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Road to Freedom Tour a Journey of AwarenessBy Janine Bertram Kemp The bus is on its way. The Road to Freedom bus tour, a yearlong campaign to increase awareness of the Americans with Disabilities Act, began its 50-state journey on November 15th, 2006, in Washington, D.C. The tour is a project of ADA Watch, an organization dedicated to advancing the civil rights of people with disabilities, and the National Coalition for Disability Rights. 
Recently in California, the contingent of disability rights advocates on two 40-foot RVs has already completed half of its 80-stop tour (the group will fly to Alaska and Hawaii). “It’s important to keep the ADA as strong as it was intended to be,” said Margie Moore, Americorps Director of Living Independence For Everyone (LIFE) in Mississippi. “The Road to Freedom and our history are essential to people with disabilities. I see things long term and from two movements. “The first time I was arrested, I was 12 years old and it was in the 1960s,” said Moore, whose granddaughter and son have disabilities. “I was jailed for ordering a hotdog in a restaurant that served whites only. As soon as I was released, I went back out and did it again.” The Road to Freedom tour is inspired by the historic 50-state journey taken by the husband-and-wife team of Justin and Yoshiko Dart in 1988 to garner grass-roots support for the yet-to-be-passed Americans with Disabilities Act. The purpose of the current tour is threefold: 1) To educate the
public, policymakers and the media about the compelling history of the
disability rights movement in America; The third goal has sparked some controversy. The ADA Restoration Act was introduced by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) with little involvement from the disability community. It was said to be largely driven by former Congressman Tony Coehlo, who has stated that he wants to ensure that people with epilepsy are protected. Yoshiko Dart is one notable “Freedom” tour traveler. “Before Justin passed away, he was afraid of the timing if we opened up the ADA,” she said. “Legislation needs to be owned by the people. The secret of the ADA was that we felt it was ours. However, these are great leaders: Tony Coehlo and Steny Hoyer. We need them.” At one stop along the Road to Freedom, Chris Luther and Joseph Ray, indigenous activists from Paraje Village, came to Santa Fe, N.M. They were fighting for legislative funding for a center for independent living to serve Pueblo people at Laguna and San Felipe pueblos. The Pueblos are rich in culture, but many live in grave poverty. It’s not an easy or accessible place for people with disabilities. Luther brought an award Justin and Yoshiko Dart had given him after their 1988 tour. In one RV are Jim Ward, president and founder of ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights; Debbie Fletter Ward, founder of Wired on Wheels and a former vice president of AOL and its first director of accessibility; and their two toddlers, Zachary and Jake. Display panels that are a part of each stop on the Road to Freedom tour are the work of Tom Olin and Arlene Mayerson. Olin, a disability rights photojournalist and social documentarian who drives the tour bus, has vividly captured the movement leading to passage of the ADA. His photos have been displayed at the Smithsonian Institution. Mayerson, a member of the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund and arguably the nation’s top ADA expert, provided the words accompanying the pictures. “The Road to Freedom is important because we need to have a focal point to reflect on disability rights and civil rights,” said Lee Schulz, executive director of IndependenceFirst, a not-for-profit agency in Milwaukee, Wis. “Every movement needs to honor its events — good and bad — and we need to do that with disability rights.” IndependenceFirst is the tour’s lead sponsor. Schulz noted that the bus tour is a way for CILs to get headlines in newspapers and garner support from local businesses. “Some communities that otherwise would not, will celebrate ADA,” he said. “From a center’s standpoint, it’s great to have something to celebrate and focus on, to draw in more consumers and get some headlines.” “The bus, the photos and our history…they are magnificent,” Yoshiko Dart said. “The most important part is connecting people. You need to find the movers, shakers and worker bees and build ongoing connections. “The key is for people to feel ownership of that bus. If this bus goes across our nation and the people feel ownership of it, of our history, then it will be a success. One year is good, but if the bus could go on after the year (is up), it would really be something. It would become ours — a true organizing tool.” 
When the Road to Freedom rolled into Arkansas, Delta Resource Center for Independent Living was ready. “This was a monumental event for us,” said Billy Altom, executive director of the CIL. “The message of civil rights for people with disabilities went out all over the state. We were able to get the governor at the event for the first time in years because Governor Mike Beebe had just been elected. If you can get the governor, you get media. Every newspaper and TV station was there. And we had disability advocates from every major group in the state.” In addition to education, Altom used the event for celebration and renewal. “We’ve worked hard, and we need to see what we’ve accomplished. We need to know we have a history. Celebrations are self-care, and we often do self-sabotage with constant work. This is an ongoing battle, and we need to stay spiritually healthy.” In Phoenix, Arizona Bridge to Independent Living (ABIL) used the Road to Freedom tour for public education and celebration but also to draw attention to its annual Spirit of ABIL Awards event. “We held a rally at the Capitol for a presentation and demonstration,” said Phil Pangrazio, executive director. “People from the mainstream and disability movement attended. Then the Road to Freedom bus and photo display were at our awards event. Jim Ward spoke, and it was great that the tour supported a grass-roots event.” Pangrazio told Ward that his board had approved a donation to keep the Road to Freedom rolling. “If CILs can get board approval for a larger donation like ABIL’s or IndependenceFirst’s, that’s fantastic,” Olin said. “But most CIL directors have at least 500 to a thousand dollars in discretionary funds. That can make a huge difference for the Road to Freedom. We are a grass-roots operation and need everyone to invest what they can.” The calendar for the Road to Freedom Tour, along with additional information, can be found at http://www.roadtofreedom.org . An online petition supporting the ADA Restoration Act is available. CIL officials are invited and urged to use the tour for mainstream and disability events in their states. For information regarding event-planning in your state, contact Kendra-Sue Derby at mailto:ksderby@comcast.net. ****************************** Janine Bertram Kemp is a writer and longtime disability rights activist who has been involved with the Real Choice Systems Change federal program and the Money Follows the Person initiative. The Oregon resident is a board member of the National Coalition of Disability Rights and the Disability Rights Center. When the Road to Freedom bus rolled into Arkansas, Delta Resource Center for Independent Living was ready. “This was a monumental event for us,” said Billy Altom, executive director of the CIL. “The message of civil rights for people with disabilities went out all over the state. We were able to get the governor at the event for the first time in years because Governor Mike Beebe had just been elected. If you can get the governor, you get media. Every newspaper and TV station was there. |
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