Being Heumann
A story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn't built for all of us and of one woman's activism--from the streets of Brooklyn and San Francisco to inside the halls of Washington--Being Heumann recounts Judy Heumann's lifelong battle to achieve respect, acceptance, and inclusion in society.
Paralyzed from polio at eighteen months, Judy Heumann began her struggle for equality early in life. From fighting to attend grade school after being described as a "fire hazard" to later winning a lawsuit against the New York City school system for denying her a teacher's license, to leading the section 504 sit-in that led to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Judy's actions set a precedent that fundamentally improved rights for disabled people around the globe.
Candid, intimate, and irreverent, Judy Heumann's memoir about resistance to exclusion invites readers to imagine and make real a world in which we all belong.
Judith Heumann is an internationally recognized leader in the Disability Rights Movement. She has advocated for disability rights at home and abroad, serving in the Clinton and Obama administrations and as the World Bank's first adviser on disability and development. She lives in Washington, DC.
Kristen Joiner (Author)
Kristen Joiner is a writer and activist who tries to tell stories that change how people see the world. Her writing on exclusion, inequality and social change has been published in numerous outlets including the Stanford Social Innovation Review. She lives in New Zealand with her family.