NEWBURYPORT — People will get a chance to learn about the disability rights movement when the city’s Commission on Disabilities and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Alliance co-present a free screening of “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution” at the Rupert A. Nock Middle School.
The 2020 documentary has become popular on Netflix and YouTube and tells the story of Camp Jened, the groundbreaking New York summer camp for teens with disabilities, and the campers’ fight for accessibility legislation.
The Oct. 13 will mark the first time the two city groups are collaborating to offer such an event.
Local disability rights advocate Sophie Korpics is a member of both city boards and spearheaded the DEI Alliance’s screening of the “Yellow Brick Road” documentary (about a group of actors with disabilities who put on a performance of “The Wizard of Oz”) at the middle school last March.
Korpics, 25, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of 2 and recently received her bachelors degree in political science and her master’s degree in public policy from UMass-Amherst.
Hoping to continue to raise awareness about the importance of disability representation, as well as the disability rights movement and its history, Korpics recently began organizing the upcoming screening.
“I want this to be a tribute to Judith Heumann, who passed away recently and is considered to be the mother of the disability rights movement,” she said. “This is covered in the film as well.”
The movie will run from 6 to 8:30 p.m. and will be fully accessible to all. The evening also features speeches by Korpics and Ward 2 City Councilor Jennie Donahue will share their stories about living with a disability in Newburyport.
“She’s going to speak and I’m going to speak,” Donahue, who is legally blind, said. “I’m very excited to be there. This is probably one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. It’s got a very-cheeky title that I hope doesn’t turn people away but rather elicits enough curiosity for them to come.”
Mayor Sean Reardon appointed Korpics to the Commission on Disabilities and said she’s been a wonderful resource for the city.
“She’s a great young lady,” he said. “She really has jumped on board with a lot of different causes in the city and it’s nice to have someone who is always going to have that lens of what the experience is like for somebody who might not have the abilities of the next person.”
Reardon added he hopes to make the Oct. 13 screening himself.
“Hopefully we’ll get a lot of people there to check it out,” he said.