Karl Williams: RESPECT

Karl Williams

RESPECT Cover Art

Karl Conducting
A songbook for this album is now in the works.
In the meantime, please see the lyric page for
the chords to "Stand Together,"
which is SABE's official theme song.

RESPECT: Songs of the
Self-Advocacy Movement
Karl Williams with Self-Advocates
Becoming Empowered (SABE)

Respect
People First
Stand Together
Heroes and Heroines
Sticks and Stones
The ADA Song
Anyway
Dance and Dance and Dance
Speaking for Ourselves
The Promised Land
Don't You Want to Do Right
Close the Doors
Ballad of David Wayne Lee
We'll Be Thinking of You

Click here for the complete lyrics.

Released in April 1998 at the Fourth International People First Conference in Alaska, RESPECT became a candidate for a Grammy nomination in the Best Contemporary Folk category in 1998. With the exception of the well-known title track, (a lyric rewrite of the Otis Redding song made popular by Aretha Franklin) the other songs on the disk were written or co-written specifically for the self-advocacy movement or for the larger disability rights movement. Featuring Karl Williams sharing vocals with SABE members, RESPECT was recorded at The Green Room in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania—the studio where rock/pop artists Jeffrey Gaines (Chrysalis and Rykodisc) and the Badlees (Arc 21) got their starts.

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Tia Nelis

RESPECT- This song will help people prove their point: that people with disabilities can be worth something and can contribute things to society, and to show them the respect that they deserve. We made this CD to talk about how people with disabilites want to be respected and the things we believe in. Hopefully you will share this with your friends and family.

— Tia Nelis, President, SABE

Steve Holmes, Administrative Coordinator, Self-Advocacy Association
of New York State and Advisor, Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE)

"Respect: Songs of the Self-Advocacy Movement is a kick-ass collection of songs that really captures the spirit of the movement."

Professor Wolf Wolfensberger, Director of the Training Institute for Human Service Planning, Leadership, and Change Agentry, Syracuse University:

"Quite striking songs... he poignantly captures the experience of being on the receiving end of society's oppression. We think his work should have a much broader exposure."

Mark Friedman, Coordinator and Jerome Iannuzzi, Board Member, Speaking For Ourselves:

"The song you wrote for us touches peoples' experiences so strongly it is almost uncanny that you could get so much into so few words. [It] has had a powerful impact on our members; it brings people together and it makes us strong."

Mouth, The Voice Of Disability Rights (on "The ADA Song"):

"MOUTH guarantees this one: if you're ever sorry you bought it, we'll buy it from you."