Chief Sealth And The Independent Living Movement
Ida May Daly, who used a wheelchair, had a huge seven story brick and concrete apartment building, including a generous parking garage, built in south Seattle, which at that time was incredibly cheap land. She carefully built it to be completely wheelchair accessible, so that disabilities, especially those in wheelchairs, would have a place to actually thrive and live instead of one to slowly die. She did not like what institutionalized living not to people and how most institutions preach an afterlife, mainly involving how you must die to achieve it. She wanted disabled people to live longer.
I used to be quite sad at how Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had to keep a "preachy" attitude to go somewhere else when he died, probably means the grave, maybe just to get rid of the fallacy of Hell too complex "sinners" – like his politically active self. He would talk about "The Promised Country ", as most of the disabilities I have met seem to believe is somewhere up in Canada. I do not know myself, though.
Center Park, while not "the Promised Land, "is a double-winged red brick and white plaster concrete building that contains a few hundred separate one-or two bedroom apartment units. Made mostly of cinderblocks, it is well insulated, cool in summer and warm in winter. Residents have few complaints, except for Christians, with all religious beliefs who think they can get wheelchair people to "get up and go."
Through a strange coincidence of circumstances, the Center Park is situated in what in the eighties was still a African-American neighborhood that used to be white and mostly Catholic. There are still some people from those times, living there, which I have attended their church once or twice, but the racial tension is probably most gone now. In the eighties I lived, and worked there, and wondered deeply about life, the universe and everything. I was a trained professional writer and artist working a day job to help physically challenged people do their personal care and transfers.
Some of these people and their companions were white and partly descendants by local Indians as John Tyler, the man I started out working for, and his aide Virginia Jarvis. I accidentally is part Cherokee Indian, the "Trail of Tears' strains. Chief Sealth was Native American dignitary our Emerald City is named after, and he resides currently in a grave near an indigenous reservation system. He was head of a tribe around here, possibly Duwamish. He gave a wonderful "end" speech, where he handed over his tribal lands were Duwamish involved, and he claimed in a noble and peaceful way to "we" white people may be able to handle the wonderful privilege of living here.
But who are the true Chief of Seattle; is it the mayor or another? Many communities exist in our lovely area, led by many an interested tribe, party or individual. But what makes one person a Such being of engagement? Is it his or her heart or brain, or beaucoup bucks, or the fact that there will be an important person – to greatness be forced upon him or her?
Everyone needs to be a Somebody, by Jesse Jackson put it, say you really should be that someone. To my memory, will always be John Tyler, who led a floor of Center Park as a disabled radicals fighting for the rights and freedoms able-bodied Americans. He was a great driving force for getting the wheelchair lifts put on city buses.
He skilfully assisted by a Jewish Republican-cum-Democrat named Ronald Gary Schwarz, who "did a 180-degree left turn "politically when he entered a wheelchair, going from a ruthless Republican background of a bleeding heart liberal one. When he was beaten from MS that he finally found his life purpose, helping those who need it by also being one of those responsible for getting the lifts put on buses. He lived Down the hall on the same floor as John and I worked live in for both.
Life has certainly changed from what I saw at Center Park. It was the the first skyscraper built in the entire country for disabled people in wheelchairs. It got flooded by all other forms of disabilities that could find a way into it. The "laundry list "- ie applications made of paper these days – was one thousand, or several names long to get in. It looped ten times around the block, which mind you was more like a downtown office block town than a neighborhood one.
The office was run by ABS, in other words able-bodied, and it was thought that, if you did something wrong when you have reported problems in the office "lesbians" who reigned in the building, you'd be thrown out or sent to a psychiatric hospital. These women were overworked, overweight and underpaid, no sense of humor, but who nonetheless smiled abysmally evil grimaces all live long day – and then for excuses to kick you out or send you to a some form of "the poor house," as they used to put it in Dickensian day writer Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" and "A Christmas Carol. "Whichever place least suited, and you would most certainly be imminent if you do not mind your p's and Q's.
As power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, those ladies ruled Center Park with an iron fist in a velvet glove. Mark Twain aka Samuel Langhorne Clemens, had warned readers like me about the existence of such apparently Christian and God fearing ladies. He went in great detail about how ruthless those were when it comes to putting you in "your space" I was finally forced to believe him. The location at Centre Park in doldrums was sufficiently depressing in itself, as I said, back in the Precambrian Times.
This "precious beautiful palace" for the disabled at the time – in spite of good intentions and the excellent reputation – were intended to hospital – or Death's Door – By many. God's green Land of Oz, an ode to our Emerald City, was however fully accessible outside, in a stunning garden that led around half the circumference of the Center Park. It had a wide flat path winding around it and it was as lush as the Garden of Eden, interim home of Adam and Eve. When the idea of sex, unavoidable by all disabled, you could not go here to "get some." But you can check in at a nearby motel, which many disabled people who often did. They told me about their misadventures, usually involving trying to talk a person able surprise of the opposite sex in a motel rendezvous and then left flat on his back in a motel room bed, unable to stand up.
So what is instead of each person so physically challenged, you might wonder, since disabled life before the Internet involved mostly only television-zombie state – or wander around for a stroll in your wheelchair outside, awaiting a life you lead? Maybe if you were not disabled, you can find a little "job." In those days, before Section 504 in Washington State Code was put through, it was remarkably difficult for a disabled person to obtain work. When this law was put through, it made it easier for a soul into a wheelchair or other handicap or disability to find work as they should be assessed on the same basis as a healthy person.
It was such an affirmative action program, the kind of thing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of in the sixties. But John Tyler, radical I talked about before, most seemed to know about his place in the scheme things that look like Dr. King's, though he does not always come with the black people. He had also a brief short death sentence of polio and sleep apnea hanging over his head while he did his best to get rights for the disabled in time. It was what he perceived as his place, along with a handful of other disabled people, both men and women who knew it was.
Do you think if you knew your life was short, would you want to help others? At most, your place not be here – soon. The place is known as Center Park had a laundry room, was made of heat-retentive ash blocks, which kept it warm in winter and cool in the summer and was pretty relaxed to live in, if you could avoid the office "stomach." But during the eighties before the days of the internet, there was virtually nothing to do there but watch TV and eat too much. A lot of disabled people at Center Park was up to smoking, alcohol and drugs to do readily supplied by downtown Seattle residents.
It is one of the reasons people who were suicidal, the majority, but was unable to complete the operation. They had a couple of places to lag, such as a common space, partly for the elderly lady gossips and no other, and an arts and crafts center, roughly the same as your basic underfinanced Mental institution, but as excrement hit the fan, there was not much to do but watch TV and shoot the breeze underneath with your friends. I hope for your understanding about the mental institution of reference, which was usually a long queue downstairs, called "medicine line", and many of the disabled at Center Park was on mental health medicine.
Seattle and its neighboring city of Bremerton has been named the most liveable cities in the world, but to a degree that has been disabled compelled to just die there, largely out of the disease combined with utter boredom. Prior section 504 was put through, there was not much in the way of job openings to pass the time, so that people got pretty bored because their SSI (Social Security Income) do not afford much money for a good time in town. There was a small chess club going when I was there, but not much else, except from less sex, drugs and rock and roll.
Although it was unclear whether he had really existed, the Legend of Center Park was unknown Savant in a manual wheelchair, who managed to hump up a stairway of seven stories, pick tag's lock using a Bobby pin, and push themselves over the edge to his death on the street below. He allegedly did so solely out of pure unadulterated boredom. Now Center Park has a nice monthly newsletter, run by "Bushman" Jim Bush, a friend of John Tyler's – and the Internet. It can keep people out of nursing homes – for awhile at least.
Nobody in Center Park want to live in "a nursing home, 'Because they kill people there. Indeed they do, because they put them on psychiatric medications and those ultimately kill you. These are terrible, and they can make you very high, making them hideously attractiveness. I'm pill line in my mind, and it is at Center Park, where you give up try. Player is not a good thing to try to keep life in it. I would avoid them if I were you.
There is still the most beautiful Adam and Eve garden you have ever seen outside of Because of Center Park, which really was there. But they will probably not let you smoking except outside. Smoking was "not permitted" is back in the eighties. But the wonderful adventure garden, a small paradise kind, was looped around the building, and that, but now lurks in my mind eye – this is where the two attendants of the disabled trysted, for me and my husband, Reggie Peralta. He and I were both personal care attendants, me at home, and he in the hospital system. He and I dumped Center Park to get married and have kids. We successfully had a daughter.
Anyway, the way the world is that even disabled people must suffer the loss of accompanying person at a time and have to retrain new ones. There is a job of Movement policy Independent Living Movement least waiting for you – if you care for caring for other people. In short, many of the handicapped and disabled people need companions, and this article is another attempt to advertise this job. You can find in newspapers and on the Internet under "home health aide" – and other similar titles.
You do not have to think of it as politics so much longer because of the Internet. Also, it is a nursing oriented job that can lead to wonderful factionalism among compadres who assembled and create new things that make all of this "Brave New World" (a false reference to a famous book by Aldus Huxley) to a wonderful place. In the meantime, I know it's true because I am now disabled physically where I was before. It is because of some unpleasant medicine for depression, which I do not ever recommend, and it would happen anyway. Nevertheless, I am still a professional book author ghost writer, copy editor, proofreader, manuscript transcription, co-author, graphics and CAD artists, publishing help and website developer with my own international services corporation.
You too can make amazing things with your life, such as writing to pay, everything you need to do is apply with our company. We have many years experience and the whole world and much of the known universe at our disposal, thanks to the Internet and World Wide Web. Who needs to be a suicidal "legend" – when you can live your life fully out instead – despite the varying physical and / or mental challenges? There is writing to do. . .
Is not life great?
About the Author
Executive Director and President of Rainbow Writing, Inc., Karen Cole writes. RWI at http://www.rainbowriting.com is a renowned inexpensive and affordable professional freelance writers, book authors, ghost writers, copy editors, proof readers, coauthors, manuscript rewriters, graphics and CAD, digital and other photographers, publishing assistance and screenplay writers, editors, developers and analysts service.
DAVID WILCOCK at the Project Camelot Awake and Aware Conference, Los Angeles, Sept 2009
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