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'Crip Camp' Tells the Story of the US Disability Rights Movement | Human Rights Watch Film Festival
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When I was 10, in 1975, my parents found a summer camp for children with disabilities in California and decided it would be a good experience for me." /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://ff.hrw.org/node/72310" /> <meta name="Generator" content="Drupal 10 (https://www.drupal.org)" /> <meta name="MobileOptimized" content="width" /> <meta name="HandheldFriendly" content="true" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /> <link rel="icon" href="/themes/custom/hrw_ff/favicon.ico" type="image/vnd.microsoft.icon" /> <script src="/sites/default/files/google_tag/hrw_ff_gtm/google_tag.script.js?sqht98" defer></script> <title>'Crip Camp' Tells the Story of the US Disability Rights Movement | Human Rights Watch Film Festival</title> <link rel="stylesheet" media="all" 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'true' : 'false'" x-transition x-cloak> <div class="views-element-container"> <div class="mega-menu js-view-dom-id-d7812e730ae44e992981da4f8501a5558f9c2d89c0f01ba6043cf5b4bc646ce0 mega-menu__item"> <div class="mega-menu__inner"> <div class="mega-menu__list"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="l-constrained"> </div> <main> <a id="main-content" tabindex="-1"></a> <div class="region__content"> <div data-drupal-messages-fallback class="hidden"></div><div id="block-mainpagecontent"> <article class="node__story node__story--full"> <header class="article__header emb--full t-accent-default"> <div class="l-constrained"> <h1 class="page-title" ><span>'Crip Camp' Tells the Story of the US Disability Rights Movement</span> </h1> </div> </header> <div class="l-constrained--narrow"> <div class="field field--name-field-lead-media-item field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"><article class="t-accent-gray"> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-visually_hidden"> <div class="field__label visually-hidden">Image</div> <div class="field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/max_1300x1300/public/2021-12/202003us_disabilities_carlos_camp.jpeg?itok=gSe0eKVU" width="870" height="742" alt="Carlos Rios, on the right and making a funny face, with his buddies at Camp Harmon in 1975." title="Carlos Rios, on the right and making a funny face, with his buddies at Camp Harmon in 1975. © 1975 Private" /> </div> </div> </article> </div> </div> <div class="l-constrained--tight u-pb-20"> <div class="story__meta u-my-20"> <div class="field field--name-field-published-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-03-24T08:00:00-04:00">March 24, 2020</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-category field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/524" hreflang="en">Press Release</a></div> </div> <div> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>By <a href="https://www.hrw.org/about/people/carlos-rios-espinosa">Carlos Ríos Espinosa</a></p> <p><em>Senior Researcher and Advocate, Disability Rights Division</em></p> <p>When I was 4 months old, I got polio, and since then I’ve been a wheelchair user. When I was 10, in 1975, my parents found a summer camp for children with disabilities in California and decided it would be a good experience for me.</p> <p>Summer camp showed me there was a wider world outside my family and that I was able to navigate it. That summer came back to me when I saw the documentary film <em>Crip Camp</em>, which is slated to start streaming on Netflix on March 25 and which is also featured in the <a href="https://ff.hrw.org/film/crip-camp?city=London">Human Rights Watch Film Festival</a>.</p> <p>The film traces the birth of the US disability rights movement to a unique summer camp, Camp Jened, managed by people with disabilities like<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Heumann" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Judy Heumann</a> and members of the ‘60s countercultural movement. Camp Jened provided a space for self-discovery for many teenagers and young adults with disabilities – a place where they could share common concerns and stories about living with a disability in a predominantly able-bodied world.</p> <p>Above all, they learned how to love themselves and be proud.</p> <p>It was in part through this space that a group of Americans with disabilities decided to advocate for their rights, putting political pressure on state and federal authorities. Eventually, this movement led to the passage of the groundbreaking Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.</p> <p>This legislation influenced movements worldwide and inspired many of the main principles in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted in 2006. Hundreds of people with disabilities from many countries were key in drafting this treaty, in the spirit of the movement’s motto: “Nothing about us without us.” </p> <p>The film made me realize the importance of building spaces for people with disabilities to organize. We need a strong community of people with disabilities who both embrace themselves and are ready to fight for our place in society, to make our voices heard and respected. This is not easy, as <em>Crip Camp</em> shows.</p> <p>Governments and civil society need to promote political spaces for people with disabilities for them to build self-awareness and empowerment. My experience in summer camp in 1975 lasted only two weeks – I wished I had more spaces like that throughout my life. Generations of people with disabilities around the world will surely profit from looking at this US experience.</p> <p> </p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline u-my-20"> <div class="field__label">Tags</div> <div class="field__items"> <a href="/taxonomy/term/754" hreflang="en">Disability</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> </div> <div id="block-newsletter-signup" class="t-dark-blue block__link-banner"> <div class="l-constrained l-stack--tight"> </div> </div> </div> </main> <footer role="contentinfo" class="c-site-footer"> <div class="c-site-footer__inner l-constrained"> <div class="c-site-footer__logo"> <a href="/" title="Home" rel="home" class="logo" > <img src="/themes/custom/hrw_ff/logo.svg" alt="Human Rights Watch Film Festival logo" class="logo__image" onerror="this.onerror=null; this.src='/themes/custom/hrw_ff/logo.png'" > </a> </div> <div class="region__footer"> <nav role="navigation" aria-labelledby="block-footer-menu" id="block-footer"> <h2 class="visually-hidden" id="block-footer-menu">Footer</h2> <ul class="menu menu--footer" data-depth="0"> <li class="menu__item link--has-icon"> <a href="https://www.hrw.org" class="menu__link">Human Rights Watch</a> <svg viewBox="0 0 60 60" aria-hidden="true"> <use xlink:href="#icon_arrow_ext-sm" /> </svg> </li> <li class="menu__item"> <a href="/privacy" class="menu__link" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/72351">Privacy</a> </li> <li class="menu__item"> <a href="/accessibility" class="menu__link" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/72317">Accessibility</a> </li> <li class="menu__item"> <a href="/sitemap" class="menu__link" data-drupal-link-system-path="sitemap">Sitemap</a> </li> </ul> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="footer__back-to-top t-pale-blue t-accent-blue"> <a href="#top"> <svg viewBox="0 0 60 60" aria-hidden="true"> <use xlink:href="#icon_arrow_up" /> </svg> <span>Back to Top</span> </a> </div> </footer> </div> </div> <script src="/sites/default/files/js/js_4GPaLstJfAm2e_GQSyQY1pBZZkCSlSS56Api0d1W5Sg.js?scope=footer&delta=0&language=en&theme=hrw_ff&include=eJxlTdkOgzAM-6FCPwmF4h5a06AmDPH3O7R7L5YP2c59n4I0RTOf39yphEJ1YiyFplraSf2_NVoGw-mhBvYzKdzaxcSOFT5Vmam622iMP0qLYYgihv7RWClhsGIV7lywq7_jyLJsV-tRZSQaGG17bYF6yEkkVYxROj-DeTOT9nWZQQv6BeGYXv0"></script> <script src="https://unpkg.com/alpinejs@3.3.4/dist/cdn.min.js" defer></script> <script src="/sites/default/files/js/js_s1oZGzeriyXNVUHD_zDqtk1_CwIo5WcwcOTRz_ONM50.js?scope=footer&delta=2&language=en&theme=hrw_ff&include=eJxlTdkOgzAM-6FCPwmF4h5a06AmDPH3O7R7L5YP2c59n4I0RTOf39yphEJ1YiyFplraSf2_NVoGw-mhBvYzKdzaxcSOFT5Vmam622iMP0qLYYgihv7RWClhsGIV7lywq7_jyLJsV-tRZSQaGG17bYF6yEkkVYxROj-DeTOT9nWZQQv6BeGYXv0"></script> </body> </html>