Minnesotans will have
two chances to see the Road to Freedom Bus Tour this month. The
traveling exhibit, a year-long, cross-country educational and promotional
bus tour to inform and inspire America about the compelling history
of disability rights, will stop first in downtown Minneapolis on
Friday, August 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The bus will be parked
between the Mill City Museum and the Guthrie Theater at 704 South
Second St., Minneapolis. The next day, the bus will travel to St.
Peter, Minnesota. The exhibit will be on display from
11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Minnesota
Square Park. A Remembering with Dignity dedication of 430 newly named
grave markers at the St. Peter State Hospital Cemetery will follow
from 2 to 3 p.m. All bus stops are free and open to the public.
“We are delighted to announce that the bus will stop here—one
of 80 stops on its nationwide tour,” said Cindy Tarshish, ADA
Minnesota. “The exhibit is an excellent reminder of the significant
changes brought about by the passage of the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) in 1990, as well as an opportunity to strengthen the call
for the most basic freedoms for people with disabilities: access
to public buildings, and opportunities to live independently and
work to support themselves and their families.”
The Road to Freedom
bus tour features a multi-media display and presentation that guides
viewers through the civil rights struggle for people with disabilities.
Jim Ward, president of ADA Watch and the National Coalition for
Disability Rights, will be on hand to talk about the ADA, the challenges
still faced by people with disabilities and the need to keep the
promise of the ADA. In Minneapolis, Ward’s presentations
are scheduled at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. Minneapolis
City Council President Barb Johnson will also read a proclamation
declaring Aug. 17 as Americans with Disabilities Road to Freedom
Day in Minneapolis. Minnesota State Representative Shelley Madore,
DFL, District 37A, known for her leadership on disability issues,
will also speak.
“We invite the public to drop by, especially the thousands of
people who work nearby at downtown businesses,” Tarshish said
about the Minneapolis stop. “The Road to Freedom tour is an important
reminder of the promises of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The
ADA didn’t solve all problems, as evidenced by rising unemployment
rates of people with disabilities able and willing to work and the
disproportionately high rate of poverty among people with disabilities.
There is more work to be done.”
“The St. Peter stop will provide the opportunity for people
to come to the St. Peter State Hospital Cemetery,” said Jim Fassett-Carmen
of Remembering with Dignity (RWD). “When you see the ground covered
with numbered graves, it makes you think—and sinks in. 1200
of the 1600 people buried in this cemetery now have names, due to
the work of the Remembering With Dignity Project. Yet, thousands
of state hospital residents in Minnesota, and in cemeteries littered
across the America, remain buried anonymously, in numbered and unmarked
graves.
I hope people take this
opportunity to visit the cemetery. As we work to ensure the rights
of and respect for people with disabilities today, we need to return
dignity to these people who went before us.”
Event hosts for the Road to Freedom tour include: Access Press; ADA
Minnesota; Advocating Change Together; Arc Greater Twin Cities; Courage
Center; The Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota; Metropolitan Center for
Independent Living; Mill City Museum; Minnesota Department of Employee
Relations; Minnesota Department of Human Services; Minnesota State
Council on Disability; United Cerebral Palsy of Minnesota; University
of Minnesota Institute on Community Integration; and VSA arts of Minnesota.
The Road to Freedom visit
coincides with the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD)
Conference, which will be at the Guthrie August 16-19, 2007. This
annual conference is produced by the Accessibility Office of the
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and is intended for
people working in the arts to learn more about access as it relates
to people with disabilities. Local sponsors include the Minnesota
State Arts Board, VSA arts of Minnesota and the Guthrie Theater. ![]()
