Disability Rights with Peter Blanck

Sixty-one million Americans—that’s 26% of the population—live with some kind of disability.  These are our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers, and our family members.  While the Americans with Disabilities Act has improved the lives of many since it became law nearly three decades ago, Peter Blanck tells us the history and the ongoing challenges for those with disabilities can be stark. 

Blanck is University Professor at Syracuse University—an academic rank only awarded to eight prior individuals at the up-state New York school.  He is also chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at the school.  BBI works globally to advance the civic, economic, and social participation of people with disabilities.  A scholar of the history of disability rights in the United States, and an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities today, Blanck is a highly effective scholar and advocate. 

Story in the Public Square broadcasts each week on public television stations across the United States. A full listing of the national television distribution is available at this link. In Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the show is broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on Sundays at 11 a.m. and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. An audio version of the program airs 8:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m. ET, Sundays at 4:30 a.m. & 11:30 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124. “Story in the Public Square” is a partnership between the Pell Center and The Providence Journal. The initiative aims to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.