Slideshow image

How The Disabled Contributed To
Black History Month

Written by:
Tyrone Hinton, Elder and Director of The HomeFree Program at EPIC Fellowship Church


Dr. Carter G. Woodson, is credited with creating Black History Month. In 1926, Woodson and
ASALH declared the second week of February—which aligned with Abraham Lincoln’s and
Frederick Douglass’ birthdays—to be “Negro History Week.” During the next 50 years,
communities, schools and organizations started participating in the week-long recognition of
African American trials and successes. As public interest grew, particularly during the 1960s
civil rights movement, the celebration expanded from a week to a month. In 1976, President
Gerald Ford declared February to be “Black History Month,” and congress passed a law in 1986
solidifying it as such.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, religion and national
origin. However, the did not protect people with disabilities. The Americans With Disabilities
Act of 1990 is landmark legislation ensuring people with disabilities, protections against
discrimination. Black History Month, the civil rights and disabled history are intertwined, with
the disability rights movement drawing inspiration from the civil rights movement; the
Disabilities Act being a birthed-child from The Civil Rights Act. They should all be viewed as
inseparable.

American history tends to ignore the contributions of disabled people, much like it did with
African Americans. In the numerous discussions during Black History Month, the contributions
of the disabled are largely overlooked and not celebrated. It is my opinion, if we who are a part
of either/or population, Black and/or disabled, we should be aware, we can be made to feel
invisible, unimportant, even marginalized. None of these should be an option for us.
There are many disabled Black icons and/or heroes, some known and others unknown by the
mass, who contributed to our Black history. Hopefully most of us have heard of or read about the
abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth. She had a disabled right hand. When
she took pictures, she was holding knitting needles, to suggest she was able to use it. No doubt
she did not want to appear unable to physically perform her tasks. Disability rights activist 

Anita Cameron believes, “Many Black history makers have disabilities, but have hidden or
downplayed them due to ableism.”
Agricultural scientist and inventor George Washington Carver had breathing disabilities and
health issues stemming from a bout with whooping cough. Actor and civil rights activist Harry
Belafonte has dyslexia. Perhaps, here’s a more unknown person, Johnnie Lacy. Lacy was a
voice for Black Women with Disabilities. She was diagnosed with polio at the age of 19.
After rehab, Lacy went back to college and completed her degree, at a time when doing
so meant overcoming discrimination based on her race, gender and disability. She helped
found the Center for Independent Living at Berkeley and became the Director of the
Community Resources for Independent Living (CRIL) in its early days from 1981 to
1994. Halle Berry, Academy Award-winning actress has diabetes and has 80 percent hearing
loss in one ear. Maya Angelou, a written and poetry word master; a civil rights activist, did not
speak for five years because she dealt with a disability called selective mutism.
Black and disabled history are linked, with the “504 Sit In” in the 1970s receiving support from
the Black Panther Party, and civil rights leaders like Fannie Lou Hamer, who had polio, kidney
damage, a blood clot in her eye, and a permanent limp. There’s Barbara Jordan who lived with
multiple sclerosis and was a wheelchair user, like I am. Do you know who our Civil Rights
Activists leaders connected with during the “504 Sit In”? They were two members of the
Black Panther Party, Brad Lomax, and his assistant, Chuck Jackson, who also
participated in the sit in. Lomax lived with multiple sclerosis which required him to use a
wheelchair. Together, Lomax and Jackson worked with their community to cook and
deliver hot meals to disability rights advocates during the protest. Due to this unified
advocacy effort, the government issued regulations for Section 504. These regulations
would eventually lay the groundwork for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities
Act in 1990. According to disability rights activist Corbett O’Toole, these advocates
“showed us what being an ally could be. We would never have succeeded without them.
They are a critical part of disability history and yet their story is almost never told.⁠”
By highlighting these stories, we can challenge the negative perception of disabilities and
acknowledge the important role they have played in shaping American history. During Black
History Month, it is important to recognize the full spectrum of what makes us who we are,
including the contributions of those with disabilities.
Let’s not loose hope. We come from good stock my African American brothers and sisters. We
are survivors. And, to those of us who are disabled and/or Black remember, we can be some of
the most resilient people. Resilient people do three things: they understand that suffering is part
of life and avoid thinking “why me”; they direct their attention to the things they can change
over the things they can’t; and they ask themselves whether their own behaviors are helping or
hurting them. Being resilient is always a choice. Never give up the fight! There are others with
us, as well, those coming in generations ahead who are depending on us to continue making our


voices heard. Our actions taken need to be strong; with purpose against any form of
discrimination. In fact, strengthen your grip and give it all you’ve got!