Stop… and Rail Against Stigma!

“Stop,” a poem about the damage of negative stigma for Autistic people and those who love and support them, was originally published here, and was written in memory of Alex Spourdalakis… and far too many others…

I am ready for the day when social justice and human rights are extended to every person and this poem becomes an archaic relic from an ableist past…  I believe we will get there!

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Stop
 
These words of tragedy
Emblazoned on notepads and billboards
This epidemic of dehumanization
This narrowed definition of being
Twisted finer and thinner
So that it lacks any sensitivity
So that the words themselves are
A garrote
Cutting into flesh and spirit
 
Stop
 
When words and stance 
are played out deftly
to define other as less
to define different as solely deficit
and are used to silence
This – THIS – is the tragedy
 
Stop
 
My child is burdened with these words
That exclude
And distance
And define other as broken
And are shaped with intent to siphon fear
alchemy-like into big business’ pocketbooks
Words seeded and hooked with the bait of crisis
So the fund$ continue to be reeled in
 
Stop
 
Those who are on your hook
Who take up your fear-filled bait
Feeding hungrily on your emptiness
Your mean lies
They are left empty
And hopeless
Seeing only unmet potential
Instead of the beauty of diversity
This – THIS – breaks this mother’s heart
but at the same time, strengthens her resolve

Stop 

When difference is framed in fear
To stir activity
A call to action
To shore the millions needed to fund
your oft’ wanton cure
And at the same time silences those
for whom they claim to speak
This is not charity
 
Stop
 
The stance of stigma
Whose twisted legacy
Is used justify the pain
The othering
The silencing
The disappearing
The murder
Of people
Like those whom I love best
 
Stop!

             Leah Kelley ~ June 2013

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We need to rail against stigma… Please find out more about #posAutive Action for Social Justice at BoycottAutismSpeaks.com

 

Related Posts:

http://www.autistichoya.com/2012/04/stop-killing-us.html

http://www.mmonjejr.com/2013/06/his-name-was-alex-spourdalakis.html

http://ravenswingpoetry.com/2013/06/17/rachels-lament-for-alex-spourdalakis/

http://mamabegood.blogspot.ca/2013/06/when-autistic-child-is-killed.html

http://blogs.redorbit.com/it-takes-a-village-to-kill-a-child/

https://ollibean.com/2012/09/01/a-poem-about-pain/

http://indigowombat.tumblr.com/post/52745911873/the-list-grows-longer

http://emmashopebook.com/2013/06/12/but-what-about-alex/

http://paulacdurbinwestbyautisticblog.blogspot.ca/2013/06/alex-spourdalakis-murder-in-memoriam.html

 

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This post is participating in the I am NOT Kelli Stapleton: Walk in Issy’s Shoes Fashblog – Click here to participate or to read other submissions.

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30 Days of Autism is a project designed to fight stigma, promote civil rights, and increase understanding and acceptance for those who process and experience the world differently.

© Leah Kelley, Thirty Days of Autism (2014)