History doesn’t repeat itself. It reminds us of unfinished work yet to be completed.
Whether we’re talking about public policy, popular culture, or the stories we pass down to the next generation, the past is full of missed opportunities, untold truths, and lessons waiting to be learned. Ripe for rediscovery. But only if we’re paying attention. Only if we’re willing to learn from what came before to shape what comes next.
To create a more inclusive future, sometimes you have to look back with uncomfortable clarity instead of sanitized nostalgia. Rather than comforting ourselves with a used-to-be that never was, we can ask tougher questions that reveal sometimes difficult truths about whose stories got told, who got left out, and how we can tell a more inclusive narrative going forward.
For me, that approach (and the commitment it requires) came into sharp focus last spring.
In April, ReelAbilities launched a pilot program in partnership with NYC Public Schools (NYCPS) to bring disability-centered films both by and about people with disabilities into middle and high school classrooms. Educators will also have access to companion lesson plans and discussion guides designed for each film. There are currently 40 films with lesson plans available for classroom use, and NYCPS and ReelAbilities plan to create additional classroom guides to complement the more than 500 films in the ReelAbilities archive.
At the film screening and talkback at the Division of Inclusive and Accessible Learning’s Summit that I facilitated April 4th, students didn’t just watch passively. They listened, asked tough questions, and connected dots. One student said, “I didn’t know movies about disability included people like me.” Real, raw, and revealing moments like that matter because before you can dream of something new, you need to feel a different future is possible.
That starts by including young folks in our work and expanding their experience of disability, not at some distant magical day in the future, but right here, right now.
That same week, we screened “Deaf President Now!” at our 17th Annual ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York. The documentary tells the story of the 1988 student uprising at Gallaudet University. This was a watershed moment when Deaf students, faculty, and allies demanded their first Deaf president at a Deaf university, years before the Americans with Disabilities Act became the law of the land. Activists weren’t just asking for more representative leadership. They also demanded increased visibility, authentic representation, and, in a word, justice.
For many in our audience, which included Deaf elders who lived that movement and Gen Z students discovering it for the first time, it was more than a film. It was the passing of a baton. A legacy paid forward. Generations generating something new.
That’s precisely the point.
The documentary by Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim is more than a chronicle of protest. It is also a blueprint that shows what can happen when a community refuses to be ignored, when education becomes empowerment, and when big ideas about equal access become reality. And now, thanks to Apple TV+, it is reaching viewers around the world, bringing a pivotal moment in Deaf and Disability history to a much wider audience.
“Deaf President Now!” is also a powerful example of how to put the past in perspective. By making sure the lessons learned don’t gather dust in textbooks or get reduced to footnotes. We bring them alive. We showcase them. We talk about them. We invite them to educate and change us.
Without context, access is empty, and without history, inclusion is incomplete.
At ReelAbilities, we’re not just curating content; like Able News, we’re facilitating necessary conversations. Through our NYC Schools program, our ReelAbilities at the Workplace initiative, and our national network of Affiliate Festivals, we’re creating spaces where stories spark dialogue and conversations become action. We’re not interested in inspiration without perspiration. We want engagement. Momentum. A blueprint for a fairer, more inclusive future.
And that future? It won’t happen by accident. It will take work. Planning. Commitment.
Not everyone will march. Not everyone will testify before Congress. But everyone can watch. Everyone can learn. Everyone can start where they are using the tools they have. Everyone can contribute to a world where disability is recognized, valued, and respected.
The best part? You don’t need anyone else’s permission to be a part of it. You just need curiosity, commitment, and the willingness to get uncomfortable from time to time. That’s where the transformation begins.
Where new opportunities emerge.
Where shift happens.
Opinions expressed are solely those of the writer(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Able News at The Viscardi Center and/or The Viscardi Center.