MILWAUKEE — “I have people come up to me on the street and say, ‘Good for you for getting out in the world.’ Like that’s not normal. I’m just a person.”
Ebony Lewis is just a Milwaukee East Sider who loves art, theater, and her dog. She especially loves to paint. However, she can't paint with her hands. She uses her feet.
"Feel what you're feeling through your painting," Lewis said.
She was born with arthrogryposis. It’s a muscle disorder. All of her limbs are clubbed. Her arm movement is minimal, so she uses her feet to text, heat up coffee, and write things down.
"Honestly, anything you do with your hands, I can do with my feet.”
But that has also brought challenges both growing up and now as she navigates life as a 20-year-old seeking independence.
Since elementary school, she has been involved with school plays. At Tosa East High School, she was a stage manager for many of the productions. After graduating, she wanted to earn her bachelor's degree at a film school. She tried attending a university in Chicago, but there weren't many adaptive options. Then she looked at schools in Los Angeles, but there weren't affordable caregivers, so she stayed in Milwaukee. However, that presented its own set of challenges.
Watch Ebony Lewis' inspiring story...
“I had my roommates move out on me because they said they couldn’t handle the level of care I needed, which wasn’t them taking care of me. It was caregivers coming in, but they didn't like that," Lewis said.
Now, she lives in a one-bedroom apartment on Milwaukee's East Side. While she has a license, she is forced to rely on help getting around because she can't find funding sources for a modified vehicle to drive.
“It’s just kind of been one slap in the face after another of me just trying to live my life and society not allowing it," Lewis said.
To handle all the stress, she took up painting as a way to express herself. She paints landscapes, her dog, and anything else that comes to mind.
In addition to her painting, she’s also advocating for herself and her community.
“I want (life) to be more adaptable for us. I don’t want us to have to fight constantly to just live," she said. "People view us as things that need to be helped and fixed and not as actual humans. And we're all placed in the same bubble. It’s taken a lot to show people what I can do, and a lot of people have tried to stop me from just being a normal person. They want to keep you in this box, and you'll try to change their mindset, but they’re so stuck on it, you know. It's very hard."
She also wants people to recognize that not all disabilities are the same.
“Because I have abilities other people don’t. Other people can do things I can’t do," she said.
Lewis' goals are to eventually attend film school, get more disabled people involved in filmmaking, and live a normal life.
“I’m very determined. I want to do what I want to do, and I don’t care if people tell me I can’t. I don’t care if I can’t. I’m going to try to figure this out. I’m very go-go-go. Nothing stops me."
Given Ebony Lewis' attitude, it won’t be surprising when she accomplishes all her goals.
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