Grace Gealey Quotes

Most of my younger Native American friends are not in any way looking for sympathy, and they're not looking to lay guilt on anybody. They have their dignity, and they do what they do.

People couldn't understand why my mama would have this blind kid out doing things like cutting wood for the fire. But her thing was: He may be blind, but he ain't stupid.

I'm really excited to educate the world about what deaf people can do.

I don't know what it's like to be an arm amputee, or have even one flesh-and-bone leg, or to have cerebral palsy. I don't speak for such huge and diverse groups. What I've tried to do, what I've been fortunate to do, is to live my live and create my life as I've wanted to create it.

There are so many opportunities in life, that the loss of two or three capabilities is not necessarily debilitating. A handicap can give you the opportunity to focus more on art, writing, or music.

My mother was a single mom, and most of the women I know are strong.

I have learned not to overlook the advantages of being me. From when I was a softball player, and I held the stolen bases record. I would slide into second with my prostheses, and the girl on the base could either step aside or meet two wooden sticks.

Obviously, because of my disability, I need assistance. But I have always tried to overcome the limitations of my condition and lead as full a life as possible. I have traveled the world, from the Antarctic to zero gravity.

At the end of the day, 'My Deaf Family' is about a typical family that all of us can identify with but told from an unusual and what I believe will be a fascinating perspective.

I know what it's like to be growing up, called 'deaf and mute' and 'deaf and dumb.' They're words that are very degrading and demeaning to people who are deaf and hard of hearing. It's almost... it's almost libelous, if you want to say that.

Pity? You don't want to be pitied because you're a cripple in a wheelchair? Stay in your house!

My father left... but I tell my mom - and I told my mom this when I was a kid - I said, 'You know what, Mom? Good thing he left because you're a strong woman.'

Everyone has setbacks. I'm no different. I happen to have no legs. That's pretty much the fact.

I have lived with extraordinary women, whether it was my grandmother, my mother. My father passed away when I was 16... I was witness to a woman who single handedly brought up the entire family and managed to do everything... She was an extraordinary role model for me.

I take advantage of every thing I can - age, hair, disability - because my cause is just.

But my message to people with or without a condition is the fact that you can still do anything you set your mind to. You just have to do it in a slightly different way than other people.

For me, the wheelchair symbolizes disability in a way a cane does not.

Being deaf or having any disability is not tragic. But the stereotypes about it are tragic.

My mom had not worked a day in her life, and then she woke up when I was 15 and found herself with four children, no job, no money. But she set out and made it all OK for us, and from that, I saw that there's no problem that can't be solved.

The ADA gave more than 50 million Americans with disabilities, just like my son Cole, the chance to live the American Dream and be defined only by their potential - not their limitations.

I am so proud of being a Paralympian because I think the Games are a very good platform for disabled persons to perform themselves. Within the Paralympics movement, it's not just talk about excellence; it's not just talk about the competition. It's also talk about the equality and how your world accepts those disabled people.

While taking sign language in high school, one of our assignments was to go out and participate in the deaf community, so I really got to know a lot of the group from that. I felt like they needed a little bit more of a voice because people treat them different just because they're hearing impaired.

Inequality within the deaf and hard of hearing community is something I feel really passionate about and always will do.

People with disabilities are capable and deserve the same opportunities as everyone else.

It's actually OK to be unique and have your own contributions, to celebrate what it means to be black, how we've survived and thrived through the worst conditions possible.