Yes I’m angry! Finding power in anger.

Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll probably tell you I am a kind, slightly dramatic but mainly chill kind of person. Although this is true I am angry most of the time. I am angry that I live in a world that doesn’t fully accept me. I am angry that people don’t see me how I see me. I am angry that I seem to have to fight for my voice to be heard. I am angry that having all these issues in the world are not my fault but I am the one who has to deal with them. With all that said I feel I only have two opinions. I can either sit and wallow in my own anger and self-pity, or, I can do something to try to correct these injustices. Luckily I’ve chosen the latter. Anger can be a very effective motivator for change. If we were constantly OK with the state of the world human kind would never try to improve our circumstances Women and other minorities would not have gotten the right to vote or be viewed as persons under the law. We wouldn’t have any public schools or in many countries the tax funded healthcare system that we enjoy. Granted our health system has a lot of issues but that’s a whole other post for another day.

Following in the footsteps of this history of progress many in the disability community have fought for and earned the right to exspress the challenges they face every day to live a full independent life. Thanks to their efforts I am able to use the freedoms they fought for to continue the fight. Many people I live with in my long-term care facility feel that they don’t have the right to complain because their basic needs are taken care of and if they complain that help might stop. I am here to tell you you are entitled and deserve more than just the basics. You deserve to have the opportunities other able-bodied people or nerotypical people have. No this doesn’t mean that people will just give you stuff because you’re disabled and poor you. This means that you should not be turned down from the job just because your brain and body work a little differently. This means not having to limit yourself because there are places in your community where you cannot go because of physical disabilities. This means not looking at the disabled person but looking at the person with the disability. I know it gets overused but the people first concept is the most basic and easy way we can start to make these changes. We must stop giving money to companies and entertainment industries that view us as props or objects of pity.If anything we should pity them because their world is so small.

Now am I saying we should go scream at people and cause riots in the streets? Of course not! Violence never solves anything,not really. I’m saying we take that anger and we turn it into energy we can then use to push for our rights. We use that energy to lobby our government for equality and to educate the public on what being disabled is actually like. I find I’m a very good communicator so I’ve chosen to use writing and my speaking skills to advocate which has allowed me into the halls of local and provincial government to help make change. However advocacy does not have to be that formal. It can be as simple as saying to somebody that you don’t like the way they’re treating you and that you deserve to be treated just like everyone else. It’s going to the grocery store and correcting somebody when they say something like “it’s good to see you out!” This is not going to change things overnight and you will probably have to do this type of thing in some way for the rest your life. At least that’s how I feel, I hope I’m wrong. You will get tired and frustrated and yes sometimes furious but it is important to remember that you are doing this not only for yourself but for the next group of persons with disabilities so that they don’t have to. Hopefully someday this work will not be needed because it will just be expected. Until then we must continue forward and use our anger to create positivity. If we do not it’s going to be very hard to live the life we want and deserve.