Crip Camp

Crip Camp: History From the Mouth of Its Forgotten Victors

Isabelle S1 Comment

Crip Camp was released in January of 2020, and features footage of campers in 1971, and the disability rights movement in 1973. I bring this up because of the major historical richness this film possesses. This film’s most prominent focus is on community. The hardships these people faced in their everyday lives was relieved during their visit to Camp Jened in 1971, and it is through the bonds formed there, and the accommodation and social environment of that space that the people there realized that they no longer wanted to be “in a world that wasn’t made for me”. They banded together in 1973 and protested for the passing of the 504 plan, which was being jeopardized at the time as people discussed if it was really necessary. 

So much of the value in this film lies in how personal story — and even footage — is used to cast a more in-depth light on the history of disability. All too often disability rights and disabled people are written out of history. But here we see their role up close. The footage from Camp Jened in 1971 is literally shot from the perspective of campers. We see the intimate lives of the campers, their physical needs, their discussions, their fun camp activities. Very quickly the audience could tell that people were happy and free at the camp. The narration also emphasises how different it was from the “outside world”, how disability was not an irregularity or something to be mocked, shunned or stared at, it was normal, expected, and there was an overwhelming amount of understanding in such a place. This contrasts with the fight they must undertake two years later, as they protest for the 504 plan. However, we still see that same sort of community unity during these protests. Everyone’s needs are considered, and people care for one another. There is compraderie in people planning what to say, making places to sleep, delivering food, fasting, heating and electricity, all sorts of specific conditions for living that everyone must be considered when making these decisions. It was a smaller protest, and a very personal one. This personalized account of such a historical event — especially an event that was avoiding publicity and has been for the most part less known outside of the disabled community — really makes the audience (particularly a nondisabled audience) quickly understand the importance of such protests.  

One quote that stood out a lot to me was, “The problem was not with disabled people, the problem was with nondisabled people.” My keyword reading was on ableism, although it was titled “ability”, it discusses how the term “ability” came to be what we now know it as today. It seemed to start as a measurement of what a person was able to do, and usually was legally used to benefit men who owned property. To not “be able” was to be disabled, and to have less value socially. This disabled term was applied to pretty much everyone other than property owning men. This would later evolve into being applied specifically to bodies that were given less value because they were not able to produce as much profit. I go more in-depth for how this is messed up in my keywords RAB, but I think in relation to Crip Camp a lot of similarities could be drawn. The general concept of a body being valued as “lesser”, of a person’s presence and their necessary accommodations that would be needed, is explored a lot in Crip Camp. There is a lot of contrast to how people’s lives were before the 504 plan was passed, and before, and the change between the historical footage and today are impossible to ignore.

There is a lot of value to this video being shown in class to high schoolers. Not only does it open students up to unique perspectives, some of which nondisabled students in your class may not have known about, but it also provides an important historical context to American history, one that is often overlooked or only briefly touched upon. This in-depth telling of history by the actual people who lived and experienced it is also extremely valuable, it is in a way timeless. I mean timeless in that it is extremely valuable to have a historical documentary that includes the actual people that lived through such events. Years from now, people will be able to hear the thoughts and insight of the actual protesters and campers. I think that’s really valuable.

Some notable quotes:

“The problem was not with disabled people, the problem was with nondisabled people.”

“I was in a world that wasn’t made for me.”

“I don’t think I felt shame for my disability. What I really felt was discussion.”

“Schools and even hospitals didn’t want to spend the money to make their buildings accessible.”

The Crip Camp Revolution: Making Spaces Accessible

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The common American student has very little exposure to disability studies in public education. This lack of curriculum is unacceptable and narrows the minds of young folks across the country. Many of those who do know about disability studies are living it first-hand. Imagine what it’s like as a student who never sees their own experience taught about in the classroom; how isolating that would be. There are dozens of methods that can be used to accurately portray disability studies, but all come from a place that centers disabled voices. Crip Camp is a documentary produced by a disabled man about disabled people. It is the perfect film to introduce students to the world of disability.  

 Crip Camp retells disability through the lens of a revolution—the revolution of access. What begins with a couple of disabled kids at summer camp (Camp Jened), leads to a national headline celebrating the triumph of a 28-day sit-in in a Berkeley Federal Health, Education, and Welfare building. The documentary tells the story of how those kids went from singing songs with a bunch of hippies, to sleeping on federal grounds in protest of their federally sanctioned mistreatment in the US.  

Camp Jened, where it all started, was a revolutionary space. It was a crip space that allowed campers to be fully themselves. Keywords for Disability Studies defines “access” as “the power, opportunity, permission, or right to come near or into contact with someone or something”. Camp Jened was accessible. It provided power, opportunity, permission, and the right for the campers to be unapologetically themselves; and that is why it is revolutionary. This disability revolution was not because of pity for non-disabled people, but rather, because of impassioned, driven, and brilliant disabled folks themselves. Crip Camp is highly relatable, not just for disabled folks, but for any high schooler looking to make a difference.  

Crip Camp provides a deviant perspective of disability. It portrays disabled kids and adults in a way that is anti-normative. It successfully tells a story of disabled high schoolers as they are (which again, is revolutionary). This exposure is essential for high schoolers, as mainstream media often portrays disabled folks as inspirationporn or pity parties. The documentary accurately depicts the campers at Jened in a way that humanizes them, much unlike how they were treated outside the camp. It features segments of their patience, sexual exploration, messing up, desire for popularity, and daily needs through a disability studies lens.  

Accessibility, like that within Camp Janed (and that portrayed throughout the entirety of Crip Camp), is worth fighting for. The advocates in this film bring the audience on their journey of fighting. The revolution is not going to be handed over, Crip Camp tells a story of fighting for justice in a country that claims freedom. Several events are included in the documentary, including the month-long sit-in, the “capital crawl” in demand for ADA, and countless other protests; these events are historic markers to progress in our country. They are hopeful, encouraging, and ideally leave activists hungry for even more! Crip Camp pushes the limits; the limits of spaces, of people, of government. And I push you to use it in your classroom.  

Why Crip Camp is Important

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The film Crip Camp is a storytelling showpiece about the roots of disability rights and disability rights activists. While the documentary centers around the story of how the ADA came to be and activism in general, it offers an important theme of community and accessibility embedded in. We begin the film with a nostalgic 70s scene of campers at Camp Jened. Camp Jened is an all-inclusive camp for young teens with a disability. At the camp, the audience gets to see disability in a different light than usual as campers build friendships that stand the test of time as we see later on. As a student who never received education about disabilities or disability rights, this film struck a chord with me. I wish my high school had this built into the curriculum in some way. I believe it could fit really well into a history class and teach students to think deeper into human rights and politics.  

After establishing a community in Camp Jened the film jumps to a different time in campers lives as they’ve grown up and find one another again. The story mainly includes three campers named Judith Heumann, Stephen Hoffman, and Larry Allison that retell their story and how they all became close friends from beginning of camp to later in life. Not only is history important in this film for the obvious reason of laws being passed, but there is first a history of relationships that allowed there to be protests pushing for legislation to be passed. At Camp Jened, it was clear the space the entire time was about helping one another out beyond just physically. To create an atmosphere as such is not a difficult feat, but it is difficult to keep it going outside those safe walls. Authors Susan Burch and Kim E. Nielsen emphasize a social-relational model of disability for historians to refer to in their chapter appropriately titled “History.” With this model disability can be seen as shaped by the environment the person is in (Burch, Nielsen, 96). That is to say that if a person with a disability is around a culture not only inclusive to others like themselves but also a culture that is open for them physically and socially then they will thrive. Unfortunately, America has not been successful with that goal and that is where protests began which ignited the ADA.  

Coming from a small town with small minds, I can see how this might not always execute well when shown to high schoolers. The issue I believe just lies in the belief systems and how strong they are (always have been) surrounding disability. I will promise you that there will always be at least one or two students that will be open minded and that can change a classroom environment entirely. This film is going to be necessary for those environments. Another issue with rhetoric surrounding disability is the fact that most stories told about folks who are disabled are told by able-bodied people. The film can offer aspects of teaching that should and need to be acknowledged when discussing history such as psychological issues, sociological impacts, culture, and intersectionality. As Burch and Nielsen said, “Disability rights movements in all of their manifestations share central themes in history: struggle, citizenship, labor, power, violence, health, representation, and community.” (Burch, Nielsen, 97). In high school I believe it’s important to realize the power that groups create. If teens had more exposure to civil rights knowledge and more specifically how they came to be (like this film) I think it can be easier to see how they themselves can create change in the world when it’s needed.  

Something big I personally took from this film is how the community helped shape every part of action that was taken. I could be wrong, but I feel like if one is almost thrust into the world of politics because it’s demanded it can be exhausting quickly. By that, I mean when your rights are at risk, you feel the need to act because no one else will. However, Judy Heumann our main leader of the protests, had community all the way back from camp helping her. In their adult life they still found one another taking care of each other mentally and physically to better the whole nation.  

Crip Camp – Review

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“Disability history is inextricably entangled with all other topics of history.” – Susan burch and Kim E. Nielson.

What is the story behind the Americans with Disabilities Act? Very few people, I would say not many Americans, actually know how this act of legislation actually took place. This is disappointing, since the ADA is probably the greatest piece of American legislation ever passed since the civil rights movement. Now, offering a new narrative to the public is the 2020 film, “Crip Camp”, describing the lives and political activism of a group of disabled people who where influential in passing the ADA in 1990.

The film begins with the young disabled meeting each other at Camp Jened, the titular Crip Camp, one of the few camps at the time specifically designed for those with disabilities. The camp was started in 1971, and was influential in the formation of the early disability civil rights groups, fostering an independent spirit among the campers, encouraging them to be expressive, sexual, creative and happy and to seek a better life for themselves. The first half of the film describes the individual experiences of these campers, in particular, Judith “Judy” Heumann, Larry Allison, James LeBrecht, Denise Sherer Jacobson, and Stephen Hofmann, all of which offer their first hand accounts of the events that happen.

The second half of the film focuses on the civil rights groups and activities that these individuals became a part of as adults. Judy Heumann in particular became a pillar in the disability community, having helped found Disabled in Action and the Center for Independent Living. She was influential in spearheading some of the major disability protests about the implementation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation act of 1973, organizing the sit in protest that took place between April 5 to May 4, 1977 at the San Francisco office of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. After that protest, she and the organizations she helped start continued to advocate for the rights of those with disabilities, and she became influential in the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

The film concludes by showing the remaining campers of Camp Jened meeting together at where it once stood, the camp having been closed since 2009. It’s a poignant and heartening ending to a film which documents the journey of a generation of disabled people. Such narratives are important, considering how history tends to remember the disabled, or rather not think of them, or worse- think of them as a nuisance and a pain. The film briefly covers this as it discusses this aspect of disability history when describing Willowbrook, an institution on Staten Island where many of New York’s disabled lived, and was notorious for being poorly staffed with a lack of food and supplies necessary for the care of the disabled – in one word, Hell. Campers from Willowbrook where said to have been practically stuffing their mouths with food because in Willowbrook they had been starving. Many of these disabled people who were institutionalized at Willowbrook would have no way to speak out about their situation or how difficult, dangerous, and horrible their lives where in such situations. It is important than to recognize when such people can speak out and tell their stories. Examples of this include the residents of the New York State Lunatic Asylum, who managed to speak about their experiences by making a monthly journal of poetry, editorials, essays, plays and art, in which they can talk about their lives, thoughts, and dreams. Such a tangible record of the lives of the disabled is rare, and we should appreciate the opportunities we have to enjoy them.

Already we are seeing the brave group from Camp Jened slowly vanish into obscurity, as many are dead or dying, and soon all we will have left of them are their stories. “We are all stories in the end.” As the 11th Doctor once told us. And we must remember; we must bear witness to those who have come before us, so that those who come after will have a brighter future. The work of these amazing people has given us all a brighter future and we must not squander it.

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” -Ephesians 5:15

‘Crip Camp’ Could Be a Class Success!

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(Author’s Note: None of the 62 chapters from Keywords are titled “Law”, so I chose Chapter 52, “Rights”, by Maya Sabatello, because I’m guessing that’s what the professor meant. It’s the closest, anyway.)

Hey You, Teacher,

If it were implemented in your Social Studies II class curriculum this semester, I think Crip Camp (2020)—yes, that Oscar-nominated, Sundance premiere documentary that was produced by the Obamas—would be of substantial educational value in teaching the full history of the American civil rights movement to your classroom. 

First, let me offer that the disabled position in America remains largely unacknowledged in our humanities classrooms. The significant piece of American history covered in Crip Camp is retold colorfully by the leading rights activists for Disabled in Action, including Jim LeBrecht, Judith Heumann, Corbett O’Toole, Ann Cupolo Freeman, and Denise Sherer-Jacobsen, ALL of whom are accomplished authors in the field of disability studies as well—which is something to provide extra material for your potential unit on disability rights. It’s a fast-paced documentary about the fight for American civil rights, filmed from the ground floor of the sit-ins and the sidewalks of the protests.

The documentary follows the above cast during their youth at the disability-centered “Woodstock” (Ann Freeman) which brought them together and shaped their confidence—straight on through their fight to get Act 504 signed, a critical piece of civil rights legislation which was first vetoed by Nixon (quote: “it would be just impossible in terms of cost”), but later weakened and delayed under Secretary Joseph Califano, with all attempts to enforce the act abandoned by Reagan in a horrendously bigotted effort to deprive the largest minority group in the country of their rights to protection from discrimination in federally funded public spaces (and in organizations and businesses nationwide). Because the fight still continues, your classrooms, were they to include Crip Camp in their curriculums, might notice one term continually appearing—rights. But the fight for disability justice does not only include these adoptions into law, like Act 504. Rights is more complicated than that; which is almost exactly the message of Crip Camp going into today’s world. Perhaps it would allow your students to expand their perspectives on discrimination, society’s attitudes, and law.

Maya Sabatello’s chapter “Rights” from Keywords for Disability Studies offers that “basing disability claims for justice merely in terms of legal rights, without a concept of moral rights, is inadequate”, because if the legal rights were boiled down to their core, it would be exposed how “Traditional Western liberal theory assumes that rights are private, individualized, and autonomous”. Contrary to this, the interest of disability activists, including those in Crip Camp, has always been on “group rights”, which “focus on collectives that have shared interests and aim at protecting cultures, ways of life and practices that are presumably not sufficiently protected by the assertion of individual interests” (page 159). So, as Crip Camp’s core activists (along with machinist unions, Black Panthers and supporters) persist through three weeks of hunger striking, months of government sit-ins, and a generation of “really serious, radical action” (Jimmy LeBrecht), they fight for their rights in the law, but also for their rights to exist together as an identity without friction or hardship. Sometimes this can be as plain as the right to not be “sidelined” (Judy Heumann) in a public space with your presence, but other times these rights are less obvious to the nondisabled, like the right to privacy. As one Camp Jened camper, Nick, put it: “I think what Nancy is talking about is that everyone in their life sometimes wants to be alone. I think that’s one of the major rights.” The story really only begins with Act 504, but Crip Camp teaches students to fight for the full extent of their rights, the way Sabatello describes.

 So, Sabatello’s understanding of legal rights and group rights, together, helps encapsulate Disability in Action’s goals and expectations for the implementation of Act 504. And although the world has come a long way from the incomprehensible atrocity of the institution-era, you may still be tempted to avoid showcasing this film to your classroom because of its graphic depictions of abuse in institutions like Willowbrook—I urge you not to. Though uncomfortable for students, that scene provides additional understanding of the stakes of this fight for civil rights by the disabled in America. It was not very long ago.

Of the above reasoning, might I add—aren’t these EXACTLY the kinds of topics you’d want to use to stimulate class discussion? What does Social Studies in American classrooms concern at its heart, if not the rights and freedoms of the country? As the famous clause “all men are created equal” has taken nearly 250 years to prove effected, much of that catch-up is contained already in your Social Studies curricula—and here is one more opportunity for learning. The relevance in humanities classrooms is abundant, across the board, but this is magnified by the under-evaluation of the disabled position in history as a minority group. As Corbett O’Toole said in Crip Camp, “There are moments when history shifts”. This film is an artful reliving of one of the most important ones of the last century. I hope that your Social Studies curriculum this year does not overlook a highly educational piece of American literature which could be supplemental to your classroom’s emergent concept of rights and freedoms.

Sincerely, 

Clover

A Future High-School Teacher

Adding a personal touch to the Disability Rights Movement,”Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution

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To begin “Crip Camp”, the viewers are introduced to a cast of colorful people all who attended or worked at Camp Jened. The cast is comprised mostly of people with disabilities so they offer a rarely seen view on the 1960s and 1970s. Each cast member gives their accounts of their time at the camp, not at camp and how it impacted their views on life. The film transitions to focus on the campers’ life after the camp, in particular the community they had become for each other. Many of the campers were in the frontlines the Disability rights movements allowing the viewer to get a more in-depth view of the protests for the enforcement of the Architectural Barriers Act.  A while providing examples of why it was necessary. The film provides context and details for a not necessarily informed audience well, making it a good introduction to the disability rights movement. The use of personal narratives allows more complex issues for the disabled community, such as access, independence, and sexuality, to be shown in way that person with no background knowledge in disability studies can digest. “Crip Camp” is a great guiding piece when introducing the fight for Disability rights to a new audience. It hooks the viewer with personal details, sometimes employing nostalgia to invest the viewer but the film does not rely too heavily on this tactic. It remains relatable to both a younger and older demographic, making perfect to introduce disability studies to older teenagers.

The films central message discusses how inclusion and exclusion affect the lives of disabled people. The start of the film is sets up view of the campers’ lives in a place where they felt included, where they had access to live life. One camper is makes a remark about never being sidelined at Camp Jened, relating to a broader aspect of access,” linked to a more inclusive society with greater opportunities for social and political participation (pp.15),” as put by Bess Williamson in Keywords for Disability Studies. Williamson asserts that the issue of access has two distinct facets that occasionally limit each other, one the access to be a citizen, to be a person and the other to have the ability to enter and move about a space(pg.14-15). The films central conflict the occupation of the San Francisco federal offices, Highlights the fact that physical access allows people to access their citizenship and personhood, but first they need to be seen as person by those limiting their access. The film overcomes this barrier easily by displaying the person first then calling for better access.

The film is most suited for an audience who has passed their late teen or is actively in their late teens. There are a couple points in the film that would need to be skipped due to graphic language, but for the most part they are not central scenes to main conflict of the film, they are just a couple of many scenes humanizing the campers. Due to nature of film’s topic a certain level of maturity and care is needed in the audience to get the full extent of the film’s message. That being said, for people to grow into this film’s ideal audience, showing them “Crip Camp” and discussing it with them is great step to take. I do urge any teachers thinking of showing “Crip Camp” to consider their classes and what type of discussion would be the most productive for their class. “Crip Camp” is a film with layers and certain groups may attach to one layer over the others, so any discussion or viewing should not be structured like a one size fits all.  Also some background information on the ADA, ABA and early disability rights movements may be necessary to contextualize parts of the film. 4/5

referenced sources:

Willianson,Beth, “Access” ,Keywords for Disability Studies.  Edited by Adams, R.Serlin, D., & Serlin, D. H. (2015). NYU Press. pp.14-17

Camp and Politics

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Crip Camp is a very insightful and informational documentary. I think this movie should be seen by students for multiple reasons, a large one being the understanding of activism. Activism is the taking of action, specifically in a political or social setting. The film highlights the ins and outs of a disability activist group and how they went about advocating and fighting for their rights and the changes they wanted to see in the world. I think this is important because all of their actions as a group were nonviolent. They relied on sit-ins, hunger strikes, and information to change the minds of politicians and citizens in America. Not only that, but the film also shows how different groups of people come together for common causes. To support and learn from each other, an example of this is the Black Panthers group providing meals for the disabled who were protesting inside a political building for over twenty days, “A broad array of nondisabled ally groups supported the twenty-five-day occupation by disability activists of the HEW regional headquarters in San Francisco.” (23).

I think this is important for students to learn because it not only gives them the inspiration to fight for what they believe is right in a nonviolent way but how to advocate and help the community around them in order to improve the lives of others. The film shows a sense of community and comradery throughout the film that is a valuable thing for a child to learn and understand, find happiness in a community, relate to others, and be able to learn from them. I think this documentary will also teach high school students about disability and what it is to be disabled. It’s an accurate representation of the experience of those with disabilities and widens children’s minds to how to incorporate them into their lives, to look at their peers and the people in their community as people first, not defined by their disability the way society often phrases it.