This month, we asked Anita Cameron, the resident blogger of
ADAPT, a vital organization to the disability community that relies upon direct action and civil disobedience to create a tense context by which others are forced to confront issues that threaten our literal lives, to share her thoughts on ADAPT's 25th anniversary.
*********************************************************
25 Years of Direct Action! Celebrate with Us!
By Anita Cameron
ADAPT is having its 25th
birthday! This April will mark the 25th anniversary of the first
national ADAPT action. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of
my first national ADAPT action. I’d been hanging around ADAPT since 1986, always
on the fringes -- a shy, quiet young thing, totally unremarkable, except that I
was Dennis Schreiber’s attendant and interpreter. Almost anybody around back
then remembers Dennis, but probably doesn’t remember the mousy little Black
girl with unruly hair who was his attendant. That was me.
What is ADAPT, you ask? Well,
ADAPT is a national, grassroots disability rights organization that began in Denver, Colorado.
It was started by 19 people with disabilities who wanted access to public transportation
and public places in their community. Many of them had been incarcerated in a
nursing home for most of their lives, and had only been out a relatively short
time. One of their first big battles was with the Regional Transportation
District (RTD), Denver’s
transportation authority. After countless meetings and negotiations that went
nowhere, the group had had enough, and staged a two-day protest where they
blocked the intersection of Colfax and Broadway, the busiest streets downtown,
blocking buses, and getting out of their wheelchairs and lying in the street.
That was the “shot heard ‘round the world”, if you will, and people with
disabilities in other cities wanted to learn how to do direct action to bring
about change.
You can’t even begin to talk
about ADAPT without talking about Wade Blank. Wade was once an activities
director in a nursing home called Heritage House This was the place where the
original group that started ADAPT was incarcerated. Wade’s history of working
for social justice and social change began long before then, but while at Heritage
House, he listened to the dreams of the young folks trapped there, and
ultimately helped them to free themselves, and move into the community. They
founded Atlantis Community, the second oldest independent living center in the
nation.
Once the Gang of 19 was out
in the community, they realized that there were many barriers—inaccessible
public transportation, restaurants, stores, and other places. Wade imparted his
knowledge of community organizing and activism to the budding activists, and
they began the daunting task of fighting for the right to go where everyone
else could go.
Today, ADAPT has grown from
the “Gang of 19” to a grassroots network of thousands of people with
disabilities and our allies, with at least 500 people from over 30 states, and
sometimes other countries, continually showing up at each action. We are a
diverse group...by disability, by politics, by gender and orientation, by race,
by ethnicity, by age (literally cradle to grave, and even having had people die
at actions), by geography, by ability to communicate and/or use assistive
communication, by income (though most of us are at or below poverty level), by
marital status or arrangement, by work experience or former occupation, or inability
to work, by institutional history, and so much more! We are a real community,
even family, that celebrates births, and the lives of those who have passed on,
and celebrates the achievements of each of us, be it personal or systemic.
Though we have no bylaws, elected officials, or directors, we have managed to
realize many significant achievements.
We have gone from being
considered rag-tag “militants”, “radicals”, and “hippies” to being a powerful
force to be reckoned with. We represent the cutting edge of disability rights
and activism, and have gained the respect of many elected officials and other
powerful people. Some may not like ADAPT, but they do respect us, and it is
much easier to get to the table to help shape policy.
I, too, have grown. I
started out as a shy, mousy 21-year-old, who rarely spoke, and when I did, it
was barely above a whisper. I desperately wanted to work for social justice and
social change. Having been born only three years before the death of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., I felt guilty for not being able to fight for the civil
rights of African Americans. I had been involved in several peace and justice
movements, but I never felt at home, and never felt as if I were a real part of
things. Also, I often was the only African American taking part in the
activities.
I joined ADAPT near the end
of 1986. At the time, I was living in ,
, my home town. A friend of my
godmother, a Sister in the order of the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND),
called her to see if there was anyone that she knew who would be interested in
working as an attendant for a man who had a disability. The man belonged to a
disability rights organization and traveled, and needed someone as a back-up
staff. My godmother immediately thought of me, and suggested that I apply for
the job. I did, and the rest is history. For the first year, I just hung out,
quietly participating in local actions. I was so amazed at the work that ADAPT
was doing locally with transportation issues. I also felt at home because here
were people who either looked like me, or had similar experiences. Then, in
March of 1988, I was finally able to go on my first national action—DC Siege/DOT!
I was forever hooked, and from then on, I went with Dennis on ALL of the
actions.
Shortly after I joined
ADAPT, I met Wade Blank, and we hit it off immediately. In December, 1988, I
moved to , to work with Atlantis/ADAPT. They had
recently opened a new office in Colorado
Springs. We often went to to participate in actions or meetings,
so I saw a lot of Wade, and was able to learn more about organizing and
activism. In 1991, I moved to
to work in the main office as a community organizer, working directly with Wade,
who became my mentor. Though Wade passed away only two years later, I felt
enriched and blessed by being able to work with him. The pearls of wisdom that
he sent my way were countless!
Over time, I grew from the
aforementioned mousy chick, to a fiery activist. I have become a ham, of sorts,
in ADAPT, singing, chanting, and helping to keep up our troops’ spirits. I have
also become a leader, sometimes helping with negotiations, and stuff, but
mostly helping to keep people informed, safe, and pumped up during the actions.
I now live in , and usually help to plan our local
actions.
ADAPT has changed my life. I
learned how to be an activist, and catalyst for change. I have learned (and am
still learning) the political process, and policymaking. Through ADAPT, I have
done some really cool and amazing things like help to plan a successful
two-week vigil in
to protest budget cuts that could have sent hundreds of people with
disabilities back into institutions. I participated in the Free Our People
March, where 210 people wheeled and walked from Philadelphia, PA, to
Washington, DC, to bring awareness of, and to call for the passage of MiCASSA
(Medicaid Community-based Attendant Services and Supports Act), now the
Community Choice Act (CCA). I was one of 50 ADAPT members who met with President
Bill Clinton in the East Room of the White House. I wouldn’t have been able to
do these things had I not been with ADAPT.
That is why I am so excited
about ADAPT’s 25 anniversary! We will be in
from April 26-May 2, 2008. There will be some amazing stuff happening for this
celebration:
April 27
National Fun*Run
ADAPT will hold its 2nd Fun
Run/Roll, with the incomparable Marca Bristo as the Honorary National
Runner/Roller.
April 30
When You Remember Me
Showing of the movie, “When
You Remember Me”, a made-for-TV film starring Jeff Savage, Kevin Spacey, and
Ellen Burstyn that chronicles Wade Blank's work freeing youth from a nursing
home...work that morphed into the creation of both Atlantis, and ADAPT, will be
shown in the evening. For a synopsis of the movie
May 1
The entire day will be given
over to the celebration! Here is just some of the amazing things that will be
taking place:
StoryCorps— if
you listen to NPR, then, you are familiar with StoryCorps, where people record
their stories for the Library of Congress, and some of these are aired on NPR.
StoryCorps will be at our hotel recording stories from ADAPT folks. I am so
excited!
ADAPT Museum--There
will be two huge rooms of multimedia ADAPT historical displays, including
blow-ups of 50 of Tom Olin's incredible photos, every T-shirt from every ADAPT
action over the past 25 years, artifacts, memorabilia, first person accounts of
every action, videos, slides, music. The folks from are bringing most of the items, news
clippings, etc.
ADAPT Jeopardy—this is Jeopardy! ADAPT style!
Tales Around The Campfire—with Mark Johnson
The Show
The Barbeque
Several dignitaries have
been invited. Representative Pat Shroeder, who came to the first action back in 1975
will be there!
This is only a partial list
of what is happening, so come join us for this magnificent celebration of 25
years of activism. I’ll see you there!