Helping women and minorities into newsrooms since 1993
Helping women and minorities into newsrooms since 1993
Advocating for people like him has become a head-spinning mission for SJI alum Damon Brooks Jr., who has lived with paraplegia since 2012.
Over the last 14-plus years, Brooks, Class of 2023, has grown accustomed to living with a disability. He covers a wide range of sports for Monumental Sports & Entertainment.
“My disability doesn’t impact my job at all; if anything, people are more inclined to talk to me,” Brooks said.
But living with a disability presents different kinds of challenges. Brooks has had to deal with caretakers sleeping on the job and accepting lower pay to meet health insurance requirements.
It prompted Brooks to meet with D.C.'s deputy mayor; their conversations gave him hope for better regulations around home health care. But at this point, he’s had over 35 meetings with local officials and nursing companies, yet very little has changed.
“I’m trying to work on the back end to ensure that I’m changing the way services are rendered and changing the way that the home health care system is viewed entirely,” Brooks said.
Those were all challenges he tolerated until recently.
When a DC healthcare finance (agency oversight organization) official laughed when Brooks showed them a video depicting a caretaker setting down a blanket as if to go to bed.
It then further escalated when another official insinuated that Brooks had cerebral palsy.
That’s when he went public with his story, being featured on the local Washington D.C., NBC station.
“It’s infuriating to say the least, I’ve been working with people who are in positions to make change, and they’re reluctant to make change,” Brooks said.
He knew it was time to stand up for himself and others like him.
“My advocacy means a lot to me, because disability is a small community and [paraplegia] is a very expensive disability to live with,” Brooks said. “And I want everybody with disabilities to have the same opportunities that I’ve had to succeed.”
Brooks is a journalist, which means he never wants to become a part of the story. But he knows the power of journalism and how it can impact the lives of others.
“If I weren’t a journalist, then I probably wouldn’t have gone to the news,” Brooks said. “If I'm the only one benefiting and getting better care, I didn’t do what I was supposed to do, because I want everybody with disabilities to get the care they need and deserve.”
Taking action was a selfless action, but it was all about helping himself, too.
“I knew I had to make a sacrifice, get my voice heard and speak out about what I’ve been subjected to,” he added. “I thought about my career as a journalist. But at the same time, I’ve got to think about my life as well. Because if my life is in turmoil, or if I'm not getting the care that I need, that means I'm more hospitalized than I need to be.”
Brooks knew he had the best intentions in his heart, and he’s never wavered from his decision. Despite any backlash or noise. His determination has transcended the situation. It’s permeated throughout his life.
“I think it refuels you. It puts you in a mindset of having to think you’re either going to sink or swim. And for me, I was always in the mindset that I’m going to swim.”