2022 Berkeley City Council Candidate Michai Freeman

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LINDSEY WELLS, HOST: From KVMR and in partnership with FREED, this is Disability Rap.  

MICHAI FREEMAN: We need to see more everyday people with real commitments to their communities to run.  

WELLS: Today, Michai Freeman on her life with a disability, and her run for Berkeley City Council.  

FREEMAN: And especially people with disabilities. You know, we have to be more visible and vocal.  

WELLS: That’s all coming up Disability Rap, stay tuned.  

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WELLS: Welcome to Disability Rap, I’m Lindsey Wells with Carl Sigmond.     

We are joined today by Michai Freeman, a Systems Change Advocate at the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley, California.  When she was young, Michai developed a neuromuscular disease. Originally from New York, she spent her formative years in Brooklyn and had to ride a bus for two hours each day to attend a school for the disabled. At that time, in the 1970s, children with disabilities were not admitted to the school closest to her home.

In 1989, Michai came to California to attend the University of California Berkeley. She studied abroad for a year in Egypt and then received her master's in Holistic Studies with a specialization in nutrition from John F. Kennedy University.  She ran for Berkeley City Council in 2022. While she did not win in that election, she continues to advocate for the disabled in her communities.     

And we should note here for our listeners that Michai has a speech disability, so you will hear Michai speak, and then you will hear our Production Assistant, Courtney Williams, revoicing what Michai says.   

Well, Michai Freeman welcome to Disability Rap. We mentioned in the introduction that you were bussed two hours away to a school for children with disabilities, because the local school did not admit children with disabilities. As a child with a disability, how did you handle the bus ride every morning? 

FREEMAN: Actually for me in the beginning it was very difficult being bussed so far away, not knowing anyone in my, in the area of the school that I went to. And prior to becoming disabled I had never associated with children with disabilities. So because of how my disability was talked about, and seen as problematic, pathological, I had looked at it as being relegated to an island of misfits. And I say that, people may cringe, but in a holistic way, it was this community of children that had never met before that really helped me understand and come to acceptance of my disabilities. 

And one thing I learned was how we all were the same, had the same drive, aspirations and vision. But unfortunately because it was that segregation, stigma and isolation, I had, prior to having a disability, ignorance and stigma towards children with disabilities. And it was coming into relation with the community of my peers that made me see and see disability and myself in a whole different context. That I’m very fortunate for.  

CARL SIGMOND, HOST: You know, these days, a lot of us advocate for inclusive education, inclusive classrooms. And what I’m hearing you say, and I want to remind our listeners this was a few decades back, but what I’m hearing you say is that that segregated environment almost offered you a sense of power. So can you talk more about that?  

FREEMAN: I say it because that’s the way it was in the late 70s to 80s, it wasn’t like you could have inclusive environments and non-inclusive environments, it was all segregated. However it was in relationship, being in that forced environment, that my friendships, my early formative knowledge that me and my friends, though we were differently abled, we were still like just other kids. And I talked, joked, teased, just as I had the kids in my previous school environment. And when I felt depressed and I felt myself differently, they were the ones who encouraged me, who lifted me up, and reminded me, hey, you’re just like us, come play, stop, don’t feel off, you know? And they really helped me form disability consciousness. Yeah, so I’m glad as I grew older that that changed but that’s definitely the story of my young experience as a disabled person with a disability.  

SIGMOND: And then you make the move from New York to Berkeley to attend college. What was that move like, and what do you remember of the IL movement at that time? 

FREEMAN: Oh god, Anyone from the East Coast knows that the winter times are just, can be horrendous. And having a neuromuscular disability in the wintertime, my muscles would freeze up, and it was very difficult to function. So at a very young age I always knew, I always longed to be somewhere warmer. And at that time, I think in the mid-80s, Baywatch was on. And it was such wonderful looking at the TV in wintertime seeing people, you know, in the sun, on the beach and I, oh gosh, it’d be great one day to live in California.  

Well you know, it’s funny, the realization that would happen, you know, college and going away. And you know, California was a dream So, when it came that time to think about college I had said to my guidance counselor I wanted to go to California and they were very against it. Because no one at our school had ever travelled that far.  

So, I grew up in a west Indian family. And I was, at a young age, I was exposed to Buddhism. And within me I’ve had like certain determination. Because they always told me, and reinforced, dream big dreams, and to follow through with my dreams. And that was a dream I had, to go to California for school. Because it’s warm! And I wanted to finish college, I couldn’t see myself existing in the cold winters of New York. Even though I love New York, but I always grew up with a strong dislike of the cold.  

And a girlfriend who then went to Harvard told me, Michai, don’t just apply to one school, apply to two, you have more of a chance. I didn’t know much about Berkeley at all, but I still said, well, I’ll apply to University of California and UCLA. And because University of California at Berkely had the residence program, which was the program to help people with disabilities navigate independent living, I guess UCLA just forwarded the applications to UC Berkeley and I was accepted.  

And through a lot of prayers, being very scared, I’ll admit, because that was the farthest I ever travelled, I stayed in Berkeley and lived in the dorms, thankful to Ed Roberts, who paved that way, and all the disability activists that came before. So, you know, I credit being the beneficiary of the independent living movement, which of course started in Berkeley. And coming here has really been beneficial to my life.  

WELLS: Can you tell us what it was like to travel abroad to Egypt to study as a person with a physical disability? 

FREEMAN: Well, I went to study in Egypt because I was majoring in Middle Eastern Studies, and I thought what better way to learn the language and the culture by studying abroad. And I applied but I was told I couldn’t go because there had been no one that had travelled to Egypt with a physical disability. And I was told that was impossible. And I didn’t see why it was impossible. So I kept pursuing it. And of course, due to 504, now I didn’t know this, because of disability laws at that time, but they couldn’t just say no, or deny me that opportunity and I qualified. So, I kept pursing, and at the time I didn’t know that the Chancellor had called my mother, and just really questioned our sanity. You know, ‘do you know what your daughter is doing?’  

And I knew it was crowded, I knew there was no accessibility per se, like the States. But again, I just figured that with determination, having a really great attendant at the time, we could persevere. And it was, it was a effort in being determined to make a way where there was no way. And the Egyptian people were very hospitable, very helpful. At times I had to be carried up whole flights of stairs, across railway tracks, and it was a shared effort and a beautiful experience that I treasure even now. And it took a lot of determination and creativity. And I’m just so grateful for those people who supported me, and also helped me during that journey.  

And prayer, I’m a big proponent of dreaming big dreams and deep prayer. And in my experience, it has proven to be, in terms of prayer, the one thing that has always made a way when seemingly there was no way. And so this is what I would like to convey to young/old/middle-aged people, especially those with different disabilities, is to go for your dreams, and challenge oneself. Because that’s where the fullness of life is.  

SIGMOND: Could you say a bit more about how you gained so much determination and will? And then say more about the connection you see between determination and prayer.  

FREEMAN: One thing that we learned is that our faith can make the impossible possible. And having dreams and persevering, first of all Buddhism tells you life is hard and talks about suffering. But not in a fatalistic way, suffering is a skill towards transformation. And so, even though when I was younger, depressed and I didn’t know what my life was going to be like, I still had my background and my studies and the people who were practicing Buddhism. I grew up with that reinforcement, so it was just something that was, I guess, ingrained in my consciousness. And having dreams, being challenged, I would say every big dream that I’ve had, I have wanted to back away, but having the courage to do one big thing, it gives you the strength for the other things. It’s like stepping on stepping stones and that’s what the teachings teach you is how to develop resilience and hardship is part of it. So, it was a great benefit to learn that information early in life.  

SIGMOND: So I want to bring us to your run for city council there in Berkeley. What was that like? 

FREEMAN: I decided to run for city council out of deep frustration, seeing the lack of services and knowledge about disability within the city, even though we’re here in the home of independent living movement. And encountering that for myself and other people with disabilities. Lack of affordable housing, and how hard it is for disabled people to find affordable housing. I just went, that’s fine, that’s how I jumped into the campaign, the incumbent was uncontested and I didn’t feel that that was right.  

There’s too many politicians out there who don’t really relate or understand the issues on very fundamental levels. And we need to see more everyday people with real commitments to their communities to run, and especially people with disabilities. You know, we have to be more visible and vocal, even when society wants to silence us.  

SIGMOND: And what advice do you have for other people with disabilities who are considering a run for public office?  

FREEMAN: Well, I say do it. Know the issues, know how to connect with your constituents, or your coalition. Fundraising is very important, but don’t fundraise at the expense of your principles. Because win or lose, what [inaudible] believe and to align with you is your authenticity.  

WELLS: That was our conversation with Michai Freeman, a Systems Change Advocate at the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley, California. Special thanks to our Production Assistant, Courtney Williams, for revoicing what Michai said.   

And that does it for the show. Disability Rap is produced and edited by Carl Sigmond and Courtney Williams. You can go to our website, disabilityrap.org, to listen to past shows, read transcripts, and subscribe to the Disability Rap podcast. You can also subscribe to our podcast by searching Disability Rap on any of the major podcast platforms. We are brought to you by KVMR in partnership with FREED, and we’re distributed by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange. I’m Lindsey Wells with Carl Sigmond for another edition of Disability Rap.