In this powerful episode of Breaking Barriers, Angel Heaven Lee tackles a fight that should’ve been over decades ago - workplace inclusion for people with disabilities.

Despite being skilled, driven, and ready to work, disabled individuals still face shocking rates of unemployment, inaccessible hiring practices, and outdated policies that keep us locked out of opportunity. Angel is joined by guest Grady Gambrell, a passionate advocate and digital media professional, to unpack the myths, barriers, and systemic failures that still exist today.

💡 Whether you're disabled, an ally, an employer, or just someone ready to learn and do better - this episode will challenge you to rethink what real equity looks like in the workplace.

🔍 Topics we cover:

• The hard stats on disability and employment

• Busting common myths about disabled workers

• Why accessibility isn’t optional—it’s essential

• The end of subminimum wage in South Carolina

• How fear of losing benefits holds people back

• Local efforts creating real change—and what more we need

• What you can do to fight for inclusion in your workplace and community
  

📞 Call Your Lawmakers - Demand an end to subminimum wage. Push for funding for disability hiring programs.

👉 https://www.scstatehouse.gov/legislatorssearch.php

🏢 Support Disability-Owned Businesses - If the job market won’t include us - we’ll build our own spaces.

📣 Educate Employers - If you’re in HR or leadership, get serious about accessibility and learn the real benefits of hiring disabled talent.

🛑 Speak Up - Talk about ableism. Call it out. Keep the conversation going - at work, at school, in your community.🎧 Listen now, share widely, and help us break the barriers once and for all.

For generations, America has promised freedom, opportunity, and success to those who seek a better life. But for millions of immigrants, that dream is slipping further out of reach—or being snatched away entirely. From ICE deporting U.S. citizens and ignoring court orders, to South Carolina echoing dangerous laws from Texas and Florida, immigrant communities are under attack.

In this episode, Angel dives into:

• The myth vs. reality of the American Dream

• Broken immigration policies and deliberate delays

• Workplace exploitation, xenophobic laws, and ICE’s abuse of power

• What’s happening in South Carolina—and why we need to care

• How we fight back, reclaim the dream, and protect immigrant rights

🧭 Where to start? 📍 Find your South Carolina legislators 📍 Find your U.S. Representatives and Senators

Call. Write. Email. Show up. Make noise. Tell them you refuse to accept a two-tier immigration system that treats human lives like bargaining chips.

🛡️ Support organizations on the frontlines, including:

• SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center

• Alianza Latina of the Midlands

• Carolina Immigrant Alliance

These groups are doing the legal, grassroots, and policy work that keeps immigrant communities safer—but they can’t do it alone.

Immigrant rights ARE human rights. If we care about freedom and justice, we must act.

🎙️ In this episode of Breaking Barriers, host Angel Heaven Lee sits down with Neel Sawicky, National Media Secretary and State Party Chair of The Labor Party, to talk about what it truly means to uplift the working class.

From demanding fair wages and union rights to fighting for universal healthcare and housing justice, The Labor Party offers a bold, worker-led alternative to the corporate-controlled political status quo. Neel shares the party’s mission, its commitment to grassroots organizing, and how you can get involved—no corporate PAC money, no compromises.

📢 Take Action:

✅ Learn more and get involved: VoteLabor.org

✅ Contact The Labor Party: votelabor.org/contact

📧 Contact Neel: media@votelabor.org

📧 Contact Angel: breakingbarrierswithangel@gmail.com

#BreakingBarriersPodcast #LaborPartyUSA #PowerToThePeople #UpliftTheWorkingClass #WorkersRights #EconomicJustice #UnionStrong #PeopleOverProfit #AngelHeavenLee #VoteLabor #GrassrootsMovement #NoPACMoney #DisabilityJustice #HousingIsAHumanRight #HealthcareForAll #BreakingBarriersWithAngelHeavenLee

AmeriCorps has been the quiet backbone of American resilience — from disaster recovery to education, to fighting hunger, homelessness, and isolation. But today, it’s under direct attack.

On this episode of Breaking Barriers, Angel Heaven Lee exposes the devastating dismantling of AmeriCorps by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — a move that has abruptly cut service for tens of thousands of members and gutted over a thousand community organizations.

This isn’t just about losing service hours. It’s about losing community, hope, and our nation’s ability to care for its most vulnerable.

Angel breaks down what’s happening, why AmeriCorps matters more than ever, who will be hit hardest — and most importantly, how you can fight back.

📞 Find your members of Congress at Congress.gov

Email your Members of Congress TODAY using this Contact Congress email tool. There’s an updated letter to reflect these new developments, so if you’ve already sent a letter in the last week, you can send another one to your lawmakers now

Call your lawmakers TODAY using this handy call script and instructions. This is an important way to share more about your personal experience with AmeriCorps as an alumni, supporter, or program partner.

📢 Call them. Email them. Demand they protect AmeriCorps.

If you want to share how you feel about them cancelling this program, you can also send them a message here: https://voicesforservice.org/take-action/contact-congress/

If you want to be connected easily, you can call the Capitol switchboard and ask for your Senator or Representative directly:

• House of Representatives: (202) 225-3121
  Senate: (202) 224-3121
  

  When you call, keep it simple, but powerful. Here’s a sample script you can use:

• "Good morning/afternoon. My name is [Name], and I’m a constituent from [City, State]. I’m calling to urge [Representative/Senator Name] to oppose any efforts to dismantle AmeriCorps. Ending these programs would devastate our communities by stripping away critical services and support systems that millions of Americans rely on. AmeriCorps strengthens disaster recovery, education, veteran support, and so much more. We need AmeriCorps now more than ever. Please stand with your constituents and protect AmeriCorps."

  Remember, when a community falls, we all fall.

  Stay loud. Stay fighting. Stay breaking those barriers.

  #SaveAmeriCorps #CommunityPower #BreakingBarriersWithAngelHeavenLee

🎙️ In this urgent episode of Breaking Barriers with Angel Heaven Lee, we sound the alarm on a leaked federal budget proposal from the ⁠U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that threatens to gut critical disability programs under the Administration for Community Living (ACL)⁠.

On March 27th, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services made a quiet but powerful announcement: they plan to dismantle the Administration for Community Living, also known as the ACL.

This isn’t just a bureaucratic shift. This is a direct threat to millions of disabled people, older adults, and the very foundation of independent living in America.

From independent living services to developmental disability supports, protection and advocacy efforts, caregiver programs, and more, this proposal puts our freedom, dignity, and right to live in our communities at risk.

In this episode, Angel breaks down what’s at stake, why this fight echoes the legacy of the 1977 504 Sit-In, and how you can rise up, speak out, and protect the programs that disabled people and families across this country depend on every day.

Their plan proposes to eliminate the ACL and split its functions into three separate agencies. They also plan to:

• Merge the Office for Civil Rights—which enforces disability rights—into an agency focused on “waste, fraud, and abuse.”

• Cut and consolidate SAMHSA, the agency responsible for mental health and substance use treatment.

This is not just about funding. It’s about civil rights. It’s about survival. And we will not go quietly.

📬 Use this quick and accessible link to email your reps:

👉⁠https://ablesouthcarolina.salsalabs.org/aclthreatmarch2025/index.html⁠

You can also check out the Administration for Community Living’s advocacy toolkit for talking points, templates, and helpful tools.

🛑 Take action now: ⁠https://action.thearc.org⁠

📣 Hashtags: #WeWillNotBeErased #DisabilityJustice #FundIndependentLiving #StopTheCuts

Tell them:

“Reject any budget that cuts or weakens ACL programs. These are not political luxuries—these are the supports that allow me, my family, and my community to live with dignity and independence.”

So, whether you’re disabled, a caregiver, a veteran, or someone who just believes in justice:

1. Contact your legislators. Tell them to oppose the dismantling of the ACL. They need to hear from real people.

2. Support organizations who are pushing back.

3. Share your story. Post on social media, write a letter, call your representatives—let them know what these services mean to you or your community.

4. Demand oversight hearings. Congress has the power to stop this. Hold them accountable.

5. Vote like your life depends on it—because for some of us, it really does.

🎙️In this very first episode, Angel Heaven Lee introduces herself, and the mission behind Breaking Barriers. As a disabled advocate, entrepreneur, and voice for marginalized communities, Angel shares why this podcast exists and what you can expect in the episodes to come.

From the fight for disability rights to the ongoing attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), from Medicaid cuts to housing injustice—this podcast is about exposing the systems that hold people back and amplifying the voices pushing for change.

Whether you're directly impacted, an ally, or just someone trying to make sense of the world around you—this space is for you.

🎧 Get ready to break barriers, challenge norms, and build a more inclusive future—one episode at a time.