National Suicide Prevention Week runs from Sept. 8–14 to raise awareness about suicide and the resources available to help those struggling with mental health crises. However, certain demographics seem to consistently slip through the cracks of mental health education, advocacy and care. People of color in the United States suffer…
Tag: Disability
Delta and SkyWest Airlines Apologize for Treatment of Man With Autism on Flight
Delta and SkyWest Air Lines have issued an apology to the Isola family who say they were mistreated when they tried to make sure their son with autism could sit beside a family member during a recent flight. In a Facebook post now shared by over 6,000 people, Ayo Isola…
New York State Expands Workplace Harassment Laws
New York State legislators are heading toward the forefront of cracking down on workplace sexual harassment. They ended their 2019 session passing a plethora of expansions to the state’s existing workplace discrimination laws. Most notably, they removed the requirement for the harassment to be “severe or pervasive” in order for…
Los Angeles Off-Duty Police Officer Killed Non-Verbal Disabled Man and Parents
The Los Angeles Police Department is staying silent about an off-duty police officer that shot and killed a “non-violent, non-aggressive, non-verbal” disabled man, 32-year-old Kenneth French. The officer also found it necessary to shoot both of the victim’s parents as well. French’s parents, Russell and Paola French, were still in an…
Los Angeles Off-Duty Police Officer Killed Non-Verbal Disabled Man, Injured Parents
The Los Angeles Police Department is staying silent about an off-duty police officer that shot and killed a “non-violent, non-aggressive, non-verbal” disabled man, 32-year-old Kenneth French. The officer also found it necessary to shoot both of the victim’s parents as well. French’s parents, Russell and Paola French, were still in an…
Mentally Disabled Man Terrill Thomas Died of Dehydration in Jail, Family Awarded $6.75 Million
Terrill Thomas, who was only 38 years old, begged for water for days after Officer James Ramsey-Guy shut off all water to his cell, as ordered by Lt. Kashka Meadors of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office. But the water was never to come. Thomas, who was mentally disabled, died of…
Opinion: College Admission Scandal Compromises Students With Disabilities
I have ADD and as a mother of a child who was diagnosed at the age of 10 with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), it’s difficult to fathom that parents would lie about their children having a disability in order to get them into college. And…
Philly Starbucks Offers $5 Apology for Bigoted Barista Mocking of a Customer's Disability
A tone-deaf apology, a PR campaign with a commercial name-dropping a celebrity, a one-day training, a chairman steps down and here Starbucks is none the wiser. Sam, a UPenn doctoral at the Wharton School, was getting iced coffee and stuttered when the Starbucks barista at the Walnut and 34th Streets…
White Racists Use Intimidation for Years to Beat Black Employee with Disability into Slavery
Bobby Paul Edwards, 53, who was charged with slavery, assault and battery, false imprisonment, Fair Labor violations and discriminations against John Christopher Smith, a Black employee with intellectual disabilities at J&J Cafeteria in Myrtle Beach, S.C., plead guilty on Monday. Edwards, Smith’s manager and brother of the business owner Edward…
Runner with Cerebral Palsy Gets Lapped in Court
An Illinois high school senior is fighting to make his lifelong dream a reality, but this track star has one major hurdle to jump over. Aaron Holzmueller, of Evanston Township High School, is challenging the Illinois High School Association upon its decision to not implement a category that would allow…