10 Jul 2010, 9:05 am
A speech I wrote for Disability.gov blog for 100 days to ADA at my internship with Special Olympics Project UNIFY.
We are here today to celebrate many great achievements. Achievements of many individuals who have decided stand up for one belief. That one belief is acceptance. Acceptance was the very idea of one individual born on this day in 1921. That individual was Eunice Kennedy Shriver. She not only gave all people with disabilities a dream, but a reality. The dream of being accepted and treated as equals by all Americans. The dream to compete in sports like their peers. The dream to be able to earn the many things that people with disabilities were denied in the first place. That dream became a reality. That reality is Special Olympics.
Special Olympics has led to as many great events and achievements in the lives it has touched. It has led a global movement of acceptance and unity. It has led governments to pass legislation for people with disabilities such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. Special Olympics is more than a non-profit organization. It is the world as it should be, full of acceptance, respect and unity. We would not be here with a better understanding of disabilities if was not for Eunice Kennedy Shriver and her dream. She is the person who has inspired millions of people to bring forth change in society. She is the person who believed that all people with and without disabilities can live together. She is the person who changed the hearts of millions to understand the abilities of those people with disabilities. If it were not for her hard work and dedicated effort, many things would be different today.
It is sad that she no longer with us. However, she is in the hearts and spirit of every individual she has touched. For within us, we are all Special Olympics athletes. For within us, we are all united. For within us, we are able to make change in everyone’s lives. If it were not for you, many of us would be looked down upon as outcasts of society. We miss you dearly but we will continue on your legacy for generations to come around the globe. Through the handing off of the Flame of Hope, volunteering, competing, and coaching, we will carry on your legacy, Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
17 Jul 2010, 12:07 pm
