April 15, 2025 - 12:46
Leadership of the most impacted: The disability rights movement and the section 504 protests are a clear example of "leadership of the most impacted," as the protests were organized and held by disabled people. While in this context the reason was less about spotlighting the voices of the most impacted, but rather a consequence of the rampant ableism and willful ignorance of government leaders and the broader US, the result was still similar. Furthermore, although Judy became the leader of the movement, aligning with the heirarchy of disablities mentioned in the documentary, she constantly made that everyone in the community had their voice heard (even when discussing things as trivial as what to eat for dinner!).
Recognizing wholeness: A major theme throughout this documentary was the fact that disabled people are whole people that want jobs, friendships, romantic relationships, etc, just as any nondisabled person wants these things. At the time, disabled people were often hid from the nondisabled public through institutionalization and many other forms of erasure. The environment of Camp Jened was therefore extremely powerful for all the campers and staff who were finally able to be recognized as full people, and they carried these values/experiences with them after leaving camp both by continuing to recognize the wholeness in each other, but also by demanding that nondisabled people begin to see their wholeness too.
Committment to cross-disability solidarity: The disability rights movement and the section 504 protests specifically showed a clear committment to cross-disability solidarity, as people with all kinds of disabilities worked together to fight for a more accessible world for all of them. Further, they turned this inclusion of/collaborative effort between so many disabled people of all backgrounds and experiences into a significant strength, as having different abilities and disabilities meant that they were collectively able to solve problems that no individual/smaller group would have been able to solve. For example when the telephones were shut off during the sit-in, the Deaf/signing people in the group simply turned to ASL to communicate with the others outside through the window (1:08:00).
Interdependence: Just like the translation/message-relaying support we've seen between the artists at CCW to help each other and us communicate clearly despite our many different preferred modes of communication, the principle of interdependence is visible in how everyone at Camp Jened interacts with each other to make sure that all of their voices are heard. For example in the scene where they're having a discussion about parents and how frustrating they can be (around 32 minutes), everyone listens attentively to what Nancy is saying, and then one she's done speaking Steve tries to restate what she's said - checking in with her to make sure he's expressing her ideas as she intended - so that her message can be understood by everyone in the group. This interdependence makes the discussion an accessible space for all of them, where everyone can contribute and have their voice heard no matter their individual access needs.