Today, September 21, is considered the National Day of Struggle for People with Disabilities. A moment to remember our achievements as a movement, but above all to reflect on the challenges and obstacles we have faced in guaranteeing our rights in recent years.
Besides coinciding with the start of spring, the date was chosen in 1982 and, what many people do not know is that it has its roots in the student movement during the military dictatorship. This is because the story is linked to a young engineering student in Recife named Cândido Pinto de Melo. A member of the UEP – Union of Students of Pernambuco, an organization banned by the dictatorship, Cândido was the victim of an attack on April 29, 1969, being shot in the spine, which caused a spinal cord injury.
Years later, he became one of the main activists and founders of the Movement for the Rights of Disabled Persons – MDPD, a group organized by people with disabilities in 1979. Today, according to the latest IBGE Census (2010), Brazil has about 45 million people with disabilities who still mobilize to maintain social and political participation, in addition to defending the sovereignty of the laws that protect this segment of the population.
We at VNDI understand the importance of the efforts of those who came before, paving the way with their strength, so that today we can continue building a new phase that is more plural, diverse and leaves no one behind.
We know that without an intersectional look at the experience of people with disabilities it will be impossible to perceive the dimension of the experiences with race, social class, gender and sexuality in everyday life with a disability. Whether in the obstacles to accessing health, education and work. Whether in the recognition of our values, in self-esteem and personal confidence.
Today is a day of struggle, memory and pride. Happy National Day of Struggle for People with Disabilities
Credits: Fatine
