ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Clara Kingsley didn’t hear the message so much as she inhaled it.
“If you live with a disability, keep showing up — loudly, proudly and without apology.
“You are not here to shrink; you’re here to take up space.
“If you’re someone who ever felt overlooked or underestimated, listen to me: You belong here! The world needs your passion!”
"We deserve to be seen and heard for who we are."Jillian Mercado
With Kingsley, an Allentown resident, seated just feet away from the stage, keynote speaker Jillian Mercado addressed attendees at the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation’s annual national speaker event Wednesday.
Mercado did so from a wheelchair because of her spastic muscular dystrophy.
A model, actor and advocate, Mercado, 38, has refused to let her disability shackle her dreams.
She has become a prominent figure in the fashion world, challenging beauty ideals and re-defining traditional norms in the fashion industry.
Mercado has appeared in advertising campaigns for many of the most recognizable brands in the world, including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Olay and Target, and had a role in the Showtime channel drama "L Word Generation Q."
“I refused to let others keep me from my dreams,” she said following her speech. “We deserve to be seen and heard for who we are.”
'I'm here'
A few feet away, Kingsley, 58, drank in every word of Mercado’s encouragement from her own wheelchair.
Since suffering four strokes in 2020, Kingsley, a 30-year former employee at Good Shepherd, has fought the good fight.
But every now and then, a pep rally is a welcome tonic.
"When people see me now, they only see the billboards and the red carpets. They don’t see the hundreds of doors I knocked on that were slammed in my face. The rejection can chip away at your spirit. They forget you’re a whole person.Model, actor and advocate Jillian Mercado
“It’s great to hear Jillian tell people like me to keep fighting,” said Kingsley, whose speech and gait have been slowed by the strokes, but not her spirit.
“Sometimes, you need to hear from people like her.
“Since my stroke, people see me differently. Like, sometimes, when I’m with my cousins and they’re talking, I feel left out. It’s like they’re up here and I’m down here. Well, I’m not down here.
“I’m here!”
So, too, is Mercado, who has spent her off-camera career actively fighting to advocate for more representation of people with disabilities and eradicate the enduring stigma they face in the fashion industry.
Mercado delivered her message in red, shoulder-length hair, a black blouse dotted with glittering stars and black slacks.
"When people see me now, they only see the billboards and the red carpets,” she told the gathering, several of whom listened from wheelchairs.
“They don’t see the hundreds of doors I knocked on that were slammed in my face. The rejection can chip away at your spirit. They forget you’re a whole person.
“I’m most proud of being here — alive, thriving and refusing to settle for people’s expectations of me.”
'Disability in the world is ginormous'
In 2022, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more than 70 million adults in the United States reported having a disability.
That equates to more than 1 in 4 adults, or 28.7% of the population.
“The disability in the world is ginormous,” Mercado said.
“Jillian told us to always keep fighting, to never quit. I never will.”Clara Kingsley
Mercado also had a message for the able-bodied in the room. She implored them to be more inclusive to those with challenges.
“If you’re someone with no disability, this is for you,” she said. “This is not them versus us; it’s all of us. Remember, one illness, one accident and one aging joint changes things.
“You didn’t have to show up today, but you did — and maybe that’s where the shift changes.”
As for Kingsley, her fight continues — and has rarely wavered.
“I’ve only cried once during this whole thing,” she said. “Only once.
“Jillian told us to always keep fighting, to never quit.
“I never will.”
