[VENT-L] : WILD: POV's IF I CAN'T DO IT - Revised Press Release

Blane N Beckwith (blane10(AT)juno.com)
Fri, 3 Jul 1998 18:21:58 -0700

>Dear Colleagues,
>
>Here is revised press release for POV's IF I CAN'T DO IT, scheduled for
>broadcast July 7, 1998, 10 PM (EDT), on PBS (Check local listings).
Please
>disseminate widely.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Tari Susan Hartman
>
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For additional
>information contact:
>July 2, 1998 Tari Susan Hartman -
>310/578-5955 (voice/tty)
> 310/578-6065
(fax);
>or EINSOFTSH(AT)aol.com
>
> IF I CAN'T DO IT airs July 7, 1998 on P.O.V.
> A co-presentation of the Independent Television Service
(ITVS)
>
>From the back hills of Kentucky, to the halls of Congress, to the
streets of
>numerous ADAPT actions, Arthur Campbell, Jr. feels his power as he sits
in
his
>50 pound wheelchair, blocking a 20 ton bus. The sign on his chair says,
"IF I
>CAN'T DO IT - IT'S NOT WORTH DOING."
>
>Arthur Campbell, and by extension most people with disabilities, don't
want
>sympathy, pity, or to be somebody's inspiration......Arthur wants the
same as
>others - respect, a meaningful life, the opportunity to work, love, good
>friends and family, and the means to get around. Arthur did something
about
>it!
>
>P.O.V., public television's annual award-winning showcase for
independent
non-
>fiction film, broadcasts IF I CAN'T DO IT nationally on Tuesday, July 7,
1998
>at 10 PM (EDT) on PBS (check local listings).
>
>Filmmaker Walter Brock hung out with ADAPT for development and filming
of
IF I
>CAN'T DO IT, so it seems like family movies of the movement. You'll
recognize
>familiar faces and voices of Mike Auberger, Bob Kafka, Stephanie Thomas,
Mark
>Johnson, Shel Trapp, Sue Davis (Arthur's sister), George Roberts, Jim
Parker,
>Cass Irvin and Mary Johnson.
>
>For the non-disabled majority culture, IF I CAN'T DO IT, provides a rare
port-
>of-entry into the disability rights movement. Mike Auberger, national
ADAPT
>organizer explains, "This is our story....ADAPT's story. The whole
story is
>Arthur Campbell's and his involvement in ADAPT's movement to change the
face
>of public transit, and how that changed his life.
>
>Arthur Campbell, born with cerebral palsy, spent his first 38 years at
home in
>an isolated cabin in the Kentucky mountains. Determined to leave home,
by
any

>means, he went on a hunger strike to push his parents into what he
thought was
>his only option - an institution. A hospital psychiatric evaluation
revealed
>he was perfectly capable of independent living. Arthur got his first
power
>chair, rented his first apartment, and began to shatter society's (and
his
own
>internalized) myths about people with severe disabilities.
>
>Arthur's maiden voyage into civil disobedience came with an ADAPT
training
and
>the now-famous direct action images etched into the souls of the
movement --
>McDonaldsx action that spurred inclusion people with disabilities in
>advertising; blocking buses, breaking through police lines, the crawl up
the
>Capitol steps and take-over of the Rotunda, to push for swift and
unamended
>passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) at the historic
WHEELS OF
>JUSTICE march and demonstrations in March of 1990.
>
>Rarely in the history of television, does a documentary capture the
authentic
>and true essence of the disability experience. IF I CAN'T DO IT is
must-see
>TV for people with (and without) disabilities. Most TV misses the REAL
news
>and issues about the lives, legislation, technology, organizing and
dreams of
>54 million citizens with disabilities. Your feedback about IF I CAN'T
DO IT
>is vital to encourage continued coverage of REAL disability issues.
Forward
>comments to 800/688-4768; pov(AT)pbs.org or send letters or video taped
comments
>to TALKING BACK; P.O. Box 750; Old Chelsea Station; New York, NY 10113.
>
>P.O.V. and the American Library Association are hosting community
screenings
>and discussions of Walter Brock's audacious IF I CAN'T DO IT in San
Diego &
>Whittier, CA; Nashville & Davidson County, TN; New Orleans; Cedar
Rapids;
>Wolf Point, MT; and Fredericksberg, VA. Check local libraries.
>
>Catch Walter Brock on Greg Smith's radio show, ON A ROLL, Sunday, July 5
and
>Mary Johnson's NEW YORK TIMES article. If you liked ITVS' WHEN BILLY
BROKE
>HIS HEAD...AND OTHER TALES OF WONDER (produced by Dave Simpson and Billy
>Golfus), and NPR's BEYOND AFFLICTION: THE DISABILITY HISTORY PROJECT
(produced
>by Laurie Block with Jay Allison), you won't want to miss IF I CAN'T DO
IT.
>This breakthrough documentary offers an unflinching and intensely
personal
>portrait of what it is like to have a significant disability, and
discover
>your own, and collective power to change the way the world perceives
you.
> # # # #
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>~~
>Address your e-mail to: cal-wild(AT)igc.org to send your message to the
list.
>List management questions contact Suzanne at Sclevine(AT)wvp.org
>

--------- End forwarded message ----------

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