Speaker 1: gray Thompson, and here she is again explaining why she
Speaker 1: got into politics. I think it's about having you know,
Speaker 1: fairness of opportunity is a really big part of it,
Speaker 1: and I do think disabled people have to take some responsibility.
Speaker 1: You know, we can't just sit around and wait for
Speaker 1: it to be done to us or for us. Because
Speaker 1: I haven't got time to sit and rely on anybody else.
Speaker 1: So that's probably why I kind of had this set
Speaker 1: of urgency about a lot of stuff that I do.
Speaker 1: So I haven't got time to sit and wait for
Speaker 1: somebody to say, oh, here you go. I think some
Speaker 1: of like that powerful political voice of disabled people's also
Speaker 1: been lost a little bit over the years. There are
Speaker 1: still organizations of disabled people, but in terms of the
Speaker 1: Equality Act, disability just ends up being a feel a
Speaker 1: bit lost. I don't really know where we are, but
Speaker 1: you know where we're still fighting for basic access to
Speaker 1: get into a building, or to get into you know,
Speaker 1: high court, you know, you know, just those things. We
Speaker 1: shouldn't be fighting for some of those really really basic things.
Speaker 1: So I do think disabled people need to kind of
Speaker 1: you know, it needs to be more than you know,
Speaker 1: I'm part of a group of you know, quite strong
Speaker 1: disabled people, but it needs to be more disabled people
Speaker 1: asking more things, because otherwise they look at me and
Speaker 1: while I got it to her again and just ignored it.
Speaker 1: So one of the things I tried to do is
Speaker 1: really important. It's just get more disabled people to talk
Speaker 1: about these things and to give them an opportunity and
Speaker 1: support to be an alternate voice. What Canada Senate is
Speaker 1: about to get a little bit fuller. The federal government
Speaker 1: announcing the appointment of seven new people to the Red
Speaker 1: Chamber in Canada in two thousand and sixteen, fourteen time
Speaker 1: gold medalist Paralympian Chantell Petty Clerk also made the switch
Speaker 1: from record breaker to lawmaker. Moving into politics as a
Speaker 1: Canadian Senator was a bit of a strange moment because
Speaker 1: I did not plan for it and uh and and
Speaker 1: to me, I was exactly at that time, after being
Speaker 1: Chef de mission for Rio, after coaching for London, to
Speaker 1: to to choose you know what will this second part
Speaker 1: of my life be. Do I want to stay in sport,
Speaker 1: do I want to do something different? So, but you know,
Speaker 1: it is such an amazing privilege and responsibility to say
Speaker 1: I can be in Parliament, I can try to be
Speaker 1: the voice of not only persons with disability, but the
Speaker 1: voice using her position of influencing government. Chantel has been
Speaker 1: able to make a monumental impact on a very controversial
Speaker 1: but life changing matter for disabled people, the assisted Dying Bills.
Speaker 1: One of the very first impact that I had was
Speaker 1: also one that was very um difficult in in intense
Speaker 1: uh and it was only a few months after I
Speaker 1: was a pointed in the Senate of Canada where we
Speaker 1: had to deal with a very very important bill on
Speaker 1: medical assistance in dying it was very of course, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, it is so delicate and so important and
Speaker 1: and at the same time so hard. It's so so
Speaker 1: difficult to just even think and talk about it. This
Speaker 1: really talks to persons and some individuals with a disability
Speaker 1: in interable pain who want to make their choice for themselves.
Speaker 1: And so so I was a sponsor of that bill
Speaker 1: and trying to be the voice of those individuals who
Speaker 1: wanted to have the right to make that choice for them,
Speaker 1: and of course, uh, it was very tough for me.
Speaker 1: It was also a very tough conversation in Canada because,
Speaker 1: as in many countries in the world, UH, persons with
Speaker 1: disability still have a lot of vulnerability, which is strange
Speaker 1: because when you're a paralympian, you're like this, champions of
Speaker 1: persons with disability, and sometimes you have sponsors, you have visibility,
Speaker 1: people recognize you on the streets. So it was very
Speaker 1: very eye opening for me to come from being this
Speaker 1: multi medalist, very able and strong and independent, to have
Speaker 1: the voices of other persons with disabilities, with other challenges
Speaker 1: and vulnerabilities, and being able to also say there is
Speaker 1: not one person with a disability, there are thousands and
Speaker 1: millions of them, and each have different voices, different choices,
Speaker 1: different strength, different vulnerability. But each and every one of
Speaker 1: them and me should have uh the right to choose
Speaker 1: how they want to live their life and and maybe
Speaker 1: how they want to end it. In Parliament, Chantel used
Speaker 1: her to advocate for all disabled people. But you don't
Speaker 1: need to be a politician to change your world. The
Speaker 1: mayor of Lima, Peru, is confronting disability challenges head on,
Speaker 1: and earlier this week, he discovered just how challenging life
Speaker 1: in a wheelchair can be when he nearly fell out
Speaker 1: of his chair. Pilaja Reggie is a wheelchair badminton champion
Speaker 1: from Peru. She wanted the lawmakers of Lima, the capital
Speaker 1: city of Peru, to understand the difficulties that she had
Speaker 1: navigating the streets in her wheelchair, so she challenged Lima's mayor,
Speaker 1: Jorge Muns to try it for himself. I found it
Speaker 1: difficult when going out shopping, going to the pharmacy, basically everything.
Speaker 1: Many times I have run into palls and garbage cans,
Speaker 1: things like that. Or I found that the rant was
Speaker 1: too steep and difficult to go up and down, So
Speaker 1: that is when I recorded a video and posted the
Speaker 1: on Twitter and Facebook saying that we're not invisible, and
Speaker 1: I challenged the mayor to try and pass through some
Speaker 1: of these streets. At the beginning, the challenge was to
Speaker 1: try using the wheelchair for a day. After that, the
Speaker 1: mayor went viral all over the social networks and the
Speaker 1: next day the mayor was already in the wheelchair and
Speaker 1: I told him which routes I had to travel along.
Speaker 1: They implemented the regulations so that they could build ramps
Speaker 1: all over Lima. They've now built around three thousand accessible ramps.
Speaker 1: There are now regulated standards for how ramps should be
Speaker 1: built and how there should be a ramp on every corner.
Speaker 1: Thanks to the Games, there has also been an improvement
Speaker 1: in the social sense society wide. It can be seen
Speaker 1: that there is much more respect. As in the past
Speaker 1: people used to park their cars on the actual ramps.
Speaker 1: Now you are more careful about that. Okay, so we've
Speaker 1: heard how paralympians have made an impact on the law,
Speaker 1: but what about disabled people who aren't Paralympians. I've faced
Speaker 1: so much discrimination in the United States, racism, sexism, and
Speaker 1: the worst able ism. Harbon Germer, who is deaf blind
Speaker 1: has become one of the most prominent disabled activists in
Speaker 1: the world. President Obama even recognized her work when he
Speaker 1: named her a White House Champion of Change. So fed
Speaker 1: up with ableism that I wanted to make a career
Speaker 1: out of finding it, Harbon has used her position to
Speaker 1: change the law. One of the things I was proud
Speaker 1: of is to help increase reading access for blind readers.
Speaker 1: There was an online library and blind readers were struggling
Speaker 1: to access books in the library, so we asked the
Speaker 1: company to make their books accessible. They ignored us, and
Speaker 1: we use the Americans with Disabilities Act to compel them,
Speaker 1: and after the lawsuit, they agreed to work with the
Speaker 1: Natural Ofederation of the Blind to make their library accessible
Speaker 1: for blind readers. Harbon shows us that activism works and
Speaker 1: she's not alone. Today. Despite the access and attitudinal barriers
Speaker 1: that disabled people face, all around the world, activists with
Speaker 1: disabilities are pushing for changes to the laws that directly
Speaker 1: impact their lives. In India, Mana see Joshi, a young
Speaker 1: para badminton player, is campaigning to reduce the cost of
Speaker 1: prosthetic limbs. Or in Nigeria, rassak Adaquia, who lost his
Speaker 1: sight in a car accident as a young adult is
Speaker 1: helping Nigerians get into employment. Others are more political. In Greece,
Speaker 1: Stelius Kim poor Opolis began his career as a psychiatryist,
Speaker 1: but in two thousand and nineteen became a member of
Speaker 1: European Parliament working to help disabled people live independently. And
Speaker 1: in another activist Eleanor Lalou became France's first counselor with
Speaker 1: Down syndrome. Advocates are even making a difference at an
Speaker 1: international scale. Daphne free Us is a Mexican American campaigner
Speaker 1: with cerebral palsy who helps disabled people participate in climate action.
Speaker 1: And Eugene Mustafa is a Kurdish Syrian refugee who in
Speaker 1: two thousand and nineteen became the first person to address
Speaker 1: the UN Security Council from a wheelchair and is now
Speaker 1: a global advocate for refugee children with disabilities. Sharing these
Speaker 1: examples with you is exhilarating. They are just a handful
Speaker 1: of stories, but all of these people represent countless more
Speaker 1: disabled individuals who are working to take control of the
Speaker 1: narrative and shift the dial. Often we see disabled people
Speaker 1: working in isolation, focusing on the issues that matter to
Speaker 1: them in the countries where they live, and rightly so,
Speaker 1: but it's time we joined together. You're such an inspiration,
Speaker 1: so great you remind me for you break. Recently, a
Speaker 1: global campaign called We the Fifteen has launched time to
Speaker 1: coordinate with the Tokyo Games to raise awareness of the
Speaker 1: fact that we remain the most underrepresented an undeserved group
Speaker 1: on the planet. The International Paralympic Committee, the International Disability Alliance,
Speaker 1: the United Nations and UNESCO have all come together to
Speaker 1: amplify the cause because we all recognize that now is
Speaker 1: the time to remove inequality and inactivity. We spoke with
Speaker 1: one of the founders of the We the Fifteen campaign,
Speaker 1: Eddie and Dopeu, who is an award winning, internationally acclaimed
Speaker 1: activist and humanitarian from South Africa. One of the things
Speaker 1: that Eddie is known for is his engagement with young
Speaker 1: activists to pressure lawmakers around the world to provide improved
Speaker 1: educational opportunities to use with disabilities. Eddie explains how he
Speaker 1: goes about advocating for change. You know, Sophie, I think
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, it is so critical
Speaker 1: that we have an intersectional approach to to disability, right
Speaker 1: that you know, of course, we know that we are
Speaker 1: not a monolithic group. Right, of course we know that.
Speaker 1: But I think sometimes advocacy requires what is often called
Speaker 1: strategic essentialism, where we sort of stripped down our complexity
Speaker 1: in order to advocate for change in terms of legal
Speaker 1: rights or legislation. And so the temptation to flatten the
Speaker 1: disability experience in the name of advocating for recognition and
Speaker 1: and and and fundamental rights and freedoms, that often means
Speaker 1: that we do so we do that stripping back at
Speaker 1: the expense of intersectionality, right, at the expense of a
Speaker 1: profound recognition that we are never just one thing, right,
Speaker 1: Because I think, how do we think about disability and gender?
Speaker 1: How do we think about disability and sexuality? How do
Speaker 1: we think about disability and race? And then how do
Speaker 1: we think about disability across geography? Right? And and that
Speaker 1: is the magic of the lived experience of disability is
Speaker 1: that it is we we are we, we are disabled,
Speaker 1: and we are so many other things simultaneously, right, And
Speaker 1: I think, you know what the movement, what what needs
Speaker 1: to happen, I think is is that that texture to
Speaker 1: our lives and now they've the experience. That's what needs
Speaker 1: to be put at the forefront. Right. The questions that
Speaker 1: Eddie asked need to be carefully considered. They need to
Speaker 1: be asked of one another, and we need to think
Speaker 1: about our answers. This subject requires us all to ask
Speaker 1: questions of ourselves and our understanding of what disability, justice
Speaker 1: and equality means. Eddie Tatiana Chantel are all disabled people
Speaker 1: making change for disabled people, which is vital when it
Speaker 1: comes to representing the many different lived experiences of disabled people.
Speaker 1: As Eddie says, we are not a monolith. But no
Speaker 1: matter how successful these change agents might be in their field,
Speaker 1: they too encounter discrimination. So I was in Manhattan, downtown Manhattan, UM,
Speaker 1: showing up at this you know, really fancy building for
Speaker 1: a meeting. And I make my way to the entrance
Speaker 1: of the building and I'm all dressed up, looking absolutely
Speaker 1: fabulous with my channel glasses, and UM. I arrived at
Speaker 1: the building and UM, the person at the door, the
Speaker 1: keeper of the building, sort of looked at me and said, UM,
Speaker 1: can I help you? And they said, no, I'm fine,
Speaker 1: I'm just here for a meeting. UM. And he said
Speaker 1: to me, oh, the doctor's rooms aren't here. The doctor's
Speaker 1: rooms are across the street, and I was like, I'm
Speaker 1: not here to see a doctor, but you know he
Speaker 1: he automatical. And and this was, you know, five minutes
Speaker 1: before I had to be psychologically ready for you know,
Speaker 1: a really important meeting. That's quite significant, right, And so
Speaker 1: that was the moment where I was just like, oh wow, okay, Like,
Speaker 1: you know, no matter no matter how successful I think
Speaker 1: I am, no matter how UM accomplished that. And this
Speaker 1: is the thing, Sophie, is that you know, success does
Speaker 1: not inoculate us against able ism. And what about the
Speaker 1: toll that this has on disabled activists? His hobbin again.
Speaker 1: So the way a lot of these laws are structured,
Speaker 1: they put the burden on disabled people to remove the barriers.
Speaker 1: That is a lot of work, a lot of time,
Speaker 1: a lot of emotional and physical energy. It's very exhausting
Speaker 1: and it's not fair. The burden should be on the institutions,
Speaker 1: the institutions who have the power to remove the barriers,
Speaker 1: rather than forcing disabled people to file complaints and do
Speaker 1: the work of removing all the barriers. I do struggle
Speaker 1: with advocacy fatigue. It's really hard, and having a community
Speaker 1: of people who understand me. Is really crucial because if
Speaker 1: I'm too tired to advocate for a barrier, someone could
Speaker 1: stop in. I was going to ride a ferris wheel
Speaker 1: in a new city I was visiting. I was visiting Atlanta,
Speaker 1: Georgia a few years ago, and the person at the
Speaker 1: ferris wheel said she can't come in no dogs. I
Speaker 1: had my guide dog, and my friend stepped in and said,
Speaker 1: this is a service dog under the Amery Goods of
Speaker 1: Disabilities Act. The dog gets to travel with her and
Speaker 1: the person gave in and let us write the ferris wheel.
Speaker 1: So it helps to have a community to help shoulder
Speaker 1: the burden of advocacy, and when you're too tired, someone
Speaker 1: else can step in and help. So how do we
Speaker 1: fight for our rights going forward? Do we need more
Speaker 1: than the law? Laws help move our culture in the
Speaker 1: direction it should go. Laws are created when there's a
Speaker 1: systemic problem and you need litigation to help fix in.
Speaker 1: So it's important to have last It's not the only tour.
Speaker 1: It's a very important tour, but it goes along other
Speaker 1: It goes alongside other tours such as stories and leadership
Speaker 1: and having great examples and guides and how to do
Speaker 1: the right thing. I spoke to leading disability activists, actress
Speaker 1: Jamila Jamil and co producer of this podcast, said Burke,
Speaker 1: to see what we feel is needed to galvanize people
Speaker 1: to accelerate change. I mean, I think it begins with
Speaker 1: non disabled people showing them up. That's where I think
Speaker 1: it begins. In the same way that the most traction
Speaker 1: we've ever seen for Black Lives Matter is when everyone
Speaker 1: got involved, and that's what made the noise so loud.
Speaker 1: But finally, huge corporations and the government and the police
Speaker 1: even in some states where able to take notice of
Speaker 1: this incredibly important and vital movement that's been going for
Speaker 1: seven or eight years. I think more maybe even now
Speaker 1: I've lost track of time because of the pandemic. But
Speaker 1: I think it just means all of us together. And
Speaker 1: as I said, I think a lot of people who
Speaker 1: have now hopefully realized that disability can come into your
Speaker 1: life at any time, and and it's time to show
Speaker 1: up and and help prepare the world. And I think,
Speaker 1: you know, amazing activists like Imani Barbarine and all these
Speaker 1: different voices, both of you, so many different added Upton,
Speaker 1: like there are so many voices out there who haven't
Speaker 1: been given the platform that they deserve. We also need
Speaker 1: stories in the media, film written stories, official stories, auditories,
Speaker 1: stories that will reach communities and shape their definitions of
Speaker 1: disability and interdependence. And there are organizations that are doing that,
Speaker 1: getting positive representation of disability on radio so that people
Speaker 1: in remote parts of Ethiopia or India can learn about
Speaker 1: positive disability representation alternative techniques. The word able ism is English.
Speaker 1: Let's get that word into other languages. Let's have disability
Speaker 1: activists who speak those other languages natively come up with
Speaker 1: their own terms for the word able is um so
Speaker 1: it could be part of the culture and community and
Speaker 1: strived for inclusion in order to make change. Therefore, we
Speaker 1: need a holistic approach. I asked Eddie his opinion on
Speaker 1: what we can learn from other movements who have achieved
Speaker 1: what we are aiming for movements who are one step
Speaker 1: closer to reaching equality. The success of other movements is
Speaker 1: in you know, how they were able to leverage the
Speaker 1: power of arts and pop culture as a way to
Speaker 1: change hearts and minds and shift narratives and then build
Speaker 1: on that for institutional legislative changes. Right like, I think
Speaker 1: we've done at the other way around. Right, We started
Speaker 1: with the Convention and the rights of persons with disabilities,
Speaker 1: But we don't have a disabled actress who is an
Speaker 1: Oscar winner and who's under cover of Vogue. So even
Speaker 1: when disability rights are enshrined in law, is there a
Speaker 1: danger of thinking that the battle is won. Today we've
Speaker 1: heard from advocates and activists, record breakers and lawmakers. Each
Speaker 1: story is different, but they all played a part in
Speaker 1: the fight for a more equal and hopeful world. But
Speaker 1: what I think they're telling us is that the change
Speaker 1: we need is too often overreliant on disabled activists to
Speaker 1: make it happen. Too many of the laws that we've
Speaker 1: been talking about, our laws, our activists have been responsible
Speaker 1: for creating. The change we need is that new laws
Speaker 1: that directly or indirectly impact disability are demanded by everyone
Speaker 1: for everyone. This has been equal to next time we
Speaker 1: meet the change makers of film, television, fashion and beyond
Speaker 1: to explore representation, what is it, why it matters, and
Speaker 1: what you can do about it. These podcasts have been
Speaker 1: made possible because of the support of Procter and Gamble,
Speaker 1: P and G share our ambition to create a more
Speaker 1: equal world, a world where everyone can have equal access
Speaker 1: and the opportunity to thrive. We are very grateful for
Speaker 1: their partnership in making these conversations a reality. Of people
Speaker 1: with a direct involvement in the production of the podcast,
Speaker 1: including guests identify as disabled. Hi, I'm Meg, and I
Speaker 1: am disabled. I'm a wordy user with the brain injury.
Speaker 1: I've been working on this podcast as a prosestion coordinator,
Speaker 1: but I've also been given the opportunity to do a
Speaker 1: bit of scripting and even being an interior a change.
Speaker 1: I would love to see more production like this with
Speaker 1: disabled people working behind the scenes as rather disabled people
Speaker 1: on the mic. If you wanted further the story enjoying
Speaker 1: the conversation, go to age Quiety dot World. This podcast
Speaker 1: was created by Greg Nugent, co founder of Harder Than
Speaker 1: You Think. I'm Sophie Morgan, your host and executive producer.
Speaker 1: Fellow executive producers are Chanaid Burke, Greg Nugent, Barnaby Spuria,
Speaker 1: Laura i'ms Mark Pritchard and Kimberly Dobrunner. Thank you to
Speaker 1: the I p C and Channel four for their support
Speaker 1: and use of archive material. Thanks to our podcast production partner,
Speaker 1: Stripped Media, and also to Seneca Women for their assistance
Speaker 1: with distributing this show. If you want to follow the
Speaker 1: equal to story and join the conversation hashtag equal to,
Speaker 1: go to our website ht Whitey dot world, where you
Speaker 1: will also find the transcript and video versions of the podcast,
Speaker 1: along with subtitles and a BSL signed version in the
Speaker 1: coming days.