Celebrating the Gift of Life
by Kenneth Brown
I
have been reflecting on my life and the things that I am most proud
of. It is a wonder to me that I would do this at the time of Martin
Luther King’s
Birthday and during African Heritage Month. The things that I am
most proud of are my disability, my business, my family, my significant
other, and my volunteerism. I am proud of these, as they have helped to mold
me into the person that I am today. My disability has caused me to be determined,
but passionate. My children have given me the opportunity to express my Love
and appreciation for those that truly depended on me. My parents taught me to
be self-sufficient and take responsibility for my actions. My family taught me
how to survive and to thrive in this world. My significant other helps me to
realize that I can share myself with someone without the fear of her taking advantage
of me. My grandchildren give me the gift of continued youth and taking care of
myself. My business gives me the opportunity to serve others. My volunteerism
gives me the opportunity to give back to my community some of that, which has
been given to me.
These things and so
many more I have done despite my disability. I had tons of help
and support along the way from hundreds of people. I have experienced
the meanness of youth, the ignorance of adults, the slap of discrimination,
and the horror of inequality based on stereotyping. I am not complaining.
I am really celebrating the gift of life. I grew up in Inner-city
St. Louis, MO during the 60’s
and early 70’s. I experienced life to its fullest as I grew
up in a “Village” as a child. The one thing I regret
is I did not get the opportunity to play organized sports as a youth.
Coaches, parents, teachers, and others were not trained to work with “crippled
children,” and my abilities were ignored. This situation is
better today, but not perfect with the ADA and Civil Right’s
protections. I did not have a “role model” with a disability
of any kind that I could relate to, to model my life after. There
was an actor in a television western that walked with a limp, but
I could not connect the dots to my life.
None of this stopped me from having dreams, setting goals and realizing
many of them today. I dreamed of owning my own business, I dreamed
of being a parent, I dreamed of being a role model and providing
inspiration to others. I dreamed of sharing my life experience with
others so that they may not have to suffer the injustices I did.
I dreamed of being able to be a voice for those that believe they
have no voice.
By the way, my disability is that I am partially paralyzed on my
left side. In our history, there are many African Americans with
disabilities that I could have looked up to. As our history is not
properly taught in our school systems, it is our responsibility to
educate our selves about our history. I did a little research and
found many people in our history had disabilities of some kind. Wilma
Rudolph had Polio, and also suffered from bouts with Pneumonia and
Scarlet Fever as a child: First American woman to win three gold
medals in the Olympics 1960. Harriet Tubman-Epilepsy/Narcolepsy:
Conducted 300 slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
Did you know that being partially paralyzed has not prevented me
from being normal? I do things a little differently than a person
with full mobility on both sides, but I can do whatever I want to
do. I have been able to survive three near drownings, a severe auto
accident, being assaulted with a deadly weapon and having to drive
13 miles to a police station to get assistance, and a near fall from
a rooftop. I have been and readily accept the challenges that my
disability presents to me on a daily basis. I will readily admit
that there have been times due to my determination and iron will
that I have tried to do some things that I should not have. In trying
to accomplish these tasks, I realized a few additional limitations
I have.
I own and operate a
service company. Several weeks ago I was sent to see a physical
therapist because I was experiencing on-going minor pain in my
arm and hand. The therapist took several measurements of my arm
and hand, and examined my neck and shoulders. After the examination,
she determined that most of the pain I was experiencing was due
to “over use of my arm and hand.” This caused
my muscles to be in a constant state of stress. Today after several
weeks of following her recommendations for daily stretching, my arm,
neck and shoulders, I feel better today than they have in at least
three years.
Additionally, another aspect of my life that I am proud of is the
relationships that I have been able to build and maintain with many
of our senior/elder community members. Many of them through the aging
process have developed a disability, but they continue to be thriving
productive members of our community. Once again someone assisted
me in my life to continue my work in the community. One aspect of
my work is to help our youth respect, honor, understand, and support
our senior/elders through service and to help our senior/elders to
respect, support, and cherish our youth through acceptance to help
all of us build a better community. Both of these vital important
groups of our community have fears of each other that we, in the
middle, need to realize and help in dispelling the fears.
In our history there
are African Americans with disabilities that have overcome their
disability to be successful. Whoopi Goldberg: learning disability
and a High School Drop-out, gained notoriety with one woman show
[Spook Show], debut on Broadway 1983, won an Academy Award for
the movie Ghost, and appeared in a number of movies and television
shows. Stevie Wonder: Blind, learned to play drums, piano and harmonica
by the age of nine, pioneered the use of Synthesizers in music
during the 1970’s, won three Grammy awards in 1972,
toured with the Rolling Stones in 1972, Grammy for Album of the year
1974, 1979 first Platinum Album.
