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July 2024 Newsletter
Issue #89
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Globally, an estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant disability. This represents 16% of the world’s population, or 1 in 6 of us. Disabled people are the world’s largest minority.
The global prevalence of persons with disabilities is increasing substantially. This is due to changes in the population such as aging and the global increase in chronic health conditions, as well as disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and conflicts.
80% of persons with disabilities live in
developing countries.
20% of the world’s poorest people have some kind of disability, and tend to be regarded in their own communities as the most disadvantaged.
Of the 195 countries of the world, just 45 have anti-discrimination and other disability-specific laws.
88% of disabilities are not visible.
26% of American adults, (approximately 67 million) have a disability and the majority live in
the South.
Types of disability in the U.S.:
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13.7% Mobility (~35 million people)
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10.8% Cognition (~28 million people)
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6.8% Independent living (~17 million people)
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5.9% Hearing (~15 million people)
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4.6% Vision (~12 million people)
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3.7% Self care (~9 million people)
Life Expectancy
Some persons with disabilities die up to 20 years earlier than those without disabilities.
Gender
1 in 4 American women has a disability.
Race
In the U.S., Black students with disabilities, make up about 19% of the those with disabilities but 36% of those suspended from school.
2 in 5 non-Hispanic American Indians and Alaska Natives have a disability, well exceeding the rate in the general population.
Health Care
Persons with disabilities have twice the risk of developing conditions such as depression, asthma, diabetes, stroke, obesity or poor oral health.
56% of physicians report that they welcome patients with disabilities to their practice; 36% say that they know “little or nothing” about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); and 41% are confident that they could provide similar quality of care to patients with disabilities as they could to those without disability.
Age
80% of people with disabilities are not born with them but acquire them between the ages of
18 and 64.
50% of all persons with a disability are age 65 and over, about 3 times larger than the share of those with no disability.
Employment
An estimated 386 million of the world’s working-age people have some kind of disability.
50% of people with a disability are likely to be unemployed.
In the U.S., the unemployment rate for people without disabilities is about 4%. For people with disabilities, it’s 7.3%.
Education
In developing countries, 90% of children with disabilities do not attend school.
American students with disabilities make up 11.7% of the school population, but 25% of those suspended, 23% of those expelled and 27% of those arrested at school.
In the U.S., 40% of allotted special education service time is either undelivered or unrecorded.
Transportation
Persons with disabilities find inaccessible and unaffordable transportation 15 times more difficult than for those without disabilities.
Only 2% of American transit buses are equipped with wheelchair ramps or lifts that allow for transportation when a disability is present.
Criminal Justice System
In the U.S., 32% of prisoners and 40% of jail inmates report at least one disability, which is 3 to 4 times the rate in the general population. 20% of prisoners and 30% of jail inmates report having a
cognitive disability.
Homes
Wheelchairs were invented nearly 500 years ago, but most homes today are built with doorways that are too narrow for them to pass through and are equipped with steps that can’t be navigated.
Restaurants
New restaurants in the U.S. only have to make 5% of their tables accessible to people with physical disabilities none are required to provide Braille or large print menus for customers with vision impairments.
Voting
In the U.S., 30% of voters with disabilities say that they experience some kind of difficulty in the voting process, compared to 8% of those without disabilities. The most common barrier is being able to see the ballot and understanding how to use the voting machines.
Violence
For every 1 child killed in warfare, 3 are injured and acquire a permanent form of disability.
Violence against children with disabilities occurs at annual rates at least 1.7 times greater than for their peers without disabilities.
Financial Impact
There could be a $10 return for each $1 spent on implementing disability inclusive prevention
and care.
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RespectAbility
A diverse, disability-led nonprofit that works to create systemic change in how society views and values people with disabilities. Advances policies and practices that empower people with disabilities to have a better future. Fights stigmas and advances opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community including:
- Entertainment and News Media – Increase diverse and authentic representation of disabled people in media so people with disabilities are seen for what they can do, instead of what they cannot.
- Leadership and Workforce Development – Enable diverse people with disabilities to participate fully in decision-making.
- Policy and Civic Engagement – Promote best practices in education, employment, entrepreneurship, civic engagement, and access.
- Faith Inclusion and Belonging – Ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities in faith-based communities.
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Trespass: Portraits of Unhoused Life, Love, and Understanding
By Kim Watson. Offers an honest and unflinching depiction of the beauty and humanity of the nearly 70,000 people unhoused in Los Angeles. Through profiles, essays, and black-and-white photography, sheds light on the complex situations that lead to homelessness, the individuals who struggle to rise out of it, and those who have resigned themselves to it. The portraits capture the hopes and demands of people in need of support and consideration. Dares readers to look inside themselves and confront their own biases as they consider the conditions of others. Read more.
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Blessed Are the Women: Naming & Reclaiming Women’s Stories from the Gospels
By Claire McKeever-Burgett. Combines the author's journey with the stories of ten remarkable women from Scripture. Through a blend of storytelling, poetry, and prayer, invites readers to reimagine worship, embrace women's narratives, and foster healing within themselves and their communities. It also provides liturgies for personal or communal use, discussion questions, and connections to organizations dedicated to women's empowerment and healing. Read more.
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Streets of Gold:
America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success
By Ran Abramitzky & Leah Boustan. Using tools of modern data analysis and pioneering research, provides evidence about the past and present of the "American Dream", debunking myths fostered by political opportunism and sentimentalized in family histories, and draws counterintuitive
conclusions regarding:
- Upward Mobility: Children of immigrants from nearly every country, especially those of poor immigrants, do better economically than children of U.S.-born residents – a pattern that has held for more than a century.
- Rapid Assimilation: Immigrants accused of lack of assimilation (such as Mexicans today and the Irish in the past) actually assimilate fastest.
- Improved Economy: Immigration changes the economy in unexpected positive ways and staves off the economic decline that is the consequence of an aging population.
- Helps U.S. Born: Closing the door to immigrants harms the economic prospects of the U.S.-born—the people politicians are trying to protect.
Using story-telling and research employing big data and algorithms, offers a new take on American history with surprising results, especially how comparable the “golden era” of immigration is to today, and why many current policy proposals are so misguided. Read more.
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Behind Our Walls
A documentary that tells the story of a small Midwestern college that gives prisoners an opportunity to earn a bachelor's degree -- treating them as human beings, working for restoration and giving them hope. Follows the journey of inmates as they overcome incredible odds to change their lives – and change the system. Watch the trailer.
For more on the Criminal Justice System,
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Center for Science in the Public Interest
Founded in 1971, the Center for Science in the Public Interest is an independent, science-based consumer advocacy organization with an agenda for improving the food system to support healthy. CSPI envisions a healthy population with reduced impact and burden of preventable diseases and an equitable food system that makes healthy, sustainable food accessible to all. Its values include independence, scientific rigor, and transparency. Learn more.
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World Bicycle Relief
A nonprofit organization that mobilizes individuals and communities through the power of bicycles -- a transport option that is affordable, safe, and meets the needs and preferences of rural communities around the globe. Helps people realize their goals by expanding opportunities to access education, markets, health facilities and vital services with the tool they need to thrive. Learn more.
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Earth Justice
One of the nation’s foremost nonprofit legal strategists for the environment. With over 200 full-time lawyers in 15 offices around the country, serving more than a thousand public-interest clients, Earth Justice works to protect people’s health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change.
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Understanding Imperiled Earth:
How Archaeology and Human History Can Inform Our Planet's Future
By Todd J. Braje. A unique introduction to how understanding archaeology can support modern-day sustainability efforts, from restoring forested land to developing fire management strategies. Meets the issues of climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, overfishing, and other threats head-on, presenting archaeology and history as critical guides to addressing the modern environmental crisis.
Reveals how the study of the ancient past can help build a more sustainable future. Covers a diverse array of interconnected issues, including:
- how modern humans have altered the natural world
- conservation work of Indigenous communities
- extinction of megafauna like dire wolves and woolly rhinoceros
- the risk of deforestation highlighted by Notre Dame's destruction
- the extinction crisis reflected by endangered bird species in Hawaii
- fish scarcity driving demand and price, like the single blue-fin tuna fish that sold for three million dollars
- importance of "action archaeology"
Shows that understanding how the planet used to be is fundamental to creating effective restoration efforts. Read more.
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The Catholic Case Against War:
A Brief Guide
By David Cochran. Demonstrates how the Catholic mantra “Never again war!” reflects a set of powerfully realistic teachings on war and peace. Compares two seemingly disparate lines of thought -- church teaching and researchers of armed conflict and finds a remarkable harmony between the two. Drawing on years of Vatican documents and papal statements, clearly presents the key elements of the Church’s case against war. The result is a look not only at the explicit moral case against war developed by the Vatican but also at its remarkable realism and relevance to world conflict today. Read more.
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Legal Defense Fund
A resource of the NAACP, the Legal Defense Fund is a legal organization fighting for racial justice. Using the power of law, narrative, research, and people, defends and advances the full dignity and citizenship of Black people in America. Its mission is transformative: to achieve racial justice, equality, and an inclusive society. Learn more.
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Keeping Christ’s Sacred Promise: A Pastoral Framework for Indigenous Ministry
A resource from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Following up on Catholic Native Peoples that was published in 1977, the Subcommittee on Native American Affairs, in dialogue with Indigenous Catholic leaders, addresses fundamental changes that have occurred as well as current realities and pastoral challenges to develop a path forward in this vital ministry. Read more.
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The History of Juneteenth
By Elliott Smith. A resource from Read Woke™ Books, explores Juneteenth's little-told history, from the first Jubilee to the making of a national holiday. Read Woke™ Books seeks to amplify the voices of people of the global majority (people who are of African, Arab, Asian, and Latin American descent and identify as not white) to provide information about groups that have been disenfranchised, sharing perspectives of people who have been underrepresented or oppressed, challenging social norms and disrupting the status quo and encouraging readers to take action in their community. Read more.
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Say Good: Speaking Across Hot Topics, Complex Relationships, and Tense Situations
By Ashlee Eiland. Helps readers discover the power of stewarding our unique voice when topics like political issues, theology, and current events so often divide. Through a four-part discernment process involving―passion, accountability, influence, and relationship―provides a way to understand the spaces, ways, and times when words are needed. Equips readers to:
- Find their voice in complex conversations
- Engage with diverse perspectives and bring about positive change
- Embrace authenticity and accountability
- Foster meaningful relationships
Contains practical insights, empowering action steps, and a solid framework for using one's voice with purpose and impact. Read more.
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The Solutionary Way:
Transform Your Life, Your Community,
and the World for the Better
By Zoe Weil. Forges a path away from polarization toward ethical problem solving and a more humane, equitable, and healthy society Provides clear, achievable methods to bridge divides, address the causes of seemingly intractable challenges, and create positive change. Grounded in evidence-based optimism and illustrated with dozens of real-world examples, offers:
- A guide to the primary components of a solutionary mindset―critical, systems, strategic, and creative thinking
- A comprehensive articulation of the solutionary framework (Identify, Investigate, Innovate, and Implement)
- An argument for the "MOGO" principle―to do the most good and least harm for people, animals, and the environment
- An overview of emerging solutions to a variety of systemic, rather than solitary, problems
- The personal benefits associated with becoming a solutionary, from a greater sense of purpose to deeper compassion and reduced feelings of apathy and isolation.
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Important Dates This Month
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Individuals Honored This Month |
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July 2nd
When you hate, the only person that suffers is you because most of the people you hate don't know it and the rest don't care.
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July 2nd
I wish I could say that racism and prejudice were only distant memories. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust…. We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice
but to do better.
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July 5th
The Gospel has to grow little feet.
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July 6th
Love is the absence of judgment.
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July 7th
Peasant people don't have a chance to share in the riches that the planet can offer because some people are taking off so much of the pleasures of this world, and there's only so much to go around.
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July 12th
When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.
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July 18th
No one is born hating another person because of skin color, background, or religion.
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July 25th
Two months ago I had a nice apartment in Chicago. I had a good job. I had a son. When something happened to the Negroes in the South I said, 'That's their business, not mine.' Now I know how wrong I was. I was. The murder of my son has shown me that what happens to any of us, anywhere in the world, had better be the business of us all.
Mamie Till, Emmett's mother
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