Together We March by Leah Henderson

Author:Leah Henderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published: 2021-01-19T00:00:00+00:00

While the disability rights movement that formed in the 1960s made significant strides at the federal level by the 1970s, the laws did nothing to improve access to privately owned restaurants, stores, telephone and television services, offices, movie theaters, and more. So disabled citizens made their presence—and the disadvantages they faced daily—known to the public through civil disobedience. They blocked inaccessible buses and buildings with their wheelchairs and bodies, they had wheel-ins and sit-ins, they held public hearings, and they sent letters to congressmen. Leaders pressed for more unity, and people with differing disabilities committed to fighting for one another until laws would be passed to protect them all from discrimination.

This call for unity led to the proposal of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which would give all disabled people the same civil rights and access afforded to other minority groups.

By March 1990, though, the passage of the ADA was stalled in the House of Representatives as public transit companies lobbied against the expensive renovations the accessibility requirements dictated. But disability activists were determined not to let the bill be weakened. They knew they needed to go to Washington, DC, to fight. Yet, for many, traveling wasn’t a possibility due to these accessibility limitations. While those who could not attend sent their support through letters and telegrams to Congress, American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT), a disability rights group, organized events for protesters who could.

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