Mrs. Willie Mae Goodman is a Black American who has been an advocate for people with disabilities since shortly after her daughter, Margaret, was born 67 years ago. Margaret was born with severe disabilities, which left her unable to walk, talk or feed herself. Mrs. Goodman placed her daughter at the Willowbrook State School at the advice of doctors who said the school might help Margaret walk or talk.
After dismal conditions at the Willowbrook State School were exposed, the state moved Margaret and other children with intense medical needs to a new school called the Gouverneur State School, where more individualized care was possible. However, when budget constraints threatened to close the Gouverneur State School in 1970, and the State made plans to move Margaret and the other children back to Willowbrook, Mrs. Goodman says her fight for justice took root.
“That became the beginning of my militance, concerning fighting for those who are less fortunate, fighting for those who have a disability,” Mrs. Goodman says. “We fought for them to have an identity and for the parents and children to be respected.”
The Gouverneur Parents Association (GPA), which Mrs. Goodman founded, became the first group of parents to take the former state Department of Mental Hygiene to court. Through a court injunction, they successfully blocked the transfer of their loved ones back to Willowbrook State School.
Ultimately, because of Mrs. Goodman’s advocacy, Margaret returned to her neighborhood with the opening of a residence in Manhattan where Margaret still lives today.
Mrs. Goodman sees similarities between the civil rights movement and the disabilities rights movement.
“I was raised in the south, and we were told you can drink water from this fountain. One said “colored,” and the other said, “white,” explains Goodman. “Not that we wanted to drink the water from that fountain, but we felt we should have the opportunity to choose.” Goodman says people with disabilities and their parents have likewise been denied the right to make choices.
“I see prejudice as a disease,” Mrs. Goodman said. “You don’t like me because I am Black, or you don’t a like a child because the child has a disability? When we acknowledge each other as human, those barriers go away. I have a saying, first we are human and then we are disabled. If you look at us as human first, then you will never look at us as disabled.”
Today, Mrs. Goodman makes decisions on her daughter Margaret’s behalf. But her life’s work has not only been about advocating for her daughter, it’s been about advocating for all people with disabilities who don’t have a voice.
Mrs. Goodman has organized parents and spoken before community boards where she was forced to listen as people argued that their property values would fall if her daughter moved into the neighborhood. She listened as people said unspeakable things about people with disabilities that she says she will never forget. But she persisted and continued to speak out against ignorance and challenge the falsehoods.
“When it came time for us to go into the community, the community didn’t want us,” Mrs. Goodman recalls. “So, we had to educate them, and it wasn’t easy.”
Mrs. Goodman recalls wanting to have a birthday party for her daughter at a local restaurant. When she first went to the restaurant and told them her daughter and the other children she would be bringing required that their food be pureed, the restaurant said it couldn’t be done. But when people say things aren’t possible, Mrs. Goodman educates them about how to make them possible. As a result, not only did the restaurant end up pureeing the food the day of the party, they now puree food regularly for Margaret and her housemates.
When Mrs. Goodman thinks back on her daughter’s birthday party, she recalls that it was so beautiful that she wanted to cry. Other fond memories include a gospel show and concert she planned at the Apollo, and a multicultural parade that her daughter and others participated in. These are examples of ordinary community life that so many take for granted.
While Mrs. Goodman is grateful for the progress that has been made, she is also sad that some things are still being fought for 50 years later. “I don’t mind the fight,” she says. “But I want to see results.”
Mrs. Goodman, who is 91, thinks a new generation of advocates is needed to keep the fight going. She says parents and providers can’t simply accept what is in the rules and regulations.
“We need to lead with our hearts,” she says. “We must operate from a place of understanding and be guided by our faith.”
“We need to learn to communicate with one another to bring justice to all regardless of who you are,” said Mrs. Goodman. “When we don’t have that communication, we all lose out. Parents and administrators need to work together, help each other, and be a true partnership. Everybody has a right to live. Everybody has a right to receive the very best of services. We need to work together to ensure that people with disabilities get what they need.”