Have you been looking for a way to engage your community in White Cane Day?
Want to screen Telephone for your organization in a budget friendly and personalized way?
Join TELEPHONE’S White Cane Day Celebration!
On October 15th, Telephone will screen via organizations across the country in celebration of White Cane Day. Celebrate this historical and important holiday withus – honoring the autonomy and equality of the blind and visually impaired community.
Listen to our co-director, Krishna Washburn, talk about this groundbreaking holiday and its history below:
Transcription of Krishna’s Audio (above)
Audio Transcription:
Although it isn’t the first American legislation that relates to the rights of disabled people, White Cane Day is the first federally recognized legislation that relates to disabled people’s right to access and participation in community life. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed White Cane Day into law on October 15, 1964, recognizing the white cane as the tool that blind people use to navigate the world, pursue education, employment, and participate in human culture. Prior to White Cane Day and the local laws that preceded it, blind people traveling on their own were often barred from public spaces or even harassed by the police.
In 2025, Americans are waiting to hear the decisions of several Supreme Court cases that may gut the access-related portions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and may overturn laws that ensure educational access, protection from employment discrimination, and access to public life for disabled people. One such upcoming case, Texas v. Kennedy, formerly known as Texas v. Becerra, may overturn Section 504 of the ADA, which gives disabled people a right to information and education. Losing Section 504 could mean the end of legal standing for ASL interpretation and audio description for disabled Americans.
We here at team Telephone know that even in reactionary times, even during times when the rights of our fellow citizens are in jeopardy, there are enough of us who are brave, enough of us who don’t compromise our morals in the face of challenge. Join the fight for arts, education, and public access because it’s been an American tradition for over sixty years. Join us for White Cane Day, and demonstrate your commitment to audio description for all Americans.
What will the celebration look like? How will it work?
Organizations from across the country will host events centered around screening Telephone and bringing awareness to White Cane Day on the 15th.
Each screening will be followed by a pre-recorded conversation with our directors, Krishna Washburn and Heather Shaw, hosted by our Event Sponsors.
Each organization will have access to the film and filmmaker conversation for the full day of October 15th, so that they may screen it whenever their event takes place
How do I get involved?
Email mariah.telephonefilm@gmail.com for more information on pricing and logistics. We will aid your team in producing and executing the event, provide publicity, and faciliate an eye-opening and wonderful film screening for your community!
There are pre-determined pricing and sponsorship tiers so that we can work best within your organizations budgets and wishes – we want to support you bringing Telephone to your people!
White Cane Day includes discounted rates for educational institutions and nonprofits that may not otherwise have the resources to host a screening.
The fee can also be offset through fundraising efforts such as community events, dance classes, ticketed screenings, or bake sales.
Telephone flips the script on the typical procedure, making audio description available to the entire audience, which enlarges that audience and offers new modes of understanding and interpretation of dance.”
Georgina Kleege – Writer, English Professor at UC Berkeley
Image Description: Black and white photo. Telephone dancers Marielys Burgos Meléndez and Louisa Mann’s images are overlaid as they rest on a hallway wall and door, respectively. Both are reaching one arm up. ASL performer Ian Sanborn’s upper body is shown in the lower middle part of the image as his hands rest on an imaginary wall.
