Best Buddies Leadership Conference Supporters Learn ‘yes, they can’

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- For most of their lives, many of the 1,300 people who were gathered in the IU Auditorium on Friday have heard the word “can’t.”

At the opening ceremony of the Best Buddies International Leadership Conference, they heard the opposite: Yes, you can.

“‘I think she can’t.’ I’ve heard people say this so many times,” said Rachel Lipke, an intellectual and developmental disabilities self–advocate. “I’ve had a lot of difficulties in my life, but I’ve made sure to turn the word ‘can’t’ into ‘can.’”

'Glee' Stop R-Word Campaign Grabs Attention with Use of Ethnic Slurs

Confession: I had a preview of this PSA months ago. I thought it was brilliant, powerful and certainly had shock value to grab viewers' attention. Most important, the message was compelling and clear with strong call-to-action. However, I thought it would never air on any television station or network (clearly I was wrong about that. The PSA will be shown on "a majority of their(Fox) cable channels and regional sports networks, MTV, USA Network, Oxygen Network and Turner networks including TNT, TBS, truTV and CNN," according to the campaign's website. because of the use of ethnic slurs. It certainly has people talking. Share your thoughts.

There are some words you just don't hear on network television - and a public service announcement airing during last night's "Glee" used them all.
The uncensored video, filmed as part of the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign to put a stop to the use of the R-word, featured men and women of different minorities firmly telling viewers it is never acceptable to use a slur.