Discount code for tickets: RFFPRIDE7

Presented by JCC Manhattan, the 7th Annual ReelAbilities: NY Disabilities Film Festival is dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with different abilities. The festival presents award-winning films in various locations throughout the NYC metropolitan area. Discussions and other engaging programs bring the community together to explore, discuss and celebrate the diversity of our shared human experience.

Visit Reelabilities for complete info and ticket information

In July, a month after the Gay Pride March is scheduled to unfold, a different kind of pride procession is set to commence: the Disability Pride NYC parade.

The impetus behind the inaugural march, which organizers call the first of its kind in New York City, might seem unlikely: the jazz pianist Mike LeDonne.

Mr. LeDonne, a fixture on the city’s jazz scene for decades, said he has been working for several years to create an annual Disability Pride Day and parade to shine a spotlight on people with mental and physical disabilities.

“Actually, she’s the reason for the parade,” said Mr. LeDonne, 58, pointing to his daughter, Mary, 10, inside their apartment in Hell’s Kitchen. She was on the floor, cradling a musical toy, and repeatedly pressing its buttons to hear a variety of tinny melodies.

Mary was born with Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder that has left her developmentally disabled and without speech. She is legally blind and often uses a wheelchair.

Read the full article here…

Jazz Legends Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Brad Mehldau, Jimmy Cobb, Harold Mabern, George Coleman, Bill Charlap and others will be heating up the Quaker Friends Meeting Hall on January 8th at Jazz Legends for Disability Pride, a fundraising jazz concert for the Disability Pride Parade celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in July, 2015.

Disability Pride NYC is a non-profit started by Mike LeDonne who’s 10 year old daughter is disabled. Our goal is to establish an annual Disability Pride parade in New York City and to support people with disabilities in whatever way we can. The first one will be held July 12, 2015 here in NYC. This will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the signing of the American’s with Disability Act (ADA) in 1990 by President George Herbert Walker Bush.

The concert will take place from 7PM – 9:30 PM at The Quaker Friends Meeting Hall 15 Rutherford Pl. which is near 15th Street and 3rd Ave. All ticket purchases are tax deductible. For tickets, contact Le Poisson Rouge.