Dear Mark Baggley, Chair, Choices and Rights, Hull, England;
Re:- The anti-oppressive value base of Choices and Rights and other disabled
people's organisations and Manchester DAN and local direct-action, in Hull
and East Riding of Yorkshire ?????
On the Choices and Rights website, it states that Choices and Rights is an
organisation for disabled people in the Kingston upon Hull and East Riding
of Yorkshire area. We are 100% run and controlled by disabled people. Our
main aims are :
*To promote the independence and inclusion of all disabled people in
society
*To Identify and pro-actively challenge the discrimination faced by
disabled people.
*To encourage disabled people to work together to achieve change locally.
Mark, please reflect, on the issues I raised with you on the phone today.
Remember, 'WE' are on the same-side mate and I am a very emotional
neurodiverse disabled person; and has you know 'wears my heart on my
sleeve', when it comes down to 'speaking-out' pro-actively and honestly
about the basic human and civil rights abuses towards all disabled people,
in the U.K and across the global world.
This oppression is a internalised by 'us' all and this is why 'we' all 'need
to be 'united' with the same aims and objectives to continue to fight for
the freedom from discrimination and abuse of all disabled people, especially
those disadvantaged and 'silent-oppressed-voices', from
'lower-socio-economic backgrounds, who have no informed choices and continue
to struggle on the fringes on society.
As 'we' have just agreed, many disabled people within society with
'hidden-impairments', experience 'more or equal' discrimination' to their
disabled peers with 'seen' impairments, like 'wheelchair-users'.
As I have just said to you, as the Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire,
England, U.K Disabled People's Action Network (DAN) representative, I want
to see more local people in the Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire to have
the 'equality of opportunities', to have their 'voices-heard', by the
international, national and local politicians and public-authorities, that
oppress their 'voices', and 'victimises and blames' them, for their own
oppression and basic human and civil rights abuses.
These ideological values and beliefs systems are reinforced through the
capitalist structures, that are endemic and reinforced through New-Right
political structures and globalisation.
It is interesting to me and others within the disabled people's movement,
that many user-led run and controlled disabled people's non-governmental
organisations, seem to have forgot their 'true' anti-oppressive value base
and disabled movement collective political voices.
Many of these disabled people's organisations are now engaged in becoming
'service-providers', that means they take the 'funding', from the national
and local public-authorities, then this means in 'reality', that these
disabled people organisations, then lose their 'political-voices'. This is a
fact!
As I said to you on the phone, then in my opinion, it difficult for these
organisations to continue to 'speak-out' against the national and local
governments and public-authorities, because you can't
'bite-off-the-hand-that-feeds-you', can you?
I am 'not' saying that disabled people organisations, as a
'service-providers, like Choices and Rights, in the U.K and global world,
don't provide an very important services for disabled people and also
provide equality of opportunities for many disabled people to be employed.
But, in my opinion, as we have discussed on numerous occasions within heated
dialogues, is 'our' difference of opinions, in that, can the disabled
people's organisations still have a 'political voice' and be 'pro-active'
within 'direct-action'?
As you have said to me on the telephone, that Choices and Rights, can't
become involved within 'direct-action' with DAN, but this the choice of
individuals and any staff or member within Choices and Rights to have the
human and civil right to become 'pro-actively-involved' in local, national
and international 'direct-action'.
I was concerned, that as the Chair, you stated that you wouldn't put any
articles, like the one I have just sent to you and others within the
disabled movement locally, nationally and globally called:- 'THE POLITICAL
ECONOMY OF DISABLEMENT: ADVANCES AND CONTRADICTIONS, by Marta Russell and
Ravi Malhotra, into the membership magazine, in which, as a member of
Choices and Rights and Mental Health Action Group, in the Hull and East
Riding of Yorkshire locality, I find your behaviour to be discriminatory and
undemocratic and is an infringement of the basic and human and civil rights
of disabled people, not to be given the 'choices and rights'( pun-added) to
'informed-information' to make their own 'informed-choices' and feel
empowered to become involved with 'direct-action', or not.
Inclusion, as become a popular part of national and local government
language, but despite these changes for the better the 'reality' for many
disabled people locally, nationally and international, disabled people who
have struggled for 'inclusive-services', over the may years are not fooled
by this rhetoric and are fully aware, due to their own daily struggles and
'internalised-oppression', that this ;language of 'inclusion', is being used
to disguise the continued discriminatory attitudes and behaviour and basic
human and civil rights abuses against disabled people.
The language of 'inclusion', can 'slip off the tongue into policy statement,
but this does not always result in the necessary 'positive-action', required
to remove these barriers to inclusion.
It's very interesting, that in the U.K, many local 'public-authorities' have
equal opportunities policies, procedures and practice guidelines, but the
paradox, is that they are never adopted within practice' and many disabled
people are still feeling 'excluded', by their local public-authorities and
are experiencing daily discrimination and human and civil rights abuses.
I myself, have experienced this for years, as a professional neurodiverse
disabled people's local, national and international human and civil rights
campaigner(activist), educator, advisor and researcher,by my local public
authorities, especially East Riding of Yorkshire Council and all the local
NHS Trusts within the Hull and East Riding locality. They all feel very
uncomfortable by the questions I am asking around disability politics and
also about their discriminatory and abusive attitudes and behaviour towards
me for my non-violent 'direct-action' against them all, as a neurodiverse
disabled people's campaigner, in protesting for better local specialist and
basic 'service-provisions' for myself and others, especially within my own
research area, within Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Specific Learning
Disabilities, within the 'social model of disability'.
It's interesting, that many of the local public-authorities have a very poor
understanding in practice, in how to implement the 'social model of
disability', into everyday procedural and practice. As I said they have been
given numerous equality of opportunities policy statements and directives
and guidelines, by Central Government,at Westminster, in the U.K, but why is
it that there is 'no' substance to the political rhetoric and for many
disabled people, like myself and others, 'inclusion-is-still-an-illusion' ?
Is it that these local public-authorities have 'no' political will and
desire to empower all disabled people and they know that they have the
'back-up', of the legal-frameworks, that are 'driven' my economic global
forces and the 'medical model of disability'?
It's time to 'wake-up' and smell the reality of oppressions, that blames
disabled people, for their own misfortunes in life and all the
discrimination and abuse they internalise daily.
Post-Thatcherite policies, that are now in the hands of the Blair, Bush and
other powerful global political and economic forces, can only be changed by
individuals, becoming involved within communities, that have a human and
civil right agenda that want to return the 'real' power, back to where it
belongs within 'local-democracy', that means that disabled people can be
included with other disabled peers, at a local level and 'speak-out', about
their own lifestories,in which their 'voices' have been 'excluded', from the
political platform.
Within the disabled people's movement, especially within DAN, we want to
empower disabled people to become more 'pro-active', in 'speaking-out',
towards all the local, national and international politicians and
public-authorities.
We want you to feel more empowered with your disabled brothers and sisters,
in feeling that you have a 'real-voices', that collectively you can feel
more 'powerful', within a community of 'like-minded' disabled people, who
are totally 'fed-up', of being blamed for their own circumstances, through
false propaganda and 'meritocracy' ideology.
Many disabled people, of all ages and ethnic, religious and cultures are
being denied their basic human and civil rights, as individuals to feel
included and make their contributions within the communities.
We within DAN, want to change disabled people's lives to empower individuals
to become involved within a community, that belongs to the people and create
'collective-voices', where disabled individuals 'do not' feel isolated and
alone imprisoned within their own home without the appropriate
'service-provisions' they need to enable independent living, or are locked
away and abused within institutions, without a 'voice', where no-one can
hear you 'screams' and 'actively-listen' to your 'pain and hurt',
experienced through 'internalised oppression', in which you can choose, if
you want, and share your own 'pain and hurts with other disabled people,
through 'peer-advocacy', in 'speaking' with others who can share your own
internalised oppression and feel that you may be able to trust, better than
professionals, by developing friendships with others; and 'not' feeling
alone and isolated, without a 'voice', in your community.
I want to encourage others to become involved with myself, in local,
national and international 'non-violent' direct-action, in which will
empower you to have a 'collective-voice' to 'speak-out' about human and
civil rights abuses to create positive changes that 'inclusion', is no
longer an 'illusion' for all disabled people and 'we' needs to know what
'inclusion' means for each disabled person and what 'we' need to do to make
the rhetoric, to become a reality.
I have been attending meetings with my disabled peers, in Manchester, to
enable 'direct-action' to be organised more at regional and local levels,
within your communities, instead of these protests always taken place, at
National level, where many disabled people feel 'excluded', from the
disabled people movement for various personal, social and economic reasons.
If you want to 'join-me',in Manchester, or support me in organising the DAN
network of disabled people, within the Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire
locality, in feeling enabled to be more pro-actively involved, if you
choose, to organise 'direct-action', against all the local and regional
'politicians' and 'public-authorities', that, as a citizen and
stakeholder(new labour rhetoric), who can become involved within political
decisions and 'speak-out' against the discrimination and abuses of basic
human and civil rights with other disabled people, to impact on making
'real-changes' happen within your own communities, that mean that you and
other disabled people, will be involved within the democratic political
processes, that will enable all disabled people to receive the specialist
'service-provisions', to enable you and others to have 'independent-living'.
If you want more information about Dan's 'FREEOURPEOPLE' campaign and come
involved, in more local, regional, (in attending future meetings, in
Manchester, at Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People) and also
national non-violent direct-action with other disabled people, then email me
at:-
[log in to unmask] , or ring 01482 576572
Mark Baggley, Choices and Rights, Hull and David Glenister, Mental Health
Action Group and anyone else you can feel free to disseminate this email
throughout your membership and within your newsletters and also to other
interested individuals, parties, organisations and forums.
FREEOURPEOPLE
Kind-Regards
Colin Revell, Hull and East Riding DAN representative and neurodiverse
disabled people's local, national and international human and civil rights
campaigner, educator, advisor and researcher
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