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Theo Ressa
By Alexandra Nava-Baltimore
Theo Ressa , Professor at Wayne State University of Detroit , Michigan , Disability Rights Activist , Educator , and Researcher , is making significant strides in the lives of his students and in Kenya , where he was born and raised .
Ressa uses a wheelchair , crutches , or braces depending upon the environment . He spent much of his time and energy learning how to " navigate different environments full of barriers " throughout his life in Kenya , as accessibility issues are prevalent there . Despite these barriers , Ressa never strayed away from creating a life for himself , one in which he partakes in world-changing work , leading him to where he is today .
Growing up , he went to a rehabilitation school around
Lake Victoria in Kenya and then attended Maseno University , where he received a Bachelor ' s Degree in Education , Special Education , and Teaching of English Language Arts .
Although Ressa ' s parents valued education deeply , being born in a small village with minimal to no accessible environments made schooling in the community schools that much more challenging . " I had to be carried on the back of my mom and be taken to the bus station to wait for a bus that would sometimes come . Sometimes we would not come back for a whole day , or you are being rained on ," Ressa said . " Going to school was always not something that I was always assured of . So looking at that itself is always an impetus ." In addition , Ressa ' s father invested in his education as well . Both of his parents
who are now retired teachers sacrificed a great deal to ensure he could receive it , and he was able to attend a special school that was a Catholic Institution . His teachers were typically African people and European nuns , which broadened his understanding of the world .
" But after I graduated [ from Maseno University ], I realized there are more than physical hurdles , economic hurdles , social hurdles , these are real cultural hurdles . And the way I define culture is people ' s programs of survival , how you treat someone to survive , or how you use the same knowledge , practices , beliefs , ideologies to destroy another one ."
Trying to find a job after he completed his undergraduate degree was a struggle for Ressa because of natural and built environmental barriers .