Who is your hero? Ask men and women on the street - Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder would most likely be the first remembered for overcoming their disabilities and propelling their way to stardom. Their tenacity in the face of disability has been an inspiration to millions the world-over. However there are many more that deserve similar praise; some we would consider celebrities, and others may be forgotten.  Their spirits live on today inspiring triumph over defeat; this month let us honor our Heroes with disabilities.

Harriet Tubman (1820-1913) was a slave throughout her youth where she sustained a severe wound to her head. She eventually escaped captivity and arrived in Canada, but did not stay to enjoy her freedom.  She returned to the lands and brought hundreds of black slaves back to safety through The Underground Railroad. Eventually, her early head wound brought on vision impairment and seizures. But that did not keep her from fighting for the freedom of her people.

Tom Wiggins (1849-1908). Wiggins was a slave who was not only blind, but a musical genius who would today be defined as an autistic savant. After giving his first musical concert at age eight in Columbus, Georgia, he went on to write more than one hundred compositions. To hear Wiggin’s music go to http://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/wiggins.html,

Lead Belly (born Huddie William Ledbetter: 1888-1949) was an American folk and blues musician, known for his clear and forceful singing, his twelve string guitar, and the rich songbook of folk standards he introduced.  In 1949, on a European tour, he fell ill and was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and died that same year.

Horace Pippin (1888-1946) was a self-taught artist wounded in W.W.I, and discharged with a partially paralyzed right arm. A hand that didn’t work was not an obstacle to Pippin. He continued painting and in 1947 an art critic described him as "a real and rare genius, combining folk quality with artistic maturity so uniquely as almost to defy classification." Although he painted only 140 works, concentrations of his work can be found in museums across America.

Ray Charles (born Ray Charles Robinson: 1930-2004) was a beloved American pianist and musician who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues. While with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company. Frank Sinatra called Charles “the only true genius in show business.”

Barbara Jordan (1936-1996) served as a congresswoman from Texas in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979. In 1973, Jordan was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis which caused her to use a cane and eventually a wheelchair, but she kept her health issues out of the press. She died of complications of the disease in 1996, but not until she completed a distinguished career in government and as a professor at the University of Texas in Austin.  Barbara Jordan is a model for the potential that exists in the millions of persons today living with disabilities.

Richard Pryor (1940- 2005) was an American comedian, actor, and writer. He is also regarded as the most important stand-up comedian of his time. Jerry Seinfeld called Pryor "The Picasso of our profession"; Bob Newhart called Pryor "the seminal comedian of the last 50 years," former Kennedy Center President Lawrence J. Wilker said “Richard Pryor was selected as the first recipient of the new Mark Twain Prize because as a stand-up comic, writer, and actor, he struck a chord, and a nerve, with America, forcing it to look at large social questions of race and the more tragicomic aspects of the human condition. Though uncompromising in his wit, Pryor, like Twain, projects a generosity of spirit that unites us. They were both trenchant social critics who spoke the truth, however outrageous.” Pryor was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1986 and spent the last part of his life in a wheelchair.

 

Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.: January 17, 1942) is a former American boxer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion. This boxing great is widely considered one of the greatest heavyweight champions ever. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 1984 due to repetitive head trauma, Ali remains an active ambassador of goodwill, and social activist for America. Ali received a Spirit of America Award, and was called the most recognized American in the world.

Danny Glover (Born July 22, 1947) is a talented American actor, film director and political activist who suffers from dyslexia. In school he was labeled “retarded.” Glover also battled epilepsy in his teens and as a young adult. According to his own account, he "developed a way of concentrating so that seizures wouldn't happen." Using this technique, which he describes as "a type of self-hypnosis," Glover says he has not suffered a seizure since age 34.

Teddy Pendergrass (1950-2010) was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame in the 1970s as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes but enjoyed a successful solo career by the end of the decade. In 1982, he was severely injured in an auto accident in Philadelphia and was paralyzed from the waist down. After his injury he founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, a foundation that helps those with spinal cord injuries.

Stevie Wonder (born Steveland Hardaway Judkins: May 13, 1950) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. Blind from infancy due to excessive oxygen in his incubator, Wonder signed with Motown Records as a pre-adolescent at age twelve, and continues to perform today world-wide.

Damon Wayans (born September 4, 1960) is one of the Wayans brothers, a stand-up comedian, writer, and actor who began his career in 1982. He had a clubbed foot as a child. This attribute would also be given to his character in My Wife & Kids and his character on the cartoon series Waynehead. This series starring a poor boy with a club foot is  loosely based on his own childhood growing up in a large family.

 

Foxy Brown (born Inga Marchand: September 6, 1978) is an American rapper of Afro-Trinidadian and Asian descent. She is known for her solo work and her brief stint as part of hip-hop music group, The Firm. Foxy Brown has revealed that she is slowly losing her hearing after being diagnosed with a rare condition that only affects 1 in 10,000.

We realize this is an incomplete list and that there are so many others who are a living inspiration to their families, friends and community. We invite you to join disaboomlive.com and share the stories of others who have made an impact on your life. Go to http://www.disaboomlive.com to share your stories and inspire others.