By E.M. Treston
I attended the Disability Leadership and Policy Summit: An Agenda for Change in The 21st Century at Hofstra University in New York this past June (see article on page 26). These leadership and policy summits are usually held in Washington, DC. Having it come to my own backyard, I felt obligated to go. It was an all afternoon event sponsored by United Spinal Association, Nassau County’s Office of the Physically Challenged and Hofstra University. The topics included education, transportation and employment issues for persons with disabilities.
I do not consider myself an extreme activist. I don’t have any pretense that I’m going to handcuff my chair to the White House gates. I consider myself an isolationist activist. It’s my own term, which, perhaps, I should trademark.
A few years ago, I was involved in a long-distance relationship. A couple of times a month, we would meet up at a hotel at a geographical halfway point. One of these hotels was a Hyatt in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The back entrance door at this hotel weighed about 500 pounds. All right, an exaggeration, but for a C-6 tetraplegic such as myself, it may as well have been. There was no doorman. I was quietly miffed that I could not get into the place by myself. So I wrote a letter to the management office explaining the situation. The next time I went to stay at the Hyatt Hotel, there was an automatic door. Isolationist activism at its best.
I have utilized isolationist activism in my community and my travels when I see things that basically affect my life. A phone call to the local news and a smattering of letters to officials lead to small victories of curb cuts and adequate parking spaces for me and others.
During the June Summit, Andrew Imparato, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), spoke about disability leadership, leaders and matters of the ADA and the Supreme Court.
He then asked the audience, “What do we want?”
He prompted us: “Civil rights!”
“When do we want it”?
“Now!” we chanted.
I realize my isolationist activism, although effective, could be viewed as selfish. Disability rights is a civil rights issue affecting more than 58 million Americans with disabilities,* and of that number there are current estimates between 250,000 – 400,000 individuals living with spinal cord injury or spinal disease.
My activism needs to change. Our activism needs to change. I urge you to join Justice for All (www.aapd.com/JFA/index.php). It is a free service from the American Association of People with Disabilities. An e-mail will arrive in your box alerting you of political and economic issues that affect our lives. You may not agree with all the policies but that’s your right.
In this major political year, make your voice heard. As for me, my time of isolation is over.
E.M. Treston writes frequently for Action.
* Rate of 1 in 5 Americans has some level of disability from U.S. Census Bureau Report, March 16, 2001.
