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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-10-26 Correspondence - Disability Rights MT - Before There Was a MovementFrom:Disability Rights Montana - Growth Rings To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]Before There Was a Movement Date:Monday, August 10, 2026 7:32:41 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Every paid subscription supports Disability Rights Montana’s work across Montana. Federal funding is nowhere near sufficient to meet the advocacy and culture change work that is needed. You can help fund the future you want to see! Before There Was a Movement Every movement begins the same way: people realizing they are notalone. READ IN APP Man summer is slipping by fast! All summer, Disability Rights Montana staff and I have been traveling the state showing a movie about a summer camp for kids with disabilities. I have been thinking lately about summer camps, like the one on Flathead I got to go to in the 80s. They are one of those rare places in our culture where we first get to come to understand ourselves as individuals separate from our family and friends back AUG 10 Why We Need Places Like Camp home in our own houses, schools, and towns. Not what’s your favorite color. Not what job you want. Not even what political beliefs you hold. I mean something deeper. How do people come to understand who they are? Most of us like to imagine identity as something we discover on our own. We picture someone sitting quietly with their thoughts, eventually arriving at some profound understanding of themselves. But in my experience, that isn’t usually how it happens. We learn who we are through other people. But not always the people we know best and the people who know us best. But when we get outside our comfort zone. When we have to simultaneously adapt to new environments and people and also shape those spaces and relationships to meet our needs. A young musician discovers herself through other musicians. A hunter learns from other hunters. An artist learns from other artists. A pastor learns from other pastors. And disabled people often discover who they are through other disabled people. That may sound obvious, but it is actually surprisingly rare. Many disabled people grow up as the only disabled person in their classroom. Sometimes they are the only disabled person in their workplace. Sometimes they are the only disabled person they know well. It is possible to spend years, even decades, navigating the world as a disabled person without ever really experiencing disability as a community. What you experience instead is disability as a personal challenge, a diagnosis, a service category, a problem to solve, or a collection of accommodations. When disability is filtered entirely through the experiences of non-disabled people, it can be difficult to imagine disability as a culture, a community, or a source of shared understanding and strength. Sometime, that’s all we get for a long time in our lives. Then something happens. You meet other disabled people. You hear stories that sound strangely familiar. You find yourself laughing at jokes nobody else seems to get. Or maybe they do laugh but too hard, for the wrong reasons. You discover experiences you thought were uniquely yours are actually widely shared. You begin to understand that disability is not only something you have. It is also something you belong to. That is one of the reasons I find Crip Camp so powerful. The movie is often described as a documentary about the disability rights movement. It is certainly that. But I think it is also a documentary about what happens when people find one another. Before there were protests, lawsuits, policy reforms, and civil rights victories, there were relationships. There was a place where disabled young people could gather. A place where they could compare notes. A place where they could imagine bigger lives for themselves. A place where they could learn that many of the barriers they faced were not personal failures, but shared experiences. Once people understand that they are not alone, interesting things happen. Sometimes they build friendships. Sometimes they find support. Sometimes they discover confidence. Sometimes they build movements. The disability rights movement did not emerge because a group of people woke up one morning and decided to start a movement. It emerged because people found one another first. And it is still happening today. Every time disabled people gather, whether in a support group, a conference room, a community center, an online discussion, or a movie theater, there is a possibility for that same discovery. Someone may realize they are not the only person asking a particular question. Someone may hear a story that changes how they understand themselves. Someone may find a community they did not know existed. That is why I am excited that Disability Rights Montana is working with other disability-led organizations around the state to bring this movie to communities across Montana. If you are in Bozeman, you can see it tonight at the Rialto and if you are in Helena, you can see it next week at the Myrna Loy. The film is remarkable in its own right. But as good as the movie is, I am even more interested in the conversation that follows. Because all movies end. Even The NeverEnding Story. Apparently twice. But when a good movie ends, they spark conversations. Conversations with your friends, your partner, your co-workers. They can, at their best, even shape community-wide conversations. We are going to have such a community conversation and we think Crip Camp is a great way to spark that conversation. And sometimes the most important thing a person takes away from an event is not what was on the screen. It is the realization that there are other people in the room who understand something about their experience. If you have never seen Crip Camp, I hope you’ll join us, either tonight at 6:00 PM at the Rialto in Bozeman or next week in Helena on August 18th at 7:00 at the Myrna Loy. If you’ve already seen it, bring someone who hasn’t and enjoy watching them discover why so many people consider it essential disability culture. Reserve your free ticket today! As we prepare for September which is Suicide Prevention Month, we are asking Montanans to share their experiences with mental health services, supports, and community resources. We want to hear what helped, what barriers you encountered, and what changes Help Us Improve Mental HealthServices in Montana would make services easier to access in your community. The people closest to a system often understand it best. Help us fix MT's Mental Health Services Mental health crises are less likely to happen when people can access services they want, in the communities where they live, before a crisis occurs. Your input will help us better understand what that looks like for Montanans across the state. I hope to see you at the Myrna Loy and look forward to reading your thoughts about Montana’s mental health services, David David Carlson Executive Director Disability Rights Montana You’re currently a free subscriber to Life Beyond Compliance. Upgrading to paid subscriptions supports Disability Rights Montana’s work across Montana. Federal funding is no where near sufficient to meet the advocacy and culture change work that is needed. You can help fund the future you want to see! Upgrade to paid LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Disability Rights Montana1022 Chestnut Street, Helena, MT 59601 Unsubscribe