Poem by Derrick Means
When it comes to self-advocacy, giving up is easy.
So easy.
In fact, giving up is what some people probably want you to do because they don’t want to assist you in overcoming the b-word.
Barriers.
And let’s face it.
We live in a society where compassion, acceptance, understanding, and inclusion are lacking.
We live in a society where we – the people with disabilities – are considered the barrier.
When…
It’s really the inaccessibility around us that’s the barrier.
We live in a society where one look discounts who we are as people.
And that?
That is why self-advocacy is important.
That is why our voice is important.
As people with disabilities, we will face many storms.
Many battles.
Many trials.
We will win some.
And we will lose some.
We will face people that try to tell us that we can’t do anything.
Beanything.
And these people?
These people are the ones that are trying to throw us off our game.
But…
What’s important?
It’s important that we don’t listen to those talking against us.
It’s important that we stay focused on us.
We are a collective.
We are a community.
And we deserve.
We deserve.
We deserve.
We deserve.
We – the people – deserve compassion.
We – the people – deserve acceptance.
We – the people – deserve understanding.
We – the people – deserve inclusion.
We – the people – deserve to live independently.