Advocacy in Action
By: Mildred Caballero-Ho
Deputy Director, WILC
"Responding to the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities" - That was the title of one of the
general sessions at a recent HUD National Fair Housing Conference. I had been
invited as a speaker to share my personal story as a person with a disability;
a journey on which I have traveled from pitied child to committed and
persuasive advocate for people with disabilities. The audience of approximately
2,000 people consisted, for the most part, of people without disabilities, or
at least without visible disabilities.
As my session was about to begin, the
moderator told me that a protest was about to be staged by people with
disabilities who were very upset that the conference was not more accessible to
them. I was stunned! Maybe this interruption was fine with him, but it wasn't
fine with me. After all, I had flown into Washington the night before and had
worked long and hard on my speech. This was to be opportunity of a lifetime for
me and I resented having my moment taken from me. Little did I know that I was
about to witness the kind of courage on behalf of people with disabilities that
I was there to speak about.
Through the side doors, a parade of people
using wheelchairs, crutches, and guide dogs marched in. About 20 in number,
they made their way down the aisle. A woman read a letter summarizing the
group's disappointment that a conference sponsored by a branch of the federal
government was inaccessible to people with disabilities. Individual stories of
hardships and frustrations were recited. As the stories were told, I found my
resentment against these people fading, replaced by a feeling of pride and
identification. Suddenly, I was so fired up that it didn't matter if I never
got to give my speech.
The panel presentation did resume and I did
give my speech. At the end, it was announced that the Commissioner of HUD would
meet with the protesters that afternoon. What a victory I had witnessed in the
fight for the civil rights of people with disabilities. People just like you
and me. People who will no longer be silenced. |
Capitol News
A bill was recently introduced in the
Senate to improve and extend federal programs that help people with
disabilities to access services and programs. The Assistive Technology
Act Reauthorization seeks to increase access to assistive technology
by people with disabilities at work, school, and in the community by
strengthening state funding streams for technology training and advocacy
services. Other bills making their way through the Congressional maze include:
- Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA). Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have
passed their own version of the reauthorized Act, which awaits final
discussions and passage.
- The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act (LLEEA)
is being proposed by members in both the House and the Senate as an amendment
to the Department of Defense Authorization bill. LLEEA strengthens the Federal
hate crimes statute by permitting Federal involvement in the prosecution of
bias-crimes based on the victim's disability, gender or sexual orientation, and
authorizes resources for state and local authorities to prosecute such crimes.
This bill represents the first time that people with disabilities are included
as a protected class in Federal hate crimes legislation.
- A bill has been introduced in the House to amend Title
III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This bill would
require that complainants allow owners of businesses or places of public
accommodation the opportunity to correct alleged violations of the ADA as a
precondition to bringing a civil lawsuit.
For more details or updates on these bills,
visit the following websites:
www.aapd-dc.org or
www.congress.org or
www.thearc.org
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