On this episode of Fill the JAR, we join Rev. Laura Cannata in conversation about her life, economic injustices baked into society that disable people and impoverish people with disabilities, and her work on the United Church of Christ Disability Ministries board. Learn how your congregation can and must become Accessible 2 All! ⁠https://uccdm.org/a2a/⁠

Thank you for listening.

Citations:

1. “Way Out of No Way”

Written by Tracy Howe and Osagyefo Sekou

Performed by Stop Cop City Choir

Recorded in Tucson, Arizona

Used with permission

Listen/Download/Donate/Purchase: https://stopcopcitychoir.bandcamp.com

2. United Church of Christ Disabilities Ministries - https://uccdm.org/

3. Become an Accessible 2 All Congregation! https://uccdm.org/a2a/

4. Capitalism & Disability, by Marta Russell - https://bookshop.org/p/books/capitalism-and-disability-selected-writings-by-marta-russell-marta-russell/10916356?ean=9781608466863&next=t

5. Poem - "Eugenics, Megenics and Genocide” by Rev. Laura Cannata

Eugenics is alive and well

Society makes being disabled a living hell

I wish I could write a cute little rhyme or an easy pneumonic, but this subject is too important For frivolity

So, here’s the facts:

Sometimes we are an eyesore

How dare we leave the house?!

People don’t want to see our disfigurements and deformities

And they don’t mind saying so either

And what’s the point of leaving home when most buildings are closed to us

And if by some act of kindness, we do get in

The rest of the building is unnavigable

Disabled people lose their health insurance and monthly government pittance if we get married

This is a roundabout way to ensure that we don’t procreate

It’s forced sterilization without the inconvenience of paying a doctor

Sometimes we are seen as useless burdens and yet not only is there no incentive for productivity, it is in fact actively discouraged with financial penalties

We are not allowed to own a home or any assets, constantly enforcing dependency and financial ruin

If we can’t afford to rent, we must choose between a group home or homelessness

Forced incarceration or death from independence

Either way it is a slow genocide

It is a rare opportunity to find employment

Bottom line why should they pay us and pay for our accommodations

It’s not cost effective and in a capitalistic society money means more than people

We are routinely denied lifesaving treatment (all the more so if you are a Person Of Color)

Even more during a pandemic

Because cost of treatment and resources are not worth it for the quality of life you deem us to have

But if we don’t get to determine your quality, why should you get to determine ours

As a disabled person we have the choice of one of two roles

(Either anger and bitterness,

Being the troublemaker

The rabble rouser always asking for change)

Or we can be the innocent object of pity

The act of charity abled people do to feel better about themselves

And if we are not properly grateful for basic rights (IE accommodations to be able to pee, etc.) then we have obviously chosen option number one

There is no in-between

Just a flipside of the same coin

Being disabled doesn’t hinder me

Society has placed the stumbling blocks

So, thanks for asking but no I don’t hate my body

But why should I care for a nation that both actively and passively wants me dead

Being disabled, not a disaster

Being a member of society,

come back when you give a damn

6. Fill the JAR - https://www.ucc.org/fillthejar