Disabled performers prove capable of filling various roles

Oscar-winning 1946 film "The Best Years of Our Lives" dramatized

the reality of soldiers returning from World War II.

(Movie Release Poster, Wikimedia Commons)

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In my last article, “Time to end ‘blackface’ practices toward disabled actors and characters,“ I introduced the fact that many producers don’t like to cast disabled actors, even when they would be playing disabled characters. That’s why a great many disabled characters are played by able-bodied actors. The official excuses generally involve money, and time, of course, which is the same as money in any business.

There are exceptions, of course. From the beginning of the series in 2000, Robert David Hall has played Dr. Al Robbins in “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (AKA “CSI: Las Vegas”). For a decade, Hall has been a stalwart member of a company of able-bodied actors, in spite of the fact that he walks on two prosthetic legs with the aid of a crutch.

In that time, Hall’s disability hasn’t prevented him from appearing as a guest on other shows and doing voiceover work as well. And he also serves as Chair of the Performers with Disabilities Committee. The group’s official name is Inclusion in the Arts & Media of People with Disabilities (I AM PWD), an activist organization within the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

The goal of I AM PWD is to promote employment of disabled people in all sectors of the arts and the media. In my limited experience, I’ve seen that there are some “good guys” in the industry willing to hire disabled performers. As a disabled person myself, I’ve taken particular note of movies and TV series that consistently include people with disabilities, whether the parts call for the characters to be disabled or the characters could be otherwise healthy but the actor happens to be disabled.

I was still pretty young when I saw William Wyler’s 1946 film, “The Best Years of Our Lives.” Harold Russell lost both hands in a TNT accident while training paratroopers at Camp McKall, NC. Wyler saw Russell in an army training film and hired him to play double amputee Homer Parrish in his landmark film. Russell won two Oscars for the role, the only actor ever to do so. One was for Best Supporting Actor, and the other va- for being an inspiration to all returning veterans.

Russell continued to act occasionally over the years, but his primary focus was the veterans support group he founded, AMVETS. In addition, the annual award presented by the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities is called the Harold Russell Medal.

In the late 1980s, two different TV series featured regular characters who happened to be disabled. For three years, undercover cop Vinnie Terranova depended on the wheelchair-bound communications engineer Daniel Benjamin “Lifeguard” Burroughs, played by real-life double amputee Jim Byrnes, in the crime drama “Wiseguy.” And Chris Burke’s Down syndrome was a vital part of the ongoing plot involving his character, Charles “Corky” Thacher, in the family drama “Life Goes On.”

Lifeguard’s disability was secondary to the character’s role, but the role of Corky helped educate viewers about the fact that people with certain disabilities are capable of many more activities than most people realize. The same was generally true of Geri Jewell’s recurring character of Geri Tyler, cousin of wealthy boarding house resident, Blair Warner, in “The Facts of Life.” Geri’s cerebral palsy was an occasional point of interest in the plots of the 12 episodes in which she appeared.

Finally, I was happy to note that when one of our favorite series, “Bones,” featured a character in a wheelchair, the actor is indeed a paraplegic. The chair’s presence was almost incidental to the plot, acting as a kind of shorthand to explain the shared history in the Kosovo conflict of Judge Hank Lutrell, played by Mitch Longley, who’s disabled in real life, and the main character of FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth.

Incidentally, Longley is another disabled person whose experience prompted him to become an activist. He combined his disability with his Native American background to found SOWOHO, Spirit of the Wounded Horse, Inc., an organization which helps underprivileged Native Americans with physical disabilities.

Besides the roles I’ve listed, all these actors have performed in both long-term and guest roles in many other productions. Jewell is also a standup comedian, as are several other people with CP, Hall is a musician and singer, Byrnes is a blues guitarist, and Longley is an accomplished singer. And though he’s primarily a musician, singer, and songwriter, Tom Sullivan has appeared in guest roles on many TV shows since the mid-‘70s.

And there’s one more spectacular example in John Hockenberry. The award-winning journalist has not only worked on several TV news and magazine programs over the years, he’s proved that even a newsman with a wheelchair can go get the stories in far-flung corners of the world.

These people with various types of disabilities are but a few of many examples that prove disabled people are capable of fulfilling the tasks of acting, playing music, singing, making people laugh, often about their own physical disabilities, and informing the public about world events.

On the other hand, there are too many examples of those who’ve portrayed people with various disabilities, in spite of the fact that they have no idea what it’s like to live with a disability. In my next article, I’ll expose some of these poseurs.

Time to end “blackface” practices toward disabled actors and characters

Shawn and Marlon Wayans defy tradition as a couple of "White Chicks"

(Movie Release Poster, Wikimedia Commons)

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"Blackface" is an old term, but one that many African-Americans still recognize, especially those active in civil rights. It comes from the minstrel shows of the 19th and early 20th centuries in which white musicians smeared their faces with black makeup, most commonly a substance made from burnt cork, to portray black characters.

This was just one way in which black people were demeaned in early theater and cinema. Another common practice was called "stepinfetchit." Black characters were portrayed as lower class: servants, blue-collar workers, or often people who were unemployed. Their actions were usually ridiculous, something considered at the time meant to be comical. In retrospect, these caricatures actually were demeaning and sad.

On the other hand, perhaps the most famous and common role in which white actors went blackface was when they portrayed Othello in the Shakespearean play of the same name. Only in the middle of the 20th century, when such gifted actors as James Earl Jones proved African-Americans are capable of learning the lines and playing the complex character of the Moor, did producers begin to depend on a pool of brilliant black actors for that and other classic roles of darker-skinned characters.

Now, in the 21st century, black characters run the gamut from street people to wealthy power brokers. And there's never a question that the actors playing those characters will themselves be black. No one would dare cast a white person in a role that required them to pile on dark makeup, unless it was part of a complicated storyline. For example, in the 1976 movie "Silver Streak," Gene Wilder did a successful comedy turn in blackface as he and Richard Pryor ran from the law on their way to saving "fair lady" Jill Clayburgh from "bad guy" Patrick McGoohan.

In fact, if turnabout is fair play, there have been several instances in which black actors have hidden behind white makeup. My first notice of Greg Morris' talented son, Phil, came when he played a cop who went undercover in whiteface on the daytime drama "The Young and the Restless." And Shawn and Marlon Wayans even portrayed a couple of black FBI agents who don white face paint to play a couple of "White Chicks." Why not?

Why not, indeed. Why, then, do entertainment companies not have the same respect for disabled actors? There are a few instances in which producers cast actors who actually have the disability that the character is supposed to have. But far more often, they recruit perfectly able-bodied people to portray characters with disabilities. Most of the time, they don't even bother interviewing actors who have those disabilities before they fill the roles with those able bodies.

The reasons they cite are many, but two prevail:

• They claim insurance costs for people with disabilities are too high, and they have to cut corners where they can.
• They claim disabled actors wouldn't be up to the task and would slow down production.

If that were so, then what do they have to say about those disabled actors who successfully fill the roles they have been given? Not only has their presence not raised costs, but they've generally received great reviews, not because of their disabilities but because of their professional contributions.

That's why one successful disabled actor has been fighting to improve the situation for other disabled actors. In my next entry, I'll discuss the reason Robert David Hall has dedicated his life to ending discrimination against disabled actors and other entertainment professionals.

And the winner is: Barack Obama Cat Jordan

Resting comfortably in the pictures from top to bottom are: Barack Obama Cat Jordan, Punkin Cat Jordan, and Ditto Cat Jordan.

I originally wrote this column in November 2008, when all the relevant facts were brand new. In the ensuing year and a half, we've had so much fun being a three-cat family again, after several years of being owned by only one, then two fur-babies, that I decided it was a good idea to update the details and introduce a growing circle of internet friends to our resident "fur-politician" and his "cabinet." Here's the story of how our current felines joined the family:

On Tuesday, November 4, 2008, a momentous election was held, and the winner, who is both black and white, is named Obama. I’m not talking about the historic election that swept the first biracial person into the highest office in the land. I’m talking about the informal straw poll that was taken in our backyard. The victor in that contest was a beautiful black-and-white tuxedo cat officially dubbed Barack Obama, in honor of the nation’s president-elect (at that moment).

The oldest member of our brood joined us in spring 2006. Six weeks after our beloved 15-year-old, Ray Lee, passed into the next plane, we went to the local shelter and connected with a huge long-haired black cat named Ditto, who proceeded to relish in the joy of an only cat for most of that year. Ditto was so spoiled that when we gave dinner to strays on the veranda--actually bowls of cat food on the concrete outside our back door--Ditto was not amused.

Sometime during the winter of 2006-7, a lively orange cat became a regular at the al fresco table. A cursory equipment check and a scrawny physique (the result of malnutrition) led us to believe the visitor was a girl. A vet later disabused us of that notion, and "she" underwent a psychological gender reassignment, becoming an official "he."

Despite Ditto’s objections, by summer 2007 we named the new cat Punkin and encouraged him to come inside often for respite from the desert sun, hiding him carefully when we could so he'd be safe from Ditto's wrath. When we left Arizona City for Casa Grande, Punkin made it clear that he had to come too, and he became a full-time member of the family from that evening on. For the next year, these two continued to "discuss" territorial issues in our new house, often with far more drama than necessary.

With their own version of homeland security, Ditto and Punkin chased away any animal that intruded into their new backyard. The most frequent scofflaws were a dark-gray cat that is almost Ditto’s size and the little tuxedo cat, who was not much more than a kitten in those days. The day before the 2008 presidential election, a neighbor asked us if the tuxedo was ours after he’d sneaked into their house, in spite of their dogs. At that time, I found him to be a featherweight. But we were sure our cats still wouldn’t accept him, so he was released with instructions to go home, wherever that was.

On Tuesday, November 4, 2008, Jim went to bed around 9:30 p.m. knowing the nation would soon have a leader with a Harvard law degree, but a small cry in the backyard led him to come out and lead me to the back door. When we opened it, this scrawny black-and-white cat sauntered in--smiling as broadly as a kitty can and followed by our two furry bouncers. Despite the fact that Ditto and Punkin can barely stand to be near each other, together they happily informed us that this new cat could stay.

So, it was official. Barack Obama received 100% of our popular and electoral votes. Our home is his domain, and we are his lackeys. If I open a can of cat food, our resident-elect is all ready to dig into the biggest bowl.

After a month of enjoying a regular diet and plenty of warm places to sleep, Obama had gained over two pounds--one-third of his previous body weight. His "gentleman’s equipment" (as Craig Ferguson is wont to say) is history, so there’ll be no little Baracks, but with good care and plenty of love, he has nothing to complain about.

Like his namesake, our Obama has brought peace and hope to warring factions. Despite their earlier animosity, Ditto and Punkin now tolerate each other--most of the time--and they’re absolutely gaga over their new little brother. Both of them will rub noses with him and even allow him to sniff their tails on occasion.

Obama brings vitality to the corps. When he says it’s time to play, somebody must join in the game. He loves string, and if nothing else, he can get a rise out of Punkin by taking a running leap over his brother’s orange head.

Like his brothers, Obama is extremely affectionate with mom and dad, and he quickly learned to relax and enjoy plenty of nap time, just like the other two. So, after several years of being a one- or two-cat household, we’re officially owned by three cats again. It's been over a decade since we’ve had that many cats. We can't imagine life without them. One or two should be enough, but somehow, they multiply--though they've all been "fixed." I don't know how, but it keeps happening that way.

And here’s a treat: Our cats are now on video. They’re the stars of the top three videos you’ll find listed on my YouTube page at:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=1lady4peace&aq=f

On Inauguration Day, all three fur-babies joined me to watch the human Barack Obama and Joe Biden take the helm and bring calm and vitality to our ailing nation. And since that day, we've all kept a close eye on their progress, to make sure everything continues to go as well as it can, considering the opposition that has been pitted against them.

Just as important, we know the rest of us have work to do as well. That’s the lesson we hope Americans finally understand. We can’t just depend on our elected officials to do everything for us, nor can we allow anyone to push legislation that serves small groups of people and harms the many. We must take responsibility ourselves, for ourselves and everyone else. It’s time to get on with it. There’s work to be done. That's why I'm writing this Peace Blog, my books, and everything else. We are the people; we are the government; we are members of society, of the human race, and that carries with it a responsibility--whether we like it or not. We have to start caring not just for ourselves and possibly just our closest kin and friends, but for everybody. That's how a world should work. That's how the world will work!

SAD UPDATE: On a hot day in August of 2011, Ditto developed a serious respiratory infection. Barely hours later, he died in the loving arms of his favorite ‘kitty-pediatrician.’

Comforted by the fact that his suffering was brief, we cherish the idea that if there is a heaven, Ditto will among the many feline-children whose love we,ve enjoyed over many decades. He’ll be the huge black kitty resting quietly in his favorite hidey-hole, waiting for chin bumps and several long minutes of comfy lap snuggles.


　
　
WEB EMAIL STILL INACTIVE: One issue still on my To-Do list is to bring my website email back to life. Now that we're nearing the end of our long Spring agenda, I should be able to tackle the issue by early June. When that miracle occurs, I will definitely post the Good News here. More reason to keep in touch. Hope and Love to all!

　
The World I Imagine: A creative manual for ending poverty and building peace and my historical mystery novel, Lion’s Pride, are available through your local bookstore. They are featured at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and most online bookstores around the world. Both are available for Kindle readers.

　 COMMENTS: The purpose of this blog is to share positive ideas for making changes that will help everyone, not just a narrow group of people. I’d love to hear more ideas for imprinting positive effects over a wide range of areas in our society.

Welcome to the Arizona Gestapo

As I begin this post, my TV is tuned to CNN so I can watch Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signing SB 1070 into law, giving law enforcement agents in the state the power to arrest anyone they suspect to be in the country illegally. Supporters say the law is necessary because of the violence of the Mexican cartels that is spilling over into our state. But one terrible reality is that this is going to make it easier for criminals to prey on otherwise law-abiding people whose only crime is that they don't have a green card. And because of the possibility of undue harassment, it will make a lot more people, especially Latinos, hesitate even more than in the past before they report a crime that's been committed against them.

When a Latino woman is raped, she's going to be even more afraid to report the crime now than she was before this law goes into effect. Even minor crimes are going to increase in immigrant communities, while any semblance of law enforcement will virtually disappear, because so many people will be afraid to report it to the authorities, if not for themselves, then at least for their friends and neighbors.

In fact, I know personally of at least one person, and possibly more, who work in a public service agency and have taken financial advantage of Latino clients, including a couple of friends of mine. Even though one of the victims I know is a citizen, born in Casa Grande (yes, we're part of the United States, albeit a mere 60 miles from the border!), the other is a legal immigrant who was raised in California and Arizona and has been married to a citizen for more than a decade. They're perfectly legal residents, yet they're still afraid to speak up for themselves, despite the fact that they know for sure that others like them have also been taken advantage of--all of them for several thousand dollars apiece, and all of them Hispanic, with at least one non-citizen in each family!

And remember, all this criminal activity committed against Latino victims took place a couple of years before SB 1070. This new law is just going to add a new layer of fear to all the residents of minority communities, even among people who are citizens or at least are in this country legally. Another effect will probably be a diaspora of workers out of Arizona, again, not all of whom are in this country illegally. In fact, Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico warned Brewer against signing the bill, in part because of the number of people who would flee her state and settle in his, just east of Arizona.

And if Arizonans think that's a good thing, they should look at the example of Prince William County, Virginia, which for a couple of months in 2007 had a similarly tough law to fight their "illegal problem." When all the Hispanics left the county as a result, the economic impact was immediate and widespread. That's why the law lasted only two months, taking an edge off the economic brunt of the legal battle that is also being threatened by activists here in Arizona.

It's interesting to note one more factor that's received bare mention during the runup to this bill becoming law: Anti-immigration laws are generally being passed and signed by members of the party that has vehemently opposed national legislation that would solve the immigration problem, illegal and otherwise. Republicans aren't willing to admit that the upper class that is their mainstay is the same class that makes illegal immigration possible and gets the most economic benefit from the practice. And as experiences in Prince William County and elsewhere demonstrate, the overall economic impact of immigrants, whether legal or otherwise, benefits everyone. Running all the Latinos out of town--or in the case of SB 1070, out of the state--is counterproductive to improving the economy during a severe recession.

And since one more argument for SB 1070 has been that state officials don't believe federal authorities are doing a good enough job harassing the Hispanic population, consider one more experience related to me by a couple of my Latino friends: The man was born in Mexico but raised in the states, his wife is a natural-born citizen whose parents were born in Mexico, and like their mother, both their children were born here in Arizona. The wife and kids all had their passports, and she had her Arizona commercial driver license, while the man had his Arizona commercial driver license, his green card, and a legally obtained visa for their trip to Mexico to visit his parents for several weeks.

On the way back to their home in Arizona, they were stopped by the Border Patrol and questioned. In spite of all the documentation that proved their legal status, they were held for over two hours and threats were made that they might not be able to stay together as a family. The wife told me later that she feared they could at least deport her husband and possibly even take away her children as well. In the end, the family were allowed to continue on their way, very much the worse for their experience!

If the immigrant-haters don't believe members of the Border Patrol are doing their job of harassing legal residents who "look like" "illegal" immigrants, they should take this story to heart. Instead, the state will have to cut even more money from "unnecessary" services like education and health care for poor children, because it's going to cost them a packet of money defending this immoral law in the federal courts!

Meanwhile, laws like SB 1070 just inspire me to keep writing about why we need to find win-win-win solutions to the situations that lead to such horrendous statutes. In the end, I always return to the premise that the root cause of all these problems is poverty. If we would do what is necessary to end poverty, not only in our country but throughout the world, poor people would not have to leave their home countries and move to places where they can earn enough money to buy the basic goods and services their families need to enjoy a dignified existence. In the long run, ending poverty would benefit us all. The only thing we need is the social, moral, and political will to accomplish the task. Until then, I'll keep on writing about the possibilities.

Happy Earth Day!

On this 40th anniversary of the celebration of our planet, I hope that everyone does only two small things:

• Pick at least one small habit you've been wanting to change in order to be just a bit greener than before and start making that change today!
• Make every day from this day forward Earth Day, and stick with that new good green habit you've just started working on for the rest of your life!
  

Repeat both of these steps on every single April 22 of your life, and one day you'll look at yourself and realize youve become a true "green god(dess)"!

It's the best gift we can give to ourselves and our home, Mother Earth!

Love and peace to all,
Debbie Jordan

One Good Thing . . .

Yes, when we do a small thing, take one tiny step, we never know where it will lead. That's why we must always be sure our actions are positive, and never be afraid to take them. Something that happened just this evening demonstrates that to me.

Late last year, I had a date to give my first speech in over a decade, my first ever on the subject of ending poverty in order to build a more peaceful society. I was delighted that I was going to discuss that uplifting subject at the December meeting of the Arizona Chapter of the Department of Peace Campaign in Scottsdale. A few days before the speech, my publicist, Babs Chandrasoma, emailed me to say a documentary filmmaker, Dafna Michaelson, wanted to interview me for her yearlong project, 50in52journey.com, when she came through Phoenix on December 2. What good fortune! That was the very day I was to go to the Phoenix area for my speech! God was certainly working overtime on my schedule!

But there was a small problem: Neither Dafna nor I had any idea where we could do the interview. It would have been too difficult for her to come all the way out to our home in Casa Grande, 60 miles south of the city, and since I rarely go to Phoenix, I didn't have a clue what was available there. So, I shot emails out to the people I know who know people, and I got two offers right away. One came from the man who serves as pastor of the nondenominational chapel at Sky Harbor Airport. Using a conference room in the chapel suite would certainly be convenient, since mine would be the first of several interviews Dafna had scheduled shortly after her plane landed. But the other offer from Caitlin Flaherty was even more intriguing.

As Executive Director of the AZDOP Campaign, Caitlin was the person who'd invited me to give the speech at their monthly meeting. Even better, her home is just a few minutes' drive from the airport, and she has a wonderfully peaceful backyard full of native desert plants. Caitlin generously offered the use of her backyard for my interview, so when you watch my interview, you're seeing Caitlin's garden behind me. But that's not the best part!

Just last evening, Caitlin sent me an email to show me the interview she did with Dafna via the internet! So, Caitlin's simple act of generosity led to one more chance for her to share the importance of making changes in ourselves in order to help make the world a better place. And don't forget, all this began with Caitlin's original offer for me to discuss my creative ideas for win-win-win solutions for the world's problems with the people in her group. Who knows what other wonderful developments will come from these small steps forward?!

One more good thing has come from Caitlin's generosity: I haven't posted anything on this blog since the middle of last year. That's because I spent so much of 2009 taking care of several unusual medical issues and focusing on my online column as Phoenix Progressive Examiner for Examiner.com. Now I'm past those medical details, but as an Examiner, I'm expected to concentrate on Arizona politics, which is such a negative topic these days. While I certainly have a lot to say about what's going on in the Grand Canyon State, I prefer to focus my energies on the positive aspects of looking for those aforementioned solutions, rather than just complaining about all the problems that seem to get worse every time the politicians get involved.

And one more thing I didn't do last year that I must take care of this year: I am determined to finish writing my second peace book, Keep on Imagining: Spreading the wings of peace. That's why I've decided to make this blog my primary focus from now on. It will help me to keep my spirits up, share my hope and ideas for building a better world, and publish that next book by the end of 2010.

So, come back often, and tell your friends about me! I'll be here often!

Love and peace to all,
Debbie Jordan

August this year will be busy for me, both in my work and my personal life:

On the morning of Thursday, August 13th, the Casa Grande Mayor's Committee on Disability Issues will be reconvening after the summer break. I've been on the Committee since early this year, and hope to convey the message that the struggle for rights for disabled people should include people with all manner of physical and mental conditions.

The evening of Thursday, August 13, will mark the first meeting of PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) in Casa Grande, at 7:00 p.m. at St. Michael and All Angels Liberal Catholic Cathedral, 545 E. Palm Parke Blvd., Casa Grande, AZ 85122. This will be the second support group for members of the LGBT and their loved ones in the Casa Grande/Pinal County area. The first is Central Arizona Rainbow Equality (C.A.R.E.), which meets at the Signal Peak Library of Central Arizona College in Coolidge.

Thanks to founding member and past president of C.A.R.E., Christopher Hall, and the other members of C.A.R.E., PFLAG, and members of St. Michael's, September 26 will be the date for the second Gay Pride event in Casa Grande this year, Casa Grande Gay Day. (More about that in this space later. Promise!) We should also recognize The Very Reverend Mother Maria C. "Sally" Jose, Pastor of St. Michael's and Vicar General of the Liberal Catholic Diocese of Arizona; The Reverend Gilda Eakin, Deacon and Youth Pastor of St. Michael's; and The Most Reverend Bennett D.D. Burke, Pastor of Our Lady of Peace and Hope, Mission of the Liberal Catholic Church in Tucson, and Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Diocese of Arizona. All of these people have worked tirelessly to advance the support network and services for members of the LGBT community and their loved ones in Pinal and Pima Counties, especially Casa Grande, Coolidge, Florence, and Tucson, Arizona.

And once I get to that first PFLAG meeting, I'm looking forward to meeting people from PFLAG Phoenix, as well as more people right here in our local community of Casa Grande who are also laboring to make the world a better place for everyone by standing up for civil rights for all.

On the personal side, August will mark the beginning of my ability to see better. I'll have my first cataract surgery on my right eye on Thursday, August 20th. I'm not sure how soon after that they'll do the left eye, but they promise I'll be able to see what I'm writing on my computer screen, read the crawl on the TV news stations so I can keep up with what's going on in the world, and even see the baseball scores on TV! Now, if the Diamondbacks will just start winning every game for the rest of the season--and the Dodgers and all those other teams in the NL West croak, we can enjoy another fantastic World Series in October! It could happen!

Love and peace to all,
Debbie Jordan