Dr. William Bronston, author ofPublic Hostage Public Ransom: Ending Institutional America
will share his story of working at Willowbrook State School in Staten Island, NY, in the 1970’s, where6000 persons with disabilities were incarcerated under abusive conditions. He catalyzed a Federal Class Action Lawsuit against the state of New York to close the death making institution.
Willowbrook and the many other institutions across the country that warehoused people with disabilities were Medicaid funded. Dr. Bronston posits that many people with disabilities are still “public hostages”, consigned again to profit driven, segregated, and congregated institutional lives, funded by Medicaid’s billions, America’s “public ransom”. He draws a clear line to indict State bureaucracies and provides a strategic rationale to end Title 19 of Security Act, the Medicaid system, to heal the deep societal wound that the segregated nursing home and assisted living industry enact on people with disabilities and their families. He sees universal expanded and improved Medicare for all, single payer health care, as the clear solution and ultimate antidote to this highly segregated system that exists now, and we tolerate. The shocking horrors of Willowbrook State School were exposed and will never be forgotten. Doctor Bronston takes on all of America’s institutions that have not learned the lesson of the tragedy of Willowbrook. His presentation will be a reminder of all we still must do to build a just world for the many who are unable to find it for themselves.
Join the Keystone Institute, The Institute on Disabilities at Temple University,
and the Western PA Disability History & Action Consortium for a
thought-provoking discussion forum with Dr. William Bronston
Event Information
For More Information
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 1:00 PM-3:00 PM
via Zoom
www.KeystoneInstitute.
Keystone Institute Temple University Disabilities Studies Western PA Disabilities History & Action Consortium