International Women’s Day (IWD), established in 1911, and Women’s History Month have been catalysts for advancing women’s equality across a variety of social, economic, political, and cultural avenues. This year’s theme is “Inspire Inclusion,” and we at Relay Resources could think of no better way to honor that theme than by highlighting and celebrating disabled women who are influential trailblazers.
The mission of IWD this year is to “celebrate women's achievement, raise awareness about discrimination, and take action to drive gender parity.” In that spirit, we are focusing on women pioneers of disability rights, and those who continue to inspire and influence disability inclusion in the legislature, on the soccer pitch , in the studio, and on the big screen. Each of the women we are spotlighting is unique, but all seven of them have spent their lives transforming the world for the better.
The “Mother of the Disability Rights Movement,” Judith Heumann served as special advisor for International Disability Rights (the first role of its kind) in President Barack Obama’s administration from 2010 to 2017. President Joe Biden called her a “trailblazer” and a “rolling warrior” for disability rights. Heumann (pronounced “human”) was instrumental in the legislation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She traveled the world in her motorized wheelchair to take part in national and international conversations promoting the rights of the disabled community.
Heumann contracted polio as an 18-month-old child and lived most of her life using a wheelchair. She wasn’t permitted to attend kindergarten because she was in a wheelchair. Heumann later became the first person in a wheelchair to teach school in New York after suing the state’s board of education for discrimination. As she told Joseph P. Shapiro in his book “No Pity,” “Disability only becomes a tragedy for me when society fails to provide the things we need to lead our lives––job opportunities or barrier-free buildings, for example. It is not a tragedy to me that I'm living in a wheelchair."
Throughout her life, Heumann had roles at the World Bank, the Clinton Administration, and served as Washington, D.C.’s first director for the Department on Disability Services. She passed away in 2023, at the age of 75. (For more on Heumann’s impact, check out the 2020 Netflix documentary “Crip Camp,” executive-produced by Barack and Michelle Obama.)
The Pulitzer Prize-nominated Black poet, playwright, activist, and memoirist had selective mutism, an anxiety disorder she developed as a child resulting from a traumatic event. Angelou’s first autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” is a coming-of-age story about her experiences with racism and violence. Angelou would go on to author many beloved plays, as well as several more books of renowned poetry and autobiographies. She also played a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
People with disabilities face many hurdles, but Black people often face an additional level of discrimination because of systemic racism. The pioneering Angelou exposed injustices of the U.S. political system while also demonstrating the ability to overcome traumatic experiences and rise to greatness. Still, inequalities persist; according to research in 2019, “many students of color with disabilities do not have the same access to resources or education” that the majority of white students do.
National Women’s Soccer League defender Carson Pickett currently plays for Racing Louisville FC, but in 2022 she made history as the first woman with a limb difference to play for the U.S. women’s national soccer team. Pickett was born without a left forearm and hand, and spent most of her life hoping people would look past her disability. Eventually Pickett grew to embrace her role as a spokesperson for people with limb differences: “Ever since I got to the pros and seeing how many amazing messages I get sent about how I inspire people, some who aren't even soccer players …," she told CBS Sports. "[Seeing that] just showed me that I can do so much more than just be a good soccer player, and that I could advocate for something much bigger than soccer."
Pickett joined Oregon’s own Nike to help create an accessible soccer cleat in the form of the FlyEase, a laceless shoe designed to be worn by women and people of all abilities.
One of the most celebrated science fiction writers, Octavia E. Butler lived with undiagnosed dyslexia and fell behind early in her school career. Many teachers in her youth thought she simply wasn’t trying rather than understanding what accommodations she needed so that she could be successful. The writer of “Parable of the Sower” and “Kindred” spent a large amount of time at the Pasadena Public Library, where she read science fiction and fantasy and began to write her own stories. Butler would become the first Black woman to win the Nebula and Hugo awards (the highest honors in science fiction and fantasy writing). Butler wrote about dystopias and disabled characters, but she also imagined multiple futures of inclusivity and equity .
The superstar artist, who has nine Grammy Awards, won two Best Original Song Academy Awards, and has earned myriad other honors, has been open about having Tourette syndrome—a neurological disorder causing sudden movements and involuntary “tics”—since 2018. While Eilish told David Letterman that managing Tourette syndrome is “exhausting” and she “never wanted people to think of Tourette's every time they think of me,” the syndrome is hardly the first thing people associate with Billie Eilish, who is one of the biggest music stars today.
A photo portrait of
Billy Eilish. | Credit:
Condé Nast (through
Vogue Taiwan), CC BY
3.0, via Wikimedia
Commons
It doesn’t get much more inspiring than a young person standing up to the world’s most powerful leaders in an effort to save the planet—and Greta Thunberg has been doing this since she was a child. She has made headlines and enemies with her school climate strike movements, protests, and calls for action to slow climate change and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Thunberg is also a person with Asperger syndrome (which falls under autism spectrum disorder), but rather than seeing it as just something that makes her different, she sees it as a superpower, as she wrote on Twitter. “I have Aspergers and that means I’m sometimes a bit different from the norm. And—given the right circumstances—being different is a superpower.”
Marlee Matlin was the first deaf actor to receive a Best Actress Oscar for her role in the 1986 film “Children of a Lesser God.” She would remain the only deaf actor to win such an award until her co-star in the 2021 film “CODA,” Troy Kotsur, won an Oscar for his portrayal of a deaf father. Matlin has spoken about the importance of authentic representation and lived experiences when it comes to the portrayal of deaf characters in Hollywood, stressing that it’s crucial for people with disabilities to see (or hear) other people like them on the screen, on the radio, and in politics.
A photo of Marlee Matlin
presenting awards using
sign language. | Credit:
State Farm, CC BY-SA
2.0, via Wikimedia
Commons
Disabled women often face double discrimination—for both their gender and their disability—and yet these women have persevered to embolden and influence culture to be a more inclusive space for people with disabilities.
Which women have inspired you? How can you inspire inclusion in your workplace in 2024?
We at Relay Resources believe people with disabilities belong in all kinds of roles at every level in every industry, and have unique views and strengths they bring to the team. Without a doubt, all humans deserve the same rights, dignity, and access.
Relay Resources offers employment and business solutions for and with people with disabilities; our mission is to cultivate meaningful work for people with disabilities. Learn more about what Relay Resources does here, along with how you can support inclusive workplaces or find employment.