Hi everyone! I wanted to share the remarks I gave to the Los Angeles/Orange County Local Leadership Training on September 24th. It lets you know how proud I am of all of our buddies, peer buddies, advisors and administration personnel for being a part of Best Buddies CA.
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Mario Savio
Martin Luther King and Medger Evers
Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan
The Chicago Seven
Frank Kamenny, Mark Segal and Rev. Troy Perry
Denis Hayes and John Muir
All of these people led social movements, most of them just in the last 50 years - all of them fighting for equal justice and a more humane and balanced society.
Free speech, voting and civil rights, feminism, peace movement, gay and lesbian rights and the environment - all of this happened in my lifetime. When I was a kid, African Americans still attended separate schools and rode in the back of the bus. Most women didn’t work, or they worked in jobs specifically targeted for women. Gays were in the closet or in jail and no one thought about the environment. But it all changed when I got to college. Everyone was protesting – arguing for free speech, the right to march, taking over entire campuses. Anti-Vietnam protests, black power, freedom marches across the south and the right to vote; the birth of feminism and gay rights.
As we know today, 50 years later - social movements do make a difference. They do create change. Today, we have an African American President; women run some of the country’s largest corporations; most Americans accept global warming as a scientific fact, and gays and lesbians serve in the congress, state and city governments all over the country, and finally, as of a few days ago can now serve openly in the military.
Social movements do make a difference. And you don’t have to have campus wide sit-ins, or burn your bra, or march on Washington! Sometimes, all you have to do is make a friend and honor that friendship. For, make no mistake, Best Buddies is part of a social movement and you, my friends, are agents of social change.
Each action has a consequence, not just on you, but on the people around you. When you have a friend with an intellectual or developmental disability, you are sending a message that your friend is no different, no less than, and no less deserving of love and respect than you are. That’s a powerful message. With all the earlier social movements, despite the marches, the sit-ins and protests, it was the person hiring an African American or woman; the person having a gay or lesbian friend, or the person recycling their trash who was really creating change. Once others started to take note, the fear went out of the change. That’s what you’re doing. Taking fear out of change.
But, friendships aren’t the only thing that will get us to a society where individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are fully accepted. Why do you think people go to church instead of worshiping at home? Why do you think we have labor unions? Why do we have Best Buddies Chapters?
Because in union there is strength. When we worship, or protest, or act together, we are bigger, stronger and louder than if we do it alone. That’s why there’s a Best Buddies International and that’s why there’s a Best Buddies California. Because, together, we are bigger, stronger and louder than if we act alone.
Best buddies California can only be as big, as strong and as loud as you make us. And, sometimes we have to be very big, strong and loud – to raise money to support and expand our programs, to attract powerful new supporters, to make a splash so that people pay attention and hear our mission. Without you, we’re only 9 people in a state with 35,484,453 people. But, with you, we represent tomorrow’s leaders all over the state – and not just you, but your school mates and friends, your administration, your parents and their friends, and your communities. And, that’s a pretty big group.
So, please, whenever you hear from Jessica, Shelly, Andrea, David or me, listen up! If we ask for your help, if we ask you to post, to send, to speak - please help. We wouldn’t ask if we didn’t need you.
A final note: my beloved mother passed away at age 88 in July. Although she loved me regardless of what I did, she was most proud that I’ve devoted the last 18 years of my career to working at non-profit organizations. She always wanted to know the cause, she wanted to get educated, and she’d even start making donations. So, make sure your parents know what you’re doing with Best Buddies CA. Tell them why it’s important and why it’s important to you. Involve them in your chapters and in the Best Buddies CA fundraising activities like the Friendship Walks. They may not tell you, but I guarantee, they’ll be proud of what you’re doing.
So thank you for being here today, for giving up part of your Saturday. It tells us that you’re serious about this and committed to your chapter being the very best it can be. I predict great things from you and I look forward to seeing you again throughout the year. Thank you.
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