Being Heumann by Judith Heumann & Kristen Joiner

Author:Judith Heumann & Kristen Joiner
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 2019-02-25T16:00:00+00:00

NOT LONG AFTER, we found out that Denver and New York City had folded. They’d had no personal assistance or accessible bathrooms.

Now Califano was going to be even more sure that we were on the verge of falling apart.

Sitting in Maldonado’s office, looking at the somber faces of Kitty, Pat, Mary Jane, Joni, Jim, and Mary Lou, I fought a feeling of hopelessness.

All of a sudden, a member of the outreach committee burst in.

“Governor Brown has endorsed us! He’s written a letter to President Carter urging him to sign the regulations! We’re getting endorsements from all kinds of labor unions, churches, and civil rights groups! The United Farm Workers have sent a telegram of support—Cesar Chavez signed it himself!”

For a minute, we just stared at her, unable to process what she was saying.

Then we cheered.

People were paying attention. California’s governor, Jerry Brown, was paying attention. They were listening. They supported us.

We just had to hold on and figure out how to turn up the volume on Califano. We talked for a long time. That was when Pat Wright started to emerge as a brilliant strategist. Her ability to see the chess board four moves ahead would prove pivotal in the years to come.

We decided we should try and go over Califano’s head. We would try and get to President Carter.

The LA protesters were still hanging in there, with something like thirty-five protesters. We called to tell them what we were thinking. If we were going to reach President Carter, we had to coordinate with them. Luckily, they were fully supportive of the idea.

We managed to get Carter’s director of scheduling on the phone. We asked for a meeting with the President and she promised to get back to us. But something in the way she said it made me think, “I’m not holding my breath.”

The protesters filed into the conference room. People were starting to look a little unwashed and ragged. Everything depended on our ability to convince them to stay. We were sure that the only way to maintain the group was to create an overwhelming sense of unity—and the only way to do that was to be totally inclusive and completely open. We waited until every single person had arrived and the sign language interpreters were ready to start translating.

When it was quiet, I began to speak.

“The situation is this: President Carter knows where we stand. The White House is supposed to be calling us. The call has not come through yet.

“The shutdown is serious, but we are gaining momentum. In the last few hours, we’ve been getting national attention. An endorsement from Governor Brown has just come in.

“We cannot leave. LA is the only other sit-in still going, and they’re holding on with just thirty-five people. We’re the biggest.

“We are asking you if you can you stay? Can you? Every day will make a difference.”

Then, as before, people committed to staying. Some spoke emotionally about their belief in what we were doing. Others offered ideas to help.

“I can call the Black Panthers.

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