43 years ago on a warm summer evening my parents sent me along with my older brother and younger sister a few blocks away to the Anderson Avenue trolley stop to meet a man by the name of Henry Varlack and walk him to our home for dinner. Henry Varlack was a radio announcer on WFLN a classical radio station in Philadelphia. A seemingly minor task that still stays with me 43 years later. I don’t even know if my siblings recollect this. I’ll send them this link and see what they say.

Henry was an African American.

We lived in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, at the time an all white suburban community.

My parents message still resonates with me. The gist of it was they wanted us to meet and walk with him not only to show him where we lived but so people could see that he was with people “who belonged”. I was too young at the time to entirely grasp that but as I grew older I got it. At that time in America a African American did not belong in a white suburban community.

This was only one of many instances of how our parents exposed us to inclusivity, diversity and that prejudice was wrong. A couple years later in 1967 we were living in the heart of urban Philadelphia. What a dynamic time to be a kid in a major urban center in a country coming out of a civil rights movement into an anti-war movement. It was’nt all gumdrops and lollipops and we didn’t live perfect idyllic lives but oh what a strange trip it was …

Today Barack Obama an African American man took the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States of America. So many American’s laid the groundwork for this to happen. As I watched the inauguration ceremonies on my computer at work today I was moved by the sea of humanity spread across the mall. Countless faces “who belonged”. So many historic figures have laid the ground work for this to come to pass. So did many ordinary Americans including my parents who did their part and I am thankful.

I wish my father had lived to see this historic time come to pass so I could share this with him. I learned from some googling that Henry Varlack passed away in 2006 at the age of 65. My mother who is going strong up in New Hampshire is having an inauguration party at her home tonight!! You go girl!!!!

There is so much work to be done so people in the disabilities community can join the “who belong”. People with disabilities belong in the community as our neighbors, as patrons in our libraries, as customers in our businesses, in jobs as our co-workers, in schools as classmates. What a great opportunity we have ahead of us to build on the hard work of those who came before us.

“Teach your children what you believe in. Make a world that we can live in.”
-excerpt from “Teach Your Children”, Crosby Stills Nash Young

I’m a fan of great analogies that speak the truth. I came across this article today. Follow the more link to read the entire piece.

The Prenatal Extermination of Children With Down Syndrome
BY KURT KONDRICH

Recently I read an article about how scientists are going to use an outer space satellite to monitor the kangaroo rat which is an endangered species. The article states: “It allows us to more quickly recognize whether populations are declining where we want them to exist. “If they go below a threshold, that is when we would consider intervening.” I have a beautiful five-year-old daughter Chloe who has Down Syndrome, and she has brought immeasurable good and light into the world. Because of the refining of and increase in prenatal testing children with Down Syndrome are also an endangered species with a 90%+ abortion rate once identified in the womb. Chloe’s unique human species could very well become extinct in another generation if attitudes are not changed … more