Bob Lugano, featured in Sundance Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated documentary Murderball, and Empowered Fe Fes will talk over lunch.
CHICAGO – On Friday, June 30, the Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Access Living will host “Beyond the Ramp: A Conversation with Disability Activists about Access to Power.” From 12:00 to 1:30 P.M. on June 30 in the Garland Room at the Cultural Center Bob Lugano, world-class Quad Rugby athlete featured in the Sundance Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated documentary Murderball, will be joined by members of the Empowered Fe Fes, a diverse group of young Chicagoan women with various disabilities. Speakers will explore questions such as: how can we as a society move “beyond the ramp” and envision a more socially just and inclusive world where accessibility includes jobs, housing, transportation, public places, decent healthcare and access to power?
This program is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. Reservations are required and can be made at info@thepublicsquare.org or 312.422.5580. Please specify “Beyond the Ramp.” Lunch will be provided courtesy of A La Carte, Inc.
The Empowered Fe Fes is a diverse group of 12 young female Chicagoans with disabilities. Recently the group produced a documentary called Beyond Disability: The Fe Fe Stories. This 26 minute film explores their lives with gusto, humor and attitude.
Bob Lujano, is a world-class rugby athlete and a quadruple amputee. In the 10 years of playing quad rugby he has won U.S. Quad Rugby National Championships with the Lakeshore Demolition of Birmingham, Alabama and won three medals playing rugby for Team USA. For seven years he has worked at the Lakeshore Foundation, an official U.S. Olympic and Paralympics Training Site, as Coordinator of Athletics. One of Bob’s mottos is, “No arms, no legs, no problem!”
ABOUT ACCESS LIVING
Access Living is a cross-disability organization governed and staffed by a majority of people with disabilities. Access Living fosters the dignity, pride, and self-esteem of people with disabilities and enhances the options available to them so they may choose and maintain individualized and satisfying lifestyles. Access Living recognizes the innate rights, abilities, needs and diversity of people with disabilities, works toward their integration into community life and serves as an agent of social change.
ABOUT THE PUBLIC SQUARE AT THE ILLINOIS HUMANITIES COUNCIL
The Public Square at the IHC fosters debate, dialogue, and exchange of ideas about cultural, social and political issues with an emphasis on social justice. Programs promote participatory democracy by creating space for public conversations.
More information about The Public Square at the IHC and Café Society is available at www.thepublicsquare.org, via email at info@thepublicsquare.org, or via phone at 312.422.5580.
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