Howe Could They...

Updated 1-14-09

by Big Noise and Magitator

There is a perverse pride, being from Illinois. We take a chest thumping pride at our corrupt politics and gangster past. Our daughter, who lived in Chicago for several years, is now in Boston. When the Blago scandal broke, she and someone from Rhode Island were talking about it. The woman from RI was saying how corrupt their government was. Our daughter, with great bravado replied, “There was more corruption on my block in Chicago, than in the whole state of Rhode Island.”

(OK,-she-is-Mike’s-daughter,-but-we-don’t-like-to-make-those-kind-of-distinctions-in-our-home,-so-I-called-her-my-daughter-too-but-I-don’t-want-to-be-presumptuous-or-make-her-mom-feel-bad-but-I-digress…)

Seriously, watch the Illinois pundits that provide commentary on national television. They smile while they pundit. Folks talk to one another about it on the street, smile and shrug. Illinois, the birthplace of “the smoke-filled room”; the “vote early and often” cliché; the patronage of the Dailey machine; the gangster owned city tow lots; and more. What more can we expect here?

I cannot deny I was a part of that Illinois “our politicians and more corrupt than your politicians” fun group. However, it all changed yesterday. I attended a committee hearing about the closure of Howe Developmental Center. We wanted to show our support for closure by showing up at the budget allocation commission meeting. No money means it would have to close.

(Campaign for Real Choice Photo)

Howe is a hellhole of a residential facility. The federal government decertified it a year ago. Equip for Equality (our protection and advocacy agency) has investigated the facility seven times documenting describing in gruesome detail the deaths of 21 people and multiple instances of abysmal care. Two more people died there in the last two months. The United States Department of Justice is investigating violations of the Constitutional rights of the people living there.

The committee meeting was to start at 3:00. It started at 5:30 (it is after all, Illinois). When they finally met, their first order of business was to “quarantine” any action on the closure until sixty days after the senate impeachment trial verdict. Thus, they knocked the train to close Howe right off the track.

Have these folks every heard of multi-tasking? Can they only handle one thing at a time? People are dying for Christ’s sake!! Our most vulnerable people need action, their very lives are at stake; and this joint committee just put down the ball and walked off the court.

One legislator, Elaine Nekritz, Democrat from Des Plaines spoke for the closure of Howe. She noted Illinois dead last in offering community options to people with disabilities. She also pointed out we are under federal mandate to shut down these institutions. She was outvoted 10 to 1.

AFSCME, and other supporters of keeping Howe open want to use the additional time to pressure the politicians.

We have to use that same time to speak the truth to the legislators. As advocates for people with disabilities, we will use our voices for the most vulnerable. They should not disregard us. We have numbers: as we continue to organize ourselves, our strength will make them feel the power of the disability rights movement.

Crossposted at BigNoise

Here is excellent information on specifics on why Howe should be closed NOW

Darrow Hozian

(Photo Description: Darrow smiling at the camera. Note the red bandanna he has on his left arm at the bottom of the picture; the bandannas served as our Action Team "colors" at last year's disability rights/independent living conference.)

I first met Darrow Hozian at the office of the Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois. I had just been hired and a major part of my duties was to write, publish and mail "The Catalyst", our monthly newsletter. When my first issue was completed and the printer delivered them to the CCDI office to mail to our membership, I had no idea what to do.

Luckily, for me, Darrow and his long time partner Janice Faulstich, had volunteered to do CCDI’s mass mailings a long time before me. They knew what to do. They knew how to sort the 1800 addresses by zip code and which zip codes went in rubber bands with which other. I was so glad to be working with them. It wasn't all that easy either.

Both Darrow and Janice had Cerebral Palsy; I had a hard time understanding what they were saying. Sometimes, they would get as frustrated with me as I would be frustrated with myself. But, we worked well together for two years and liked and respected each other. The Coalition office isn’t the same since Darrow and Janice no longer volunteer their labor there.

Darrow was an individual of tremendous strength and good will. He and Janice’s phone number were at the top of many people with disabilities phone list. If someone's personal assistant didn't show up or someone needed additional help, Darrow was there. If he wasn't Janice was.

Last week we heard from Janice that Darrow was in Intensive Care. This was the second time in the last several months Darrow was admitted to the ICU. I guess we were in denial. It was difficult to imagine someone of Darrow’s strength life being threatened.

On Friday, January 9, Janice got off the elevator at the ICU and knew that Darrow had passed.

Darrow and Janice; it is hard to say one name without the other. But, each has their own identity. They agreed on many things but, like all couples, had their disagreements too. Janice is looking forward to returning home and volunteer for even more tasks. She might even look for a job.

JoAnn Bayer and Darrow Hozian both died in the first two weeks of the New Year. How sad for all of us whose lives have been touched by them. How sad for the Disability Rights Movement to lose two of our shining stars. How important it is for the rest of us to do our best to find dozens of replacements for each leader we have lost.

Cilla (BigNoise) also wrote about Darrow today. You can read her column here.

Savoring our Victories:

The following was written in August of 2006 for the newsletter of the Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois (CCDI). It concerned actions organized by the Campaign for Real Choice, led by Lester and Barbara Pritchart at the Illinois State Fair during Republican and Democratic day festivities. The Campaign for Real Choice advocates for the shutting down of State Institutions housing People with Disabilities.

Savoring Our Victories: A personal testimony from an advocate who took part in the Freedom Days rallies.

By Michael Meiselman, CCDI Lifetime Member

It was hot and uncomfortable. Nearly a hundred disability rights activists were surrounded by thousands of Democrats - it was Democrat day at the Illinois State Fair. We were wearing bright yellow t-shirts. The Democrats wore blue. We arrived two hours before the program was to start to ensure front row seats. We went to provide witness of our commitment to see our brothers and sisters freed from the yoke of state operated institutions. The Democrats were there for a photo opportunity for the upcoming campaign. As the buses carrying the party faithful arrived, more blue shirts surrounded us. Individuals carrying signs snaked into our midst. We moved our chairs, blankets and support dogs closer.

One hundred or so young African American people were led to fill the gap between the stage and us. If we were going to be able to keep our ground and make our statement, we were going to have to fight. Union leaders and party functionaries gave their marching orders to their troops: Occupy the area in front of the stage so the photographs would show a wall of support for the leaders of the Democratic Party. Slowly, our resistance began. Shoulders moved together, powerchairs inched forward. The stronger we became the weaker and more uncertain they became. Their leaders caucused while the yellow shirts became bolder in defending our rights and turf. We cheered as one of our own loudly lectured the blue shirts saying we weren't going to allow our issues to disappear.

The blue shirts started leaving. We could hardly believe it. Save for a few they were leaving the areas they had once infiltrated! One of the blue shirted leaders even asked if he could wear our yellow shirt. It was a rout! We looked at each other with pride. Those with arms high-fived each other!

Most of us rarely enjoy the power and purpose that we felt. We won. Our leaders, as good as they are didn't negotiate this victory. We didn't win in court. We won as a result of a ragtag action army.

The next day was Republican Day. We still had our yellow shirts - they had sport shirts and golf pants. Again, we showed up two hours early to take our position at the front of the stage. However, they would not let us in. Admission was by ticket only. We lined up in front of the entrance. They learned their lesson from the day before and soon we were welcomed guests enjoying front row access. In addition the Republican leadership agreed to meet with our leaders to discuss the issues.

It's a couple of days later, and I know a lot of us are still smiling. We are thinking of the young and powerful blue shirts complaining about being grabbed, yelled at (often in a language they couldn't understand) and being nudged by wheelchairs. We are thinking how our yellow shirt's held onto our turf! We are thinking of how fast the politicians caved to our moral authority.

This is the glory of building movements. To savor the victories together, however small, that comes from the passion, action and the unity of individuals.

Racism at the Springfield Clinic

4/28/2007

Editor:

There are pictures of the Confederate flag, Confederate generals, including one of the founders of the Ku Klux Klan on exhibit in Springfield. They are displayed not at an art gallery or museum but in the exam rooms of the main campus of the Springfield Clinic!

I was treated at the Clinic for a splinter. There was a picture of a handsome confederate soldier, bloody but unbowed, proudly holding aloft the Confederate flag. I commented to the doctor that I didn’t think it appropriate for that to be displayed. It was not the first complaint; there were others about a portrait of General Bedford Forrest, one of the founders of the Ku Klux Klan.

I emailed Springfield Clinic. I did not hear from them for a week. I sent them another email. I received a call several days later telling me my “feedback” had been sent to another level of management. That higher level said my “feedback” had been sent to an even higher level of management. They would be holding a closed meeting to determine what to do.

Chief Operating Officer, Caroline Otten told me after that meeting that the art work would stay on the walls of the examination rooms. “There is Civil War memorabilia all over Springfield”, she said. “We are just blocks away from the Abraham Lincoln Museum”. I agreed that was true and asked if the Clinic was giving the Confederacy equal time. She hung up.

Ms. Otten said the art in question was not in bad taste. The Confederate flag is a symbol of bigotry and racism. We rejoice that the Union won the civil war and put an end to slavery. Even today the flag of the Confederacy represents hatred, violence and death.

If the leadership of Springfield Clinic wants to share these displays they should donate them to a museum or rent an art gallery.

Springfield Clinic should remove these representations of racism immediately.