From the March-April 2015 issue of News & Letters

 By Suzanne Rose

Several hundred people with physical and mental disabilities and their supporters blocked streets in Taipei, Taiwan, during a march and rally in November. Many lay down in the street while others held up signs to bring attention to the hurdles experienced by people with disabilities. They called for a law to uphold equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

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In New Delhi, India, women and girls with disabilities are being dumped into mental hospitals and institutions by family members and the police with horrendous consequences. They face unsanitary conditions,risk physical and sexual violence and receive involuntary treatment, including electroshock therapy. Once locked up, they have little hope of ever getting out.

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Nine months after a then Mississippi judge smacked a mentally disabled man and yelled “run, n_____, run,” a grand jury indicted him for “simple assault on a vulnerable adult.” Twenty-year-old Eric Rivers, who is Black and has special needs, was working at a Canton, Miss., flea market when Judge Bill Weisenberger attacked him.