September 23, 2018 #CripTheVote Chat: State and Local Disability Issues

9/23/18 #CripTheVote Chat: State & Local Disability Issues

Over the last two years, for good reasons, #CripTheVote has mostly focused on disability issues at the national level on the U.S. Presidency and Congress as have similar efforts in other countries like #CripTheVoteUK. But a lot happens in states, counties, cities, and towns that directly and immediately affect disabled people’s lives. Tomorrow’s members of Congress, cabinet secretaries, and presidents often start out as today’s village board members, city councilors, state legislators, and governors. In this chat we will explore state and local government, and how the growing disability  community is doing in these important but often overlooked arenas.

How to Participate

Follow @GreggBeratan @AndrewPulrang @DisVisibility. When it’s time for the chat, search #CripTheVote on Twitter for the series of live tweets under the ‘Latest’ tab for the full conversation. 

If you don’t use Twitter, you can follow along in real time here: http://twubs.com/CripTheVote

If you might be overwhelmed by the amount of tweets and only want to see the chat’s questions so you can respond to them, check @DisVisibility’s account. The questions will be Tweeted 5-6 minutes apart.

Another way to participate in the chat is to use this app that allows you to pause the chat if the Tweets are coming at you too fast: http://www.tchat.io/

Here’s an article about how to participate in a Twitter chat: https://www.adweek.com/digital/how-to-join-a-twitter-hashtag-chat/

Check out this captioned ASL explanation of how to participate in a chat by @behearddc https://www.facebook.com/HEARDDC/videos/1181213075257528/

Introductory Tweets and Chat Questions

Welcome to the #CripTheVote chat on state and local disability issues. We look forward to learning about what’s happening in your community. Remember to use the #CripTheVote hashtag when you tweet. If you respond to a question such as Q1, your tweet should follow this format: “A1 [your message] #CripTheVote”

Q1 Which state, county, city, town, or village do you live in and how would you describe the disability community in your area? #CripTheVote

Q2 Who is active in disability issues in your state and local area? What advocacy organizations or groups are you familiar with on disability issues? #CripTheVote

Q3 How well do your state and local elected officials understand disability issues? Are they generally supportive, resistant, or indifferent? What form does their resistance or support take? #CripTheVote

Q4 What are some of the highest priority disability issues in your state? Are there specific budget issues? Critical pieces of legislation? Long term problems that still need to be addressed? #CripTheVote

Q5 What are some of the highest priority disability issues in your village, town, city, or county? #CripTheVote

Q6 How do your local governments address accessibility in your community, including public buildings and spaces, businesses, and transportation? #CripTheVote

Q7 How are you involved in disability activism in your state and local area? Share some of your experiences, good or bad. #CripTheVote

Q8 With so much focus on the national political scene, how can we ensure that local disability issues get the attention they deserve? #CripTheVote

September 9, 2018 #CripTheVote Chat on Partisanship and The Disability Community

9/9/18 #CripTheVote Chat on Partisanship and the Disability Community

Politically our country is deeply polarized. The evidence we have seen of the voting patterns of the Disability Community would seem to indicate that our voting falls along the same patterns as the country as a whole. A number of projects have worked to develop the electoral power of the Disability Community by portraying us as a potential voting bloc. In this chat we would like to explore the role of partisanship in expanding or limiting our community’s voice in the political sphere.

Useful articles

How Did Disabilities Become a Partisan Issue? By David Graham

The Non-Politics of Disability, By Jay Ruckleshaus

How Congress is hacking away at disability rights, By Sam Bagenstos

Definitions of “partisan”

Webster’s Dictionary

Wikipedia

How to Participate

Follow @GreggBeratan @AndrewPulrang @DisVisibility. When it’s time for the chat, search #CripTheVote on Twitter for the series of live tweets under the ‘Latest’ tab for the full conversation.

If you don’t use Twitter, you can follow along in real time here: http://twubs.com/CripTheVote

If you might be overwhelmed by the amount of tweets and only want to see the chat’s questions so you can respond to them, check @DisVisibility’s account. The questions will be Tweeted 5-6 minutes apart.

Another way to participate in the chat is to use this app that allows you to pause the chat if the Tweets are coming at you too fast: http://www.tchat.io/

Here’s an article about how to participate in a Twitter chat: https://www.adweek.com/digital/how-to-join-a-twitter-hashtag-chat/

Check out this captioned ASL explanation of how to participate in a chat by @behearddc

https://www.facebook.com/HEARDDC/videos/1181213075257528/

Questions for the Partisanship and The Disability Community Chat

Q1: What does ‘partisan’ mean to you? Do you think we’re living in a time of hyperpartisanship? #CripTheVote

Q2: Do you identify as a person whose political beliefs are partisan? If so, why?

Q3: Would you describe the disability community as partisan? Would the Disability Community be better served if it were more or less partisan? Why or why not? #CripTheVote

Q4: How has the Nation’s political polarization affected the Disability Community and our ability influence political and/or policy change? #CripTheVote

Q5: Disability policy issues have often been seen as bipartisan. Do you believe that has changed in the current climate? If so how? If you believe it still is what is it that makes our issues different? #CripTheVote

Q6: #CripTheVote has always said that we are partisan only to the Disability Community and this is why we focus on issues. Are there issues that you use to determine your vote? What are they and why? #CripTheVote

Q7: What are the dangers or advantages of single-issue voting? Does it further marginalize disabled people who experience multiple forms of oppression and discrimination? #CripTheVote

Q8: In the current polarized environment, where many issues have huge stakes & moral implications, how can the Disability Community keep some degree of bipartisanship alive on disability issues? Is it necessary? #CripTheVote