Love & Joy & Advocacy

How do we meet the moment with collective action?

There has been so much in motion over the past several weeks – to the point that – it has been all consuming just trying to stay on top of What’s happened now?

As we’ve been describing it to reporters and others, this is a chaos factory, intentionally by design.

We acknowledge and have long called for necessary improvement to many areas of the public education system on behalf of students with disabilities. There is a difference, however, between enacting steps toward intentional, meaningful system reform and carelessly dismantling structures in place with no real plan (other than to seemingly unravel) nor measured action keeping the most vulnerable protected.

For those connected to disability and advocacy, there have always been significant challenges, barriers to overcome, and a relentlessness of the needs and concerns that seemingly never stops.

The problems, challenges, barriers, relentless needs, concerns, and exhaustion now feel even greater.

What can be done?

MiPAAC serves as a collective impact vehicle supported by the Autism Alliance Education pillar and has been a space that is intended to be a source of reliable information, resources, and strategy to empower student-centered advocacy in Michigan.

With the chaos factory underway alongside the rate at which actions and information about what’s taking place on a national scale connected to education and disability-related issues is happening, we’ve been working to understand the current landscape in terms of:

What is known (facts)?
What might actually go through? (as there are over 130 lawsuits(1) challenging administrative actions)
What potential scenarios do we need to understand and prepare for?
What will be the impact of these changes?

We haven’t pushed out constant messaging about all of the chaos because there’s already plenty of that happening and because it seems to be part of the intent and purpose of generating even more chaos.

A fair amount of messaging being shared right now is suddenly raising disability as a concern (related mostly to funding). However, much of this rhetoric is not based in deep centering of disability advocacy or in lived experiences – it’s performative. We caution members to be critical of “jumping on the bandwagon” of supposed campaigns that are not steeped in the longstanding work of this movement.

We aim to hold steady for the advocacy fight ahead as more clarity will be gained for what is actually coming our way.

From its inception, the Disability Rights Movement(2) has benefited from and been intertwined with the Civil Rights Movement.(3) Because of the parent advocates at the Arc of Pennsylvania(4) (1972) who pushed for education access rights prompting what ultimately led to the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act(5) (IDEA) in 1975 to the disabled activists, including Judy Heumann(6), who played a crucial role in the 1977 “504 Sit-in”(7) which led to the implementation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, a landmark civil rights law for people with disabilities, and which paved the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).(8)

We stand on the shoulders of those who fought and sacrificed before.

We now find ourselves at an inflection point – an uncertain time where we will be the ones to do the work to ensure the hard won civil and human rights of marginalized and vulnerable children’s access to education are not lost.

Justice movements are not accomplished in a day or a week or with a social media post.

Justice movements require sustained effort and coordinated action.

Tools like social media platforms help to inform and raise awareness; however, to effect real change and to have a deep impact in policy, systems, and structures of society, there must be a focused strategy and commitment to shared goals over the long arc.

Bridging awareness into transformation

Advocacy is Love in Action
Advocacy as an expression of love.

Advocacy can be a powerful expression of love. Disability advocacy that demonstrates respect and dignity for all people – a recognition of every person’s worth – is made stronger when we stand up and speak up as a collective voice.

Examples of advocacy as love:

parents advocating for their child’s needs in school
self-advocates sharing lived experience to effect change
uplifting and supporting others
taking action to make a difference in the lives of others

The Ripple Effects of Advocacy

Action > Impact > Outcomes > Transformation

As was shared in the November 2024 Our Path Forward member message,

Our collective work is to catalyze systemic change in transforming Michigan’s public education system to one that ensures a pathway to prosperity for ALL.

We will continue…

We will continue to hold space for diverse experiences while we support our more than 300-member coalition.
We will continue to inform members and build our shared knowledge.
We will continue to uplift a shared policy agenda that reflects the barriers experienced by those most impacted within the system.
We will continue to work to mobilize around priority issues.
We will continue to move forward from aspiration to reality by demanding concrete solutions to wicked problems.
We will continue to celebrate our progress that has been achieved while boldly confronting any challenges before us.
We will continue to show up every day as strong advocates for students with disabilities in Michigan.
We will continue to RISE together as we work to close gaps – in educational opportunities and outcomes – for students with disabilities.

How do we sustain our advocacy for the road ahead?

Finding Joy amidst Challenging times…

Love and joy are often viewed as deeply intertwined. Therefore, if advocacy is love in action, then so must joy be present.
Joy can be found in a multitude of ways: relationships, self-care, acts of kindness, shared experiences, connections with others, appreciation, sense of peace, gratitude, cultivating resilience

Allow yourself moments of pleasure, moments of rest, and moments of peace.

Focus on what you can control and where you can have a meaningful impact.

It is often difficult to simply live in and enjoy the moment…maybe because so much is asked and required of us? Or perhaps, because moments of joy can seem fleeting.

Don’t Hesitate

by Mary Oliver

If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,

don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty

of lives and whole towns destroyed or about

to be. We are not wise, and not very often

kind. And much can never be redeemed.

Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this

is its way of fighting back, that sometimes

something happens better than all the riches

or power in the world. It could be anything,

but very likely you notice it in the instant

when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the

case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid

of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.

We must give in to moments of joy even amidst the concern and chaos.

We will continue to show our love for others through our advocacy.

None of us should have to carry the weight of it all on our shoulders alone.

We will do this together.

From another Mary Oliver poem – Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

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(1) https://www.justsecurity.org/107087/tracker-litigation-legal-challenges-trump-administration/
(2) https://www.mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/index.html
(3) https://www.history.com/articles/civil-rights-movement
(4) https://disabilityjustice.org/right-to-education/
(5) https://sites.ed.gov/idea/IDEA-History
(6) https://judithheumann.com/project/about/
(7) https://dredf.org/short-history-of-the-504-sit-in/
(8) https://dredf.org/the-history-of-the-americans-with-disabilities-act/