A Message from Theo Braddy: Ordinary People!

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Hello again. This is Theo W. Braddy, Executive Director of the National Council on Independent Living, bringing you another message. This one I called “Ordinary People”.

I have wanted to write something on this particular topic for a while now.

It is a point I have briefly talked about before, but I want to address it in more detail. It is about something society often does with movements.

We lift up a few well-known leaders and place them on the front pages of history. The Independent Living Movement is no different.

In my own writings, I often lift up the names some of these leaders. Names like Ed Roberts, Judy Heumann, Justin Dart Jr., Marca Bristo, and Wade Blank, to name just a few.

These well-known leaders helped shape and lead the IL movement. Their courage, leadership, and vision changed lives and opened doors for millions of people with disabilities.

Their stories deserve to be remembered.

But they were not alone.

Behind every well-known leader were thousands of people doing the hard work every single day. People whose names may never appear in books or documentaries, but who helped build this movement from the ground up.

They were the advocates and organizers. They were peer counselors. They were staff of Independent Living Centers. They ran Statewide Independent Living Councils. Many were parents and community leaders. Many were just everyday, ordinary people who refused to give up.

I remember these ordinary people. I remember some of their faces, though many of their names have faded away and I can no longer recall them.

I attended meetings with them, often after work, as we planned and organized late into the evening.

I remember!

We fought for ramps and curb cuts.

We challenged discrimination.

We pushed for transportation access.

We helped people move out of nursing homes and back into their communities.

We fought for the simple idea that people with disabilities deserve the same freedom, dignity, and choices as everyone else.

They were the army of soldiers behind the IL movement.

I remember seeing one of these soldiers, a quadriplegic, throw himself out of his motorized wheelchair onto the pavement to block the passing of an inaccessible Greyhound bus during a protest.

He was part of this army. I have forgotten his name, but I have never forgotten what he stood for.

An army of unsung heroes.

And the truth is, we need that army now more than ever.

We are living in a time when many of the gains our movement fought for are under pressure, are under attack.

We see threats to community living, Medicaid, accessibility, and disability rights protections.

We see efforts to roll back progress little by little.

We see ableism still deeply rooted in systems that too often underestimate the value and potential of disabled people.

This is not the time to sit on the sidelines.

This is the time for people to step up again.

Not just nationally known leaders.

Not just executive directors or policy experts.

But everyday ordinary people throughout the Independent Living Movement and disability community.

We need people willing to advocate, willing to organize, willing to mentor, willing to speak up, and willing to fight for the next generation.

Because movements are not sustained by a few famous names alone.

Movements survive because ordinary people decide they are not willing to quit.

Their names may never appear in the history books.

Many of their stories and even yours may never be told.

But they were and you still will be ordinary people doing extra-ordinary things.

Thank you for being ordinary.

This is Theo W. Braddy, executive director for the National Council on Independent Living. Until we meet again. Bye-bye now.

Theo Braddy
Executive Director
National Council on Independent Living

About NCIL

NCIL is the longest-running national cross-disability grassroots organization, driven by and dedicated to people with disabilities. Since its founding in 1982, NCIL has represented thousands of organizations and individuals, advocating tirelessly for the human and civil rights of people with disabilities across the United States.