Community Begins With Communication

Friday, December 17th, 2010

It is with great excitement to be coming into the World’s consciousness. Larry and I just came home to the bright white of Vermont. The neon lights of Vegas do not even highlight our message of the presumption of competence as brightly as the white smiles of fans who cheered us along the roads of Denver. I had the responsibility of sharing our message with the fans of the mountainous city of Denver. Larry spoke the language of poetry while I spoke the language of self advocacy.

I love that looking through the lens of different social networks sparks new ideas regarding what it means to be free. In Denver, the people live like life is a gift not a struggle to run from. Life is what people make it but without community it is dark and dismal. I have to tell you the path to my present success has been populated with disappointment. I have struggled like I can not talk about without losing control of my anxiety. Harvey and Pascal have seen Larry and I in the worst situations. They have remained our friends in the most dire times encouraging us to find our passion.

The community begins with communication. Friends create safety for the expression of intelligent thoughts. The circle grows with every interaction until the community becomes educated in the presumption of competence. The responsibility lies in the fingers of these intelligent folks who you have come to know as the wise travelers of intelligence. I have seen our work valued by the Vermont community. I discovered the real people who respect my work. I like my passion for politics all the more now that my community is open to listening to my voice. I need to let the politicians see the value of community services. Without my current services, I dread what I would be doing…spinning out of control. It costs more to deal with the crisis that is sure to come without community services.

Encourage your politicians to host a screening of the movie. It is the work we have been given by the Gods to make the world understand how important community is to those who have been born into the silence. The Buddhists understand that people have worth, as they are, without trying to force their own beliefs upon us. I hope that communities everywhere will understand our need for connection, community and friendship. Without networking, our lives become chaos. Our politicians need to know the importance of community services in our lives. Take our message to your State House please. We need your voice. Please come together right now.

The Beatles sang our music long before J. Ralph but the social movement has changed to the final necessary movement of freeing us poor wretches from the bondage of going unnoticed. Look into our humanity. Deeply look in our faces, look in our eyes, look to our struggling bodies to see that we have intelligent words trapped inside. We need those community supports to survive. Let’s stand strong in united faith to change the World. Let’s go to the White House lawn to stand up for inclusion.

See you in Houston, where Larry and I will talk to our Jewish friends regarding inclusion.

-Tracy

Embracing Difference…It’s Time!

Monday, December 13th, 2010

Wretches & Jabberers is primarily about the presumption of competence. It focuses on how communication, when done well, opens up the world of opportunity for people who have challenges with traditional modes of communication. The film presents the knowledge intelligently, humorously and at times sadly to the uninformed. It is the tool we use to educate the unsuspecting that people need respect to live.

I think the film will shift perspectives from years of discrimination to understanding the importance of presuming competence for the disabled community. The term “disabled” needs to go away. People have to know that we are in this together. “Come together right now” is the Beatles way of telling us to go in peace to acceptance of our neighbors.

I see the film as the changing place in society’s knowledge of what it is to be discriminated against. The social movement has begun. Let’s keep it going until the myths of empty heads in our midst are dispelled. It is vital that we keep the consciousness and momentum going full speed ahead. Let’s set this train down the right tracks. Larry will toot his poetic horn and together he and I will get you and the world on the train of understanding that we all need respect to be the best people we want to be.

-Tracy

Help Me to Fan the Flames on the Torch of Change

Friday, December 3rd, 2010

It is with great excitement that I blog to the world today. To think how much my life has evolved from the lonely man of just a year ago to one who is spending my days involved in the community in meaningful ways. I reunited with my best friend, Kyle Moriarty, yesterday. I was nervous that he might believe I had forgotten him but was pleasantly comfortable typing once he broke the tension by understanding that staff turnover prevented our conversations from flowing like good friendships should. It is vital for people to connect with new and old friends consistently.

To be in relationships feeds the mind and soul of people. Kyle has come very far since he began typing to communicate eight years ago. Together, he and his assistant, Peggy, have built a foundation that is solid. It is critical to maintain this foundation to keep Kyle involved in his community. Just like Harvey and I built my foundation…which has tended to crumble when people do not practice the maintenance like good groundskeepers.

A garden needs good tending to thrive and grow. Together, Kyle and I lit the torch of change when we met yesterday. We request your help to fan it and tend it to keep it burning brightly to kill the notion that our disability defines us. I have been rebuilding my foundation one brick at a time. I need lots of mortar to hold this house of communication firmly together so we can tear down the old structures of discrimination, getting rid of decaying thinking and building temples of peace and understanding.

The word “disability” needs to be flushed from the minds of peaceful society. We are not lacking in ability, just lacking the tools to build strong, lasting through the years foundations. Please join us in your community to make the world shine with peace. I will be bringing my candle to Denver lets fuel it with positive thinking to the torch of hope for a brighter tomorrow for the children of the future. I think it is the best I can do.

-Tracy