Artist sponsors anti-R-word rally in Miami

From The Miami Herald:

Outside the gallery of Brazilian artist Romero Britto (pictured) on Lincoln Road on Wednesday, the focus wasn't the colorful pieces of art. The focus was to spread one single message: just don't use names to call people.

More specifically: retard.

"It's a horrible, very bad word to use on someone," said Ruby Montero, whose son Ramon Montero, 22, has Down syndrome. "My son is just like anybody else. He's incredible."

March 3 was national day for Spread the Word to End the Word campaign, a national movement led by Best Buddies International and Special Olympics International to encourage people to stop using the word 'retard' or 'retarded' to refer to someone with intellectual or physical disabilities.

On its second year, the movement's national day was honored at Britto Central, 818 Lincoln Rd. The artist, who has supported the cause since it started early last year, offered his gallery as the venue.

"I think it's important to help and do something good for the community," said Britto, who was at the event. "If it's a struggle when you have all your senses, imagine when you don't. We need to integrate everybody."

Best Buddies International is nonprofit organization founded in 1989 that establishes volunteer services to create opportunities for one-one-one friendships and integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The Miami-based organization, founded by Miami Beach resident Anthony Kennedy Shriver, has more than 1,500 chapters and volunteer programs in colleges, high schools, and middle schools in 46 countries.

Special Olympics, established by Shriver's mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1967, is a global nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., that offers year-round sports training and competition for individuals with intellectual disabilities in more than 180 countries. Eunice Kennedy Shriver died in August 2009.
On March 3, outside Britto Central, volunteers asked just about everybody who walked by the gallery to sign a pledge to not use the word. A banner was also placed on the gallery's window for people to sign.

Volunteers from participating schools like Nautilus Middle School and Fienberg Fisher K-8 Center also helped gather supporters.

Signing the pledge was more than just writing a name down on a piece of paper for Nina and Larry Chynces, who attended the event with their daughter Karina, 16, who has Down syndrome.

"Karina doesn't really understand why people call her names," said Nina Chynces of Kendall, who also has a 14-year-old daughter, Karley. "But Karina's sister does, and she gets really hurt. She asked us crying for us to leave a party once because they were calling her sister names. "

This year's goal for the movement is to get at least 100,000 pledges, said Cynthia Gay, area director of Best Buddies in Miami-Dade. Everybody can pledge through the movement's website, www.r-word.org.

"I really want everyone to share the hurtful effects of the R-word and encourage everyone to not use it," said Gay. "My brother is 23 and has Down syndrome, and as a sister, when I hear someone refer to my brother in that manner, is very painful. It's really isolating them and pinpointing them and looking at them in a manner nobody should be looked at."

There were more than 96,000 pledges on the movement's official website by the evening of March 3.

"It's really important to get younger people involved and for them to understand that calling people names hurts their feelings," said Anthony Kennedy Shriver who also attended the event. "It's a very simple thing to do. Just sign your name and don't use the word."