AccessLife.com: Radio Host to Expose Able-ism to Black Journalists.Business, News & Entertainment Editors/Health & Medical Writers TAMPA, Fla.--(BW HealthWire)--Aug. 15, 2000 "African Americans with disabilities face unique cultural and societal issues that need to be communicated to the black community at large. "Able-ism" is just as painful as racism and it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a that brothers and sisters listened up and understood." -- National radio host and columnist Greg Smith. Web columnist and radio talk show host Greg Smith is on a mission to promote true disability awareness to the African American community. As our country celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act Americans with Disabilities Act, U.S. civil-rights law, enacted 1990, that forbids discrimination of various sorts against persons with physical or mental handicaps. , Smith is reminding everyone that the civil rights of people with disabilities need to be protected and that full inclusion of people with disabilities into the mainstream strengthens America. Smith will be bringing that message to the National Association of Black Journalists The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), was founded in 1975 by 44 men and women in Washington, D.C. Headquartered at the University of Maryland, College Park and with 3300 members, it is the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation. Annual Conference in Phoenix, Arizona this week, Aug. 16-20. He recently launched a new Internet e-mail discussion group called "BlackDisabled" and is planning a non-profit organization, the National African American Organization on Disability. Smith is trying to forge a new paradigm New Paradigm In the investing world, a totally new way of doing things that has a huge effect on business. Notes: The word "paradigm" is defined as a pattern or model, and it has been used in science to refer to a theoretical framework. about disability through his media activities. A 36-year-old African American who has muscular dystrophy muscular dystrophy (dĭs`trōfē), any of several inherited diseases characterized by progressive wasting of the skeletal muscles. There are five main forms of the disease. , Smith weighs just 65 pounds, uses a power wheelchair full-time and drives an adapted mini van. He is the featured columnist for AccessLife.com, a new Web site targeting people with disabilities. His nationally syndicated radio show, "On A Roll" focuses on disability lifestyle issues and news. Described as "irreverent" by the Wall Street Journal, the show airs live Sunday evenings from 9-11 pm Eastern Time. Greg serves on the Communications Subcommittee of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, the Media Advisory Board of the American Association of People with Disabilities, and the Board of Directors of the Radio Center for People with Disabilities. Smith was sports director at KASR at Arizona State University Arizona State University, at Tempe; coeducational; opened 1886 as a normal school, became 1925 Tempe State Teachers College, renamed 1945 Arizona State College at Tempe. Its present name was adopted in 1958. , called play-by-play for the Sun Devils and covered the Phoenix Suns. From 1990 to 1992 he hosted a call-in program on KTAR KTAR Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman (Malaysia) called "Cardinal Talk" in Phoenix. Smith started "On A Roll Radio" in 1992. A divorced father of three, Smith lives in Tampa, Fla. |
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