#CripTheVoteStories with Michele Kaplan (01:15)

On Tuesday, September 27, 2016, National Voter Registration Day, our friends at #CripTheVote hosted a Twitter chat on Storytelling and Voting with Rooted in Rights as a Guest Host. Rooted in Rights and the organizers of #CripTheVote created a series of short videos featuring the disability community.

Video visual descriptions
Each video begins with the same graphic as follows: Logo of #CripTheVoteStories with the text of the hashtag in rainbow colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue purple and yellow) is placed at the top of every video player, and remains there during the video. During a music jingle, a graphic of a box with four quadrants with pictures of 1) the international symbol of access, a wheelchair sign, 2) Two hands signing, 3) A person using a white cane and 3) An image of a person’s brain. The box with four quadrants turns into a voting box with grey check that swipes across. An orange title screen draws in from both sides with the name of the person, and their city. Following each video, the music jingle plays again with the @RootedinRights Twitter handle as a title screen.

Michele Kaplan | New York, NY (@RebelWheelsNYC) transcript:
“I think it’s really really really important especially when you’re disabled, or you’re from a demographic who is grossly underrepresented in the media, that you get out there whatever way you can and become politically involved because when you do this, you’re not only fighting for your rights and for the rights of others. you’re not only supporting the community, but you’re also creating representation, especially if your life is intersectional because then you’re not only creating representation, you’re creating the diversity within the representation which is also super important. Keep in mind, the election is just about choosing a president and vice president, I mean, there’s council members, there’s your mayor, there’s all these super local elections where your vote really does count because you’re gonna pick who’s in charge your town, who’s in charge of your neighborhood, who’s gonna make policies who’s gonna get this, who’s gonna get that so you know, keep in mind that even if you’re disillusioned with the presidential election, don’t forget about the power of your local vote.”