Shooting Each Other In The Foot

There is an old saying that warns against “shooting yourself in the foot.” Sadly, today it seems we have taken that expression a step further. Too often, we are shooting each other in the foot instead of aiming at the same target.

Within our communities—especially among persons with disabilities—we spend far too much time criticizing one another, competing for attention, and allowing disagreements to divide us. While healthy debate has its place, endless infighting serves no one. It weakens our collective voice, drains our energy, and distracts us from the real issues that deserve our attention.

 

The challenges facing our communities are significant. Accessible transportation, inclusive education, meaningful employment, affordable housing, equitable healthcare, and genuine representation are only a few of the battles that still require our united effort. These are the targets we should be aiming at—not each other.

 

Nothing positive comes from constant division. Every hour we spend attacking fellow advocates is an hour not spent advocating for meaningful change. Every fractured relationship weakens our ability to influence decision-makers and advance the causes we all claim to support.

Meanwhile, governments and high-profile corporations often benefit when our communities are divided. A fragmented movement is easier to ignore, easier to placate, and far less effective than one that speaks with a unified voice. When we cannot agree on common priorities, others have little incentive to address them.

 

This is particularly true within the disability community. We all come from different backgrounds and live with different experiences, but our shared goal should remain the same: creating a more inclusive and accessible society for everyone. Our differences should enrich our advocacy, not become weapons against one another.

 

Have we not learned after all of these years? History repeatedly shows that progress is achieved when people unite around common objectives, not when they become consumed by internal conflict.

 

The time has come to change our aim.

Instead of shooting at each other, let us identify the issues that matter most to our communities and pursue them together with determination, respect, and purpose. Let us challenge policies instead of personalities, confront barriers instead of colleagues, and build partnerships instead of divisions.

Our communities deserve better.

And so do we.

 

I’d like to leave you with this for your consideration.

For disability advocacy, a particularly effective sentence might be:

“Disability communities are strongest when they are aligned, united in purpose, and working toward common goals rather than against one another.”

Or, more succinctly:

“One community, one voice, one shared purpose.”

These emphasize cooperation and collective advocacy without suggesting uniformity of opinion.

 

Image = Silhouetted hikers on a snowy mountainside reach toward each other for support, arms outstretched, with one climber crouched below and another leaning down from the ridge as the sun flares behind them under a dramatic sky of warm clouds and blue-green tones.

 

To learn more about me as an award winning  sight loss coach and advocate visit http://www.donnajodhan.com