Conversations I'd rather be having

Recently on the ABC RN show, 'It's Not A Race', one of the questions that the panellists were asked was what conversations they would rather be having about belonging to an ethnic minority.

While I'm not claiming to belong to an ethnic minority, being disabled does place me in the minority. 

When you're disabled, there are a lot of assumptions placed on you and conversations that able-bodied people think they are entitled to have with you about your body and general existence. 

These are some things that I wish I could be talking about:

• people doing it for themselves rather than only seeing People with Disabilities within the dichotomy of 'victim or hero';
• how I can add value to the wider community rather than just the disability community and where the opportunities are to contribute;
• my other interests, I am more than a one-issue person. I am more than what is holding me back;
• what defines me and how my disability is actually not a big deal. It is not a huge part of my identity, I promise. I do have many other interests and there are many other factors that make up who I am and don't ever try to fiddle with that!!

So the next time you meet someone who is slightly different, just chill-out and treat us like anyone else.

It is not that hard! 

  

If I had a billion dollars

Since I’m a perpetual student, I value education but not just for me but for everybody.

Education is a privilege and a right. It should be available to everyone but sadly it isn’t which is why those who have access to it are very privileged.

Education is an exercise of delayed gratification. It takes time to acquire knowledge and the benefits are not always instant or obvious.   

Education provides so much value to everybody both at an individual level but also at a societal level too.

So if I had a billion dollars, I would spend it on educational programs because of the benefits that it delivers to so many people. It is something that someone is able to acquire and belongs to them alone. It can stay with them forever. Hopefully the process inspires them to use for the benefit of their family and wider community.

Since a billion dollars is a large amount of money, it will allow me to ‘thump tables’ or gain access to those in power to promote investment in education. While having money isn’t always the only way to influence, it does help.

But as an aside, in the media recently we’ve been hearing about how one political party charged large amounts of money to business people and lobbyists to meet ministers at their annual conference. This has happened for many years and so I ask you this – why is it that people are only now up-in-arms?    

Anyway, I can only dream about having a billion dollars so in the mean time I’ll have to be content with giving away small amounts.

Lets all be feminists

Based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk, her book is about her life from a feminist perspective and straight away stated that feminism is limited by stereotypes.

It is a lyrical book that could easily be a discussion over an evening meal or a glass of wine.

We Should All Be Feminists gives Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie a context that helped me to understand her books better. Like many people who straddle two cultures are influenced by many ideas and this sometimes causes internal conflict.  She writes about her early life in Africa and it comes into conflict with Western attitudes that she was exposed to while studying in America. She cites being called ‘Un-African” and a “Man Hater” because of her Western ideas that she incorporated into her worldview.

These are examples of how feminism is constructed by external factors. As Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writes, what it shows is how that word feminism is so heavy with baggage: you hate men, you hate bras, you don’t care about your appearance, etc. None of these labels are flattering or positive. But one of these labels is true, Feminists are angry because genre inequality is a grave injustice.  But as she states, the good news is that anger has a history of bringing about positive change.

Apart from being a great novelist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a strong woman with great ideas and who’s opinion is vital in the public sphere.   

Toilet fails Public

We were in Adelaide for a Board Meeting and after we were done for the day we went out for dinner. Normally we have meetings over the phone so we were excited to congregate in person and because some of us use wheel chairs to get around we rang ahead to warn those at the Public.

We arrived at the Public to find our Table ready with one side of the table without chairs so those of our group with wheelchairs could sit at the table. So far so good but when they needed to go to the toilet, they found it used as a makeshift storeroom.

This was disappointing because it was such as good night.

The vibe was classy and sophisticated. The food was great and the staff displayed ultimate professionalism, expect in what they choose to put in the disabled toilet.  

-->

I hope they fix this because the accessible toilet shouldn’t be used as a store room. Public is a fine place to enjoy a meal otherwise.