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Beyond spreading awareness, Disability History Month is about remembering the people and events that pushed for disabled rights. We'd like to share with you some of the key people and events who have shaped discussion, awareness and legislation over the past 50 years.
Capitol Crawl
On March 12 1990, over 1,000 people marched up to the White House in protest: the Americans with Disabilities Act had been passed, but representatives were suggesting amendments that would weaken it. Protesters decided to put aside any mobility aids and ‘’crawl’’ up the stairs of the Capitol Building, in demonstration of how much infrastructure needs the accessibility that the ADA demands. (Mickiewicz,2021).
Brad Lomax and the 504 sit-in
As a prominent member of the Black Panther Party, Brad Lomax’s connections were key when he joined over 100 people to occupy the offices of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in 1977. This protest was to push for the enforcement of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibited discrimination based on disability for those who received federal aid. The sit-in lasted for a month thanks to the Black Panther Party bringing provisions to the protest daily, pushing the 504 regulations forward (Connelly,2020).
The Equality Act of 2010
The Equality Act of 2010 brings together over a hundred pieces of legislation to protect individuals from discrimination based on specific characteristics, such as disability. This section has created leaps in disabled rights by making it unlawful to refuse reasonable adjustments or harass disabled people. It is why businesses must provide a disabled toilet when they provide a non-disabled toilet unless they have reasonable explanations (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2020).
Edward Roberts
Ed Roberts was accepted to the University of California but was refused because his iron lung would not fit into his dormitory. He pushed against this decision and ended up graduating with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in political science. He founded the Centre for Independent Living, which aimed to provide disabled people with access to independent living. This organisation helped get disabled people out of residential living through changes that we now take for granted, such as curb cuts (Britannica, 2023).
Judy Heumann
Part of the Capitol Crawl and the 504 sit-in, Judy Heumann was a disability rights advocate and spent her life ensuring legislation protecting disabled people was enforced. She became an advocate when she was refused a teaching position for being in a wheelchair and sued New York City. She helped found the Centre for Independent Living, worked in the Senate Committee on Labour and Public Welfare, and was a counsellor in Camp Jened, which aimed to provide disabled people with common experiences of non-disabled people(Traub, 2023).
Monumental progress has been made to defend the rights of disabled people, shaped by the people that dedicated their lives to advocate for the disabled community. Today’s advocacy is shaped by people like Judy Heumann and Edward Roberts, who will not be forgotten even as Disability History Month 2024 comes to an end.
References:
Leon, J. (2023) Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ed-Roberts
Connelly, E. (2020) TheNew York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/obituaries/brad-lomax-overlooked.html
Equality and Human RightsCommission (2020) Disability Discrimination. Available at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/equality/equality-act-2010/your-rights-under-equality-act-2010/disability-discrimination
Mickiewicz, D. (2021) BoundaryStones. Available at: https://boundarystones.weta.org/2021/09/16/capitol-crawl.
Traub, A. (2023) The NewYork Times. Available at:https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/05/obituaries/judy-heumann-dead.html