Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist

by Judith Heumann

“Ma’am, you’re under arrest. Please leave your seat.” They looked and sounded very serious. But all I could think was, Wow!! This is amazing! Finally, they’re going to arrest me and we’ll be able to do something with this to show another example of discrimination! So they took me off the plane. Once we were in the airport, they asked for my ID. I didn’t have a regular ID because I didn’t drive, so I gave them my credit card—which was new, by the way, since women couldn’t apply for their own credit in the US until that very year, 1975. When they said that wasn’t good enough, I gave them my Senate ID card. As soon as they saw my Senate ID, they paused. “You work in the Senate?” “Yes, I do.” They exchanged a glance. “Who do you work for?” “Senator Harrison Williams.” Their faces shifted; they no longer looked threatening. “Harrison Williams from New Jersey?” “Yes.” They were Port Authority police, which meant they worked for both the State of New York and the State of New Jersey. “Well, ma’am, we’re going to let you go this time.”