At a Hands Off rally for people with Long Covid, Amanda Finley was filled with emotions. She talked about how devastated she was to lose people who had suffered from the condition and died due to a lack of support, and talked about how she, an Internal Revenue Service employee, had learned just on Friday that Reduction in Forces notices would be sent to her office. But she still chooses to have hope.
Amid a day of protests against the destruction unleashed by President Donald Trump, Finley likened the task ahead to a time when her hometown had been struck by a tornado. “We quickly realized there’s no such thing as rebuilding, it’s just building a new reality,” she said. “That’s exactly what we have to do now: build lives in a new reality.”
“There’s no such thing as rebuilding, it’s just building a new reality.”
Finley, who lives in Kansas City, Missouri, did not share her experience while standing in a crowd along sign-waving demonstrators. Instead, she was speaking at a virtual event she had begun organizing just three days ago—one of three online Hands Off protests put on to serve disabled and chronically ill people who find it more accessible to protest from home—if not from their beds. The Zoom calls provided a space for disabled people to come together, sit in solidarity, and discuss how cuts to and attacks on Medicaid, Social Security, disability education services, DEI, scientific research, and more impact them. The events drew such interest that two also set-up YouTube livestreams to accommodate demand.
In-person protests—with their noise, limited seating, and unmasked crowds—can be inaccessible to disabled people. While some may grimace at using Zoom for social activities, for many chronically ill and disabled people, having the platform continue to be available is a relief.
Marie Follayttar, a longtime organizer in Maine who is disabled by Long Covid and cancer, talked on the Long Covid call about how the Hands Off protests were taking place on the 48th anniversary of the start of what became known as the Section 504 sit-ins, a landmark series of protests urging enforcement of a federal law advancing disability rights. Follayttar noted that Section 504 is at risk today from a lawsuit from 17 Republican Attorneys General.
“There may come a time where we will have to take similar action and find ways to mobilize to make sure that we are seen,” Follayttar said. “We know we have to teach everyone how to include us.”
“I am haunted by the language of our new OMB director [Russell Vought], who said, ‘We need to go after the mandatory programs,’” Follayttar added, referring to Medicaid and social security.
At another Zoom Hands Off event hosted by disability-focused nonprofits 10 Minutes A Day and DIYabled, DIYabled founder Priya Ray argued that when organizing for change, it’s crucial to recognize that disabled people have different needs.
“We learn from each other how we accommodate other disabled people,” Ray said, in comments that were interpreted into American Sign Language and transcribed with live captioning. “Accommodating as many disabled people as we can is very important, because that makes the movement of disability much stronger.”
Dupree Edwards, a disability advocate, encouraged people on the video conference to contact their members of Congress, no matter their party. “Call your representatives and tell them…how your rights are being taken away,” Edwards said, “and we want to protect Medicaid and Social Security.” (On Friday, Senate Republicans passed a budget resolution that, according to the Medicare Rights Center, “sets the stage for significant” cuts that could imperil Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, and the Affordable Care Act.)
In light of the dismantling of Department of Education, Edwards cautioned that access to education for disabled people is under attack.
“We’re going to go back into institutions, back into segregation, back to where people with disabilities weren’t even welcome in the classroom,” she cautioned, explaining how programs and funding that can help disabled students go to school are being stripped away.
To highlight the stakes, Edwards got personal, explaining how those supports “made me into the person that I am today.”
