This summer I joined ten other
young disabled activists in Chicago to learn how we could carry
on the traditions of ADAPT.
We learned that ADAPT
was started 25 years ago by a “Gang of
Nineteen,” young people with disabilities in Denver who took
to the streets in their fight for accessible public transportation.
When endless meetings and negotiations had resulted in little progress,
they barricaded one of the inaccessible city buses in order to expose
the injustice of unequal access to transportation. Their overnight
stay on the street led to the creation of the nationwide network
of disability activists called ADAPT (American Disabled for Accessible
Public Transit). ADAPT fought for accessible public transit, the
passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and is now fighting
for safe, affordable, accessible, integrating housing for all people
with disabilities.
After three days together
in a windowless conference room learning about all of the community
organizing and direct action techniques that ADAPT has developed
over the last 25 years, we put what we learned into action. We
decided we would target a Mexican restaurant, El Norte, and a nail
salon, Chan’s Nails, that were right across
the street from where we were meeting. Both businesses had a step
that made their front entrance inaccessible.
We arrived at El Norte
and Chan’s at about 11a.m. Monday morning
with a list of demands for each business. They were each to have a
ramp installed to their front entrance within two weeks. When our demands
were not immediately signed, we started chanting. One of our favorite
chants was targeted at the nail salon, “Gimps are hot! Crips
are sexy! We want access too!” Before long we broke out the chips
and salsa. If we couldn’t eat inside the restaurant we’d
eat outside! Promises to send the landlord to talk to us were made,
but when he didn’t show up we blocked the front entrances to
each business.
We handed a copy of
our press release to any passerby who would take one and received
a mixed reaction. Some people told us they supported what we were
doing, some seemed shocked and confused, and some people were very
angry that they couldn’t get to their
burritos or nail appointments. As people yelled at us or tried to
break through our barricades, we learned how being surrounded by
our community can help us to stand up to things we might never be
able to face alone.
As the negotiation process
progressed we saw the power of organized people to make an impact.
The owner of El Norte started out the day blaming us for hurting
his business. After hearing stories, in Spanish, from disabled
Latinos and Latinas and watching people being turned away from
his business with our press release in their hands, he said that
he realized that he was hurting his own business—and
signed our demands.
After settling with
El Norte we directed all of our people power toward Chan’s
Nails. During our negotiations, we learned that there was an accessible
customer entrance on the other side of the building. Just as we
were considering changing our demands, a police officer arrived
on the scene (we had been on the sidewalk for about two hours).
The cop flip-flopped between pretending to be our buddy (when he
agreed with our decisions) and threatening to arrest us (when we
exercised our power). We allowed the officer to enter the nail
salon and speak with the owner, and after some further discussion
we decided to change our demand for a ramp to a demand for a sign
on the front door directing people to the accessible entrance.
The salon posted a handwritten sign before we left and agreed to
ask the landlord to post a more permanent sign. While this result
did not meet our initial demand, we decided that we could live
with it. We made the decision to end our action and marched back
across the street chanting, “The people united
will never be defeated!”
After arriving back in our familiar conference room, we spent some
time reflecting on what worked and what didn’t work, and on what
we learned from the action. Then we learned about another ADAPT tradition … CELEBRATION!
We partied, we laughed, we cried, we debated, and we stayed up late
because we knew that we’d all be parting ways the next morning.
In the weeks since this action, our learning has not stopped. We’ve
kept in contact through e-mail and worked together to make sure that
the demands that were agreed to were met. Even though there was a
lot of finger pointing between the businesses, the landlord, and
even the city; four weeks after the action we received an e-mail
with pictures of a new cement ramp drying in front of El Norte!
Did we change the world? Not yet. But we did make a change. I’ve
got a picture of that ramp hanging right over my desk. Every time I
get discouraged and doubtful that things will ever change, I can look
at that ramp and say: “We did that. Together.” ![]()
Adapt Seeks to Build Twin Cities
Chapter
Are you looking for a chance
to join with others and claim our collective power? Are
there places in your neighborhood that you would like to
make more accessible to more people? Would you like to
do all of these things while having fun and making new
friends?
If you are interested in attending a local training similar
to the one described here, attending an informational meeting,
or receiving more information about ADAPT Twin Cities please
contact the author.
Would you like to support
ADAPT Twin Cities while getting some of your holiday
shopping done by purchasing an exclusive ADAPT 2008 wall
calendar for $15? (The calendar features spectacular
photos by Tom Olin of ADAPT’s 25 year history.)
If you answered “YES!” to any of these questions,
we would like to hear from you and join together to claim
our power and Free Our People! Please e-mail us at adapttc@gmail.com or call 651-792-6395.
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