Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the ADA!!

Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Oh, welcome to the show everyone. This is a great month. It is. The 30th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and we will be celebrating that the entire month. But first, I have to send a special shout out to Yoshiko, Yoshiko Dart. Wow, what an important part you played in this. We love you and just loved Justin. I know he's still with us here in spirit though. And also a special shout out to my two friends, Richard Robert and Gang Young. Richard in Okinawa and Gang Young in Seoul, South Korea. They are both working for the State Department. They are both friends and disability advocates. And we will be having a special show in South Korea And from Japan. Now, I want to tell you, we have listeners around the world. We have right now 17 countries with listeners, uh, to our show, and one of the largest is China. And I just wanted to tell you, we think about you all the time, uh, with everything you've gone through with COVID But I just am so thrilled We have people in China that follow this show. You spread the news. And, uh, Highmark— Highmark is our lead sponsor for the past 4 years. And our new sponsors are Peoples, Peoples Natural Gas, Wells Fargo, and the Employment Options. And I appreciate every one of you. So Here we go, celebrating this month. And I had to kick it off with not only two of my favorite people, but two well-known disability rights leaders. And I know you've heard them before. They're like the dynamic duo here. And that would be Maria Towne, the president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities, and Kelly Buckland, the Executive Director of the National Council on Independent Living, known as NCLIL. Maria and Kelly, welcome to the show.

Hi, Joyce. Hi, Joyce.

Thank you for having me.

Oh, I'm thrilled to have both of you. Both of you. You're like a new duo that we have on here, the dynamic duo, and I am so really blessed to know both of you, but of course, so are all the Americans with disabilities that you are doing so much for. Hard to believe, hard to believe this is the 30th anniversary of the ADA. I know I can't believe it. You know, I started Bender Consulting Services 25 years ago. So I was not there on that great day that it was signed, and Maria, I know for sure you weren't, but I weren't there. I was not there, and still I always felt part of it. And when I think about, wow, all that time has passed, it is amazing that that has happened. But here we are to celebrate this great Civil Rights Act for people with disabilities. So how about if both of you start by telling me what you are both planning on doing to celebrate. And Maria, we'll start with you. What are you doing to celebrate the 30th anniversary?

Well, AIPD is collaborating with the National Disability Leadership Alliance, which is a group of 17 disability-led organizations to celebrate the ADA. Joyce Bender, on that day, on July 26, 1990, when the ADA was signed by President George H.W. Bush, it's the largest signing ceremony in White House U.S. history. It was 3,000 people on the South Lawn. Those folks came from all over the country because to pass the ADA, what it took was was cross-disability organizing in every state in the United States. And so for the NDLA celebration, we wanted to do something that reflected this large community that came together to pass the ADA. So we are producing short videos from disability organizations across the country who will speak about what the ADA has meant to them, what they hope for the future, and some of the things that they're doing now to promote disability rights. And then anybody can join in the conversation on Twitter after these videos have played, and we're hoping to develop this ongoing dialogue around disability rights, enforcing the ADA, and the future of the ADA for the next 30 years and beyond.

Wow, that's awesome. That— now, how do people follow up on all of that, Maria?

So, um, I— you can either— I'm gonna tag Kelly too— reach out to me or Kelly. Um, my email is mtown@aapd.com, and Kelly's email is— Kelly, are you kelly@nickel.org. Yes. And Kelly is kelly@nickel.org.

Okay. Well, Kelly Buckland, I know we have been through many of these ceremonies together, many of these anniversaries. And you know, it is hard. It's hard. This year we all had so many plans last year. We would all be together celebrating. Kelly, I know I'm always talking to you about that event at Union Station and how wonderful that was and what you did in the past few years at NICL. But isn't it hard to believe, Kelly, that we're at the 30th anniversary?

Yes, it is. And just to think about that, the event at Union Station was 10th anniversary, so that was 20 years ago. So as Maria said, I'm going to be doing, working with the NDLA, the National Disability Leadership Alliance, too, on those videos. But as you know, we also have a conference going on, so I'll be tied up in the NCL Conference. We have a lot of workshops going on. We will definitely be doing some ADA celebration stuff, and I'm also going to probably have a drink. I don't know, I think you remember this, Joyce Bender, but I broke my neck on July 26th, 1970. So the ADA was put into effect by George Bush on the 20th anniversary of me breaking my neck, and so I have a drink to celebrate, one, living through that event, and then two, just to celebrate the great civil rights that the ADA has afforded. And then I'm going to also do some mediating and some reflecting and then just do some recommitting to continuing to try to fulfill the promises of the ADA that haven't yet been realized.

Well, you know what? You are just absolutely unbelievably awesome person and friend. I only wish I could be there to have that drink, that celebration drink with you. And as I said, we all hope that would happen, but we still have the passion, we still have the excitement, and we will still carry through with, was celebrating. And Kelly, now how do people get involved with your conference?

Uh, you can register at the NCIL website at, uh, NCIL.com— or .org, sorry. So NCIL.org.

Um, and people can still register? Can they still register?

Yes, in fact, we will have registration open during the entire conference as well. So you can register now, you can register anytime during the conference because all of the things, all the workshops and events and all that stuff will be archived on the website. So you could even watch them later. So registration would still allow you to do that. And then— Um, just as an FYI, we have a little over 1,000 people registered so far.

Wow. How about sponsors? Can people still sponsor, or is it too late for that?

I know people could still sponsor, but, um, it would need to happen pretty soon, within the next week or so.

Okay. All right. Okay, everyone, you heard it. You heard what he said. You know, I know we're going to get behind this, everyone. Needs to get behind this because it is such a wonderful, wonderful thing, uh, that we're doing and such a great celebration. Um, and I don't know, uh, Maria, were you what, 1 year old or what?

I was 3.

3? Well, you know what, 3, okay. You probably weren't there then on the White House lawn, but I want to say that Maria, you are part of the future of the 30th anniversary because we need young leaders. We need new leaders, and I'm so proud to have someone of your caliber leading the American Association of People with Disabilities. And, uh, you're welcome. So Maria, You are very young and you grew up not, you know, in that time period, but I wanted to ask you, how about you, from the signing of the ADA, what have been the impacts on your life? You know, I know there were, yeah, I know there were many walls of exclusion.

I mean, so, uh, Kelly acquired his disability. I was born with a disability, and because I was born, you know, so soon after, or around the same time as the passage of the ADA, every moment of my life has been impacted by the fact that discrimination on the basis of disability is illegal. My mother happened to be one of the first participants in a program called Policies— I'm sorry, Partners in Policymaking, which is a program that trains family members and self-advocates to be strong disability advocates. And my mom went through that program shortly after the ADA was passed, and Together, you know, we became disability advocates. She advocated for my inclusion in schools and in public programs and also, you know, gave me a seat at the table for things like my IEP meetings. There is no way that I would be leading the life I lead today without the Americans with Disabilities Act. I want to go back to your point, Joyce Bender. You know, Jennifer Keelan was and is an activist with ADAPT, and she was 6 years old when she participated in the Capitol Crawl, which helped lead to the signing of the ADA. And so, you know, there were advocates of all ages that worked to get it passed. So I wasn't there that day, but people like Jennifer were.

Wow, 6 years old. Wow, that is amazing, amazing. And I think we may have a caller on the line. Uh, yeah, do we have a caller?

Yes, hello.

Hey, how are you? Chris Griffin.

I'm fine, and it's great to talk to 3 of my favorite disability rights advocates.

Well, it's certainly great to talk to you. So, Chris, do you have, uh, go ahead, Chris.

No, I was just going to say it's a great, you know, time of year when we celebrate the ADA, and certainly 30 years is It's pretty amazing, Kelly. I was injured in 1980, so you and I saw the passage of this act and have seen certainly some amazing things happen. The physical access changes from the time we were injured to now are just, you know, incredible. Could be better, but we've certainly moved in the right direction when it comes to physical access. But I also, on the 30th anniversary, worry about the unrealized, you know, promises that you alluded to. And I think one of them is economic justice. And employment certainly plays a key role in that. And I was just wondering, are either one of you, your organizations working on economic justice issues? Are we working with any other groups? Groups to make sure that we're involved? Because when I hear people talk about economic justice, especially lately, I never hear them include the word disability community or the words disability community when they talk about it. So, I was just wondering what you two have to say about this.

Kelly, do you want to go first?

Sure, I mean, Chris, it's great to talk to you again. I'm glad to hear your voice on the line. We have been working on employment issues for a long time. Really, I mean, to be honest, I think the whole system that people with disabilities have to deal with when it comes to employment is really so unjust and frankly has been for a really long time. I mean, um, I remember back in, uh, the mid-'70s when I was in college and on Social Security, uh, SSI, your asset limitations in the 1970s was $2,000. And they are still $2,000. So 40 years ago— I mean, 40 years ago, or what you could buy over 40 years ago, what you could buy with $2,000 then compared to what you could buy with $2,000 today, uh, it's just incredible that this hasn't kept up. It's the system that we deal with is so archaic And the fact that it penalizes people for going to work is just bass-ackwards. We should be really incentivizing people by giving them rewards for going to work versus penalizing them for going to work. The system really has to have dramatic and fundamental changes, in my opinion, to really work for people with disabilities. I think we really have to rethink the whole system and how it works.

Yeah, I agree. Is anyone doing that work? Are you working with anyone?

So this is Maria, just to build on Kelly's points, all of which I agree with. And Chris, it is, it's so good to hear your voice. You've been on my mind.

One of the—

one aspect of economic justice is not— it is work and having a job, but the other parts of it are the benefits and structure of that job that allow everyone to thrive as they participate in the economy. We've been working with the National Partnership for Women and Families to try to get disability and disability issues more integrated into the framework for paid leave. There's a lot of work happening in that space. Historically, the policy proposals for paid leave have not been on disability, and they recognize that, you know, an able-bodied family member may need leave to care for a disabled family member, but not that disabled people are caregivers for one another, not recognizing the particular healthcare that disabled people may need to survive. And the other thing that AAPD has been doing, and this is really thanks to Ted Kennedy, our board chair, has been getting disability to be recognized as a part of environmental, social, and governance investing. So about a year ago, you know, we released this letter that all of these individuals, you know, the Texas Teachers and the Comptroller of New York and Connecticut and Pennsylvania have all signed on to say, you know, we want to invest in companies that hire people with disabilities, that have really good inclusion practices. And in that year, we've gotten more signatories and are continuing to get other people engaged in the conversation around ESG investing to recognize disability as a part of it. I think there's a lot more that we have to do, and I think we actually need to educate a lot of the folks in the economic justice space to recognize that disability is not just an outcome of an unjust system, but a natural part of the human experience. So often You hear people in economic justice talking about asthma or diabetes or high blood pressure as indicators of, you know, poor working conditions and living conditions, and that's right, but they don't use the word disability and they don't recognize that all of these people who have these conditions can still have agency. So anyway, I'm going to stop there because I've already said a lot.

So, that's—

those are two of the things that AAPD is doing.

Well, thank you both.

I mean, I really—

I feel encouraged listening to both of you talk about, you know, having to— we need to change the whole system. You're right, Kelly, $2,000 in 1970 shouldn't— it shouldn't be $2,000 as an asset limit now. It's ridiculous. I know the minimum wage is changing, but other things need to change. We need a whole structure change to make sure that we, as a community, are included in economic justice. So, thanks for what you're doing, all three of you, and happy anniversary.

Oh, Chris, it's wonderful to hear your voice, because you are a national disability rights leader, a powerful one that is part of all of this, and former chair of APD. We love you and thank you for calling in.

Oh, thank you.

Happy anniversary, Chris.

Happy anniversary, Chris.

Well, what a surprise. I mean, what a great thing. When Chris called me today and told me she was going to call in, I was so excited, and it is just wonderful to hear from her. Um, Kelly, we did ask Maria, but I realized I didn't ask you, wow, I guess it's in all ways. I was going to ask you how the ADA changed your life, but I guess what would you say to that if someone asked you on TV?

Well, I think, you know, Maria's right. I mean, it's affected my entire career. Which I actually started working before the ADA was passed, but it's also affected my life in very simple ways. I mean, like being able to go to the bathroom in a building, which you didn't used to be able to do, and going to restaurants or bars or even like movie theaters was something I didn't used to be able to do. I've been kicked out of bars simply for having a disability. I remember getting kicked out a couple of times, once with Merle, because we were considered, quote, in the way, unquote, so they made us leave. So, I mean, just things like that, it's affected in very profound ways, but also in one other really important way, and there's a lot of laws that govern this, but the ADA I think has been a driving force behind a lot of it, and that's voting, which is going to be a really important thing this year.

Oh yeah, that's a big thing. By the way, Kelly, I'm glad you clarified that about why you get kicked out of bars. That was very good, you made that clear.

I had one person tell me that I got— he kicked me out because they didn't serve people like me. It wasn't— oh, what's the drink? I hadn't had a drink yet.

You know what, that is— I mean, I know these things happen, but it's so terrible to hear, especially from someone you know, you know, personally. Um, terrible, terrible. Well, hey, it is time for our news break that we have every week at 2:30. Advocacy Matters with our great anchorwoman, Perri-Jude Radicek. Happy ADA Month and welcome to the show.

Hey, thanks, Joyce, and happy 30 years of the ADA to you and your guests and to Chris. Uh, it's good to hear from her too. So Joyce, um, we're going to talk about the ADA and, and how it relates to HR 2, the Moving Forward Act. So it's been 30 years, as you've been talking about, since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but as your guests and Chris just mentioned, there, there's still barriers, and one of the major barriers that remains for disabled people is transportation, and one of those major barriers is Amtrak. Now, the advocacy community has never stopped our work to make Amtrak more accessible. And over the years, there have been communities making some progress and having some success. A big example of that is some communities, you may have noticed, station platforms are accessible, but you've also noticed some aren't. So after 30 years, I think we can all agree that this is not acceptable.

This is not progress.

Amtrak has to do a better job. So the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed HR 2, which they renamed the Moving Forward Act. Now, this is a very large infrastructure bill with lots of infrastructure projects. And if you go to www.disabilityrightsPA.org, you have a link to the fact sheet about HR 2, and you have a link to the legislation itself. So, again, I'm gonna tell you it's a big bill. But it includes many surface transportation programs that were set to expire in the fall. And in that is additional funding and additional programs authorized that— and one of that is— one of those programs is legislation that requires Amtrak to finally perform this comprehensive assessment to study and determine their compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. And you might think, well, Really, 30 years later? But here we are, 30 years later, and Congress is forcing Amtrak to do this comprehensive study. The legislation also requires an improved complaint process under the ADA with Amtrak, with the Office of Civil Rights at the Federal Transit Administration. So, there's some other important transportation components for disabled people in this bill. It now heads to the U.S. Senate because it's passed the House. We know advocacy matters, so there's always something for your listeners to do. Your, your help is needed. It's time for Amtrak to follow the ADA, and HR 2 helps get us there. So call or write your U.S. senators and let them know that they should support this bill, especially the accessibility components for Amtrak and move it quickly before time runs out on the congressional calendar. Now, to help you see what that congressional calendar looks like, we have a link to the congressional calendar so you can see how many days the House and Senate are in session before they sign e-die, which means this congressional calendar ends at the end of December. So, we need your help. Go to disabilityrightsPA.org. We have a link to your U.S. senators. We have a link to the bill. We have a link to the congressional calendar. And you can see how important it is to contact your senators in the next 2-week period. They're not in session now. The House is active, but we need you to contact your senators in the next 2 weeks and help us while they're in this recess. For the Fourth of July. So thanks, Joyce. Let's move one more big piece of legislation and help get Amtrak on the tracks.

Oh, help get them on the track. Um, listen, before you go, um, Kelly, Maria, do you have any comments you want to add to what, uh, Perry Jew just talked about?

Just bravo. I mean, it really is time Amtrak was accessible. They were given 20 years after the passage and they're still not— except to get accessible, they're still not there.

Why has it taken everyone so long? But of course, here we are. We know what's going on with employment. While we're on it, Perry, and I would encourage everyone to go to disabilityrights.org. PA.org, because advocacy matters. Everything is always up for your review to look at, but most importantly, take action.

Hey, thanks, Joyce.

Thank you. Okay, so I wanted to talk about Justin Dart because he did so much to see the ADA signed. And Kelly, Uh, you knew him, you worked, you know, you knew Justin, and you know, how, how did, uh, he really lead the way to get the, the— do you get that signature, to get that signed?

Well, Justin traveled around the country. He went to every state and held meetings to gather diaries on how they had been discriminated against and how the ADA would help them. In fact, he did that twice. And, you know, I helped organize those meetings in Idaho when I was there at the time. And that was, in my opinion, very instrumental in helping get the ADA passed. If it hadn't have been for those diaries, and I think Yoshiko still has those available, I mean, I think that was just really impactful to get the act passed. And then Justin was one of the best orators I've ever known. That guy could give a speech like, that would just, keep you memorized. And I just have— we've yet to see another speaker in the disability rights community like Justin. He was just so great at that. He would just really do a speech to where people left there really moved. So I think those two things were things that really stuck with me about Justin and how he helped move the ADA forward.

Yeah, one of the things that amazed me about Justin, which I agree with you about his speaking, one of the things that so impressed me is he is the only person that was able to get all the disability groups together. You know what I mean? He was able to get people united from all different disability groups and types, uh, and he just had that magnetism and that power, and like you could not say no to him. So I only wish I knew him longer, uh, but you know, I'm very close friends with Yoshiko, and you know, she always reminds me how thrilled Justin would be about, you know, what I do in employment, and she is such an encourager to me. But I wish I had known him longer, but you know, we know of his legacy. And Maria, I'm sure you've heard a lot about Justin through the years, everything you've heard, what has impacted you the most?

I have heard a lot about Justin. There are two things that have really impacted me. I think one is that Justin centered love in so much of his work, and I think I think that's why he was able to move people so well in his remarks and able to really bring the community together because at the center of everything that he did was love. And the second thing that really struck me about Justin's life was actually that he was kind of a black sheep in his family for a really long time. He struggled to find himself for a long time, and I think particularly for young advocates who are trying to get a start, there is this sense that you have to have everything figured out and that you have to already have all of these skills and knowledge, and you don't. And I think Justin took a little bit to find himself, to figure out, you know, what he wanted to do, and dealt with a family that didn't always accept him for who he was. And I think that resonates with so many people, disability advocates and allies alike.

You know what, and that first thing you said is one of the things I think about all the time—

love.

I mean, he really used the power of love, just as Yoshiko still does. But Maria, while we're talking about all of this, I often wonder, young people, Younger people, do you think that they realize like what Justin and Kelly and Judy Uman and Tony and Senator Harkin and Senator Kennedy and, you know, Bob Kafka and— I'm sorry, there's so many people I can't even— Heifelblum. I can't even name all of them, uh, but Do you think younger people realize what people like Ed Roberts went through to work to get this signed?

Hmm. I think there's a growing recognition, and I think that there's a couple of reasons why. You know, I think now that films like Crip Camp are out on Netflix. I think more young people understand what folks went through. I, you know, one of the things that I wish we would see is disability history taught in every classroom in the United States. And it's not even about adding, you know, more to the curriculum, but recognizing how many of the people that we already learn about have disabilities themselves. If I would have learned when I was in grade school that Harriet Tubman was a disabled woman and had epilepsy and post-traumatic stress, I think it would have really changed my life and helped me develop greater disability pride at a younger age. And I I know that many young advocates across the country have been pushing for education reform like this, but we still have a long way to go.

And she's my hero. As you know, I live with epilepsy, and I, too, wish that— actually, you know, if you can teach about other civil rights acts and the women's movement and just history in general, you should be able to add the ADA and disability history. Because I am telling you, if you would go out on the streets and say to someone, "Hey, who's Justin Dart?" The majority of people are going to say, "I don't know." And that shouldn't be that way. You know, it should not be like that. You know, so, and who was at the signing of the— who signed the bill? You know, people don't know So much. And just as Maria was saying, if you would be exposed to all of this and/or to people like Harriet Tubman that you already study but that have a disability, I believe that would make a tremendous difference. So Maria, I hope we can keep that crusade going on. And I'm also glad to hear that you think that you believe that you know, younger people with disabilities are starting to understand all of this because to me that is so important. Just a couple of final questions because this show goes so fast when I have the two of you on that I'm gonna have to have you on again for Disability Employment Awareness Month. But I wanted to ask you, Both. Start with you, Kelly. What do you think the ADA has not fulfilled? Remember, you were talking about there are promises that were not realized. What do you think those are?

So, I want to just comment real quickly because Maria really, I think, nailed it about, Justin, about the love. I, I wanted to just mention that I think— and Yoshiko still just really emanates the, the unconditional love that everybody felt from Justin and her. I think Maria is exactly right. I think that was one of the most powerful things about Justin. But to, to answer your question, I, I really think there are two major things that haven't promises that really haven't been realized about the ADA that need a lot of work, and employment is one of those, which Chris and we already kind of talked about, and you have spent your lifetime trying to address. And then secondly, we have just about 3 million people in this country who are still institutionalized in institutions and nursing homes across the country that cannot live in the community. And I think that, again, is another promise that the ADA really had made that hasn't been fulfilled. We have such a long ways to go to get to the point where people can live in the community and live in the community independently and have control over their own lives, which I think is the other major promise of the ADA that hasn't been fulfilled.

And by the way, those people in settings where— in congregate settings where some of them are being devastated by COVID. But yes, I agree with you, Kelly. That's like a prison. I agree with you. How about you, Maria? What would you say?

I agree with Kelly wholeheartedly on the employment promise that— or the economic self-sufficiency promise that's gone unfulfilled and the community integration promise that's gone unfulfilled. And in addition to those two things, I think one of the issues that we're seeing now and that we've seen for a while is the lack of accessibility in technology. And I think, you know, in 1990, no one realized that within 10 years we would all be walking around with a supercomputer in our pockets that we call a cell phone. But as an example, this election cycle, None of the people who ran for president, none of their websites were accessible to people with disabilities. And after advocates called them out, some of them began to make their websites accessible. But as more and more opportunities and services and programs move entirely online, we have to make sure that these virtual spaces are accessible to people with disabilities as we have worked to make sure that physical spaces are accessible.

Yeah, I agree with you. I don't understand how companies will say to me, "Okay, does everything have to be accessible?" You know, what is that? It's like Eve Hill said when she was with the Department of Justice, "Don't tell me you want to hire people but your application is not accessible. I mean, I don't understand why people, you know, like they're really very lackadaisical about that. They are. And they're not worried about it. I mean, you know, all their internal applications are not accessible. So I hope, one of my dreams, of course number one is employment, but with accessibility that we can really, you know, really be stronger in that area. Okay, Maria, I wanted to ask you, only because you are the White House expert, do you know if there are any celebrations going on at the White House for the 30th anniversary?

I don't know. Uh, I, I really don't know.

Okay, well, you worked in the Obama administration, and just so you all know, Maria was the key person at the White House for everything related to disability and just did a phenomenal job. Like, we're so lucky to have her at AAPD. How about President Obama? I was at some of those events. So what did he do at the 20th and 25th anniversary?

So at the, at the 20th anniversary, there was a big celebration on the South on. There were musical guests, and I believe at the 20th anniversary is when he signed the executive order to increase disability hiring in the federal government and established a set of utilization goals for the hire that all federal agencies had to comply with to hire people with disabilities and Specifically people with more significant disabilities. And Joyce, I'm not going to remember the number off the top of my head, but the Obama administration committed to the enforcement of that executive order. And one of the last— literally on my last day at work, I hosted a call with community advocates. Both of you were probably on it where we were able to announce that this executive order had become final regulations, and so those goals for disability hiring in the federal government would remain in place after the administration concluded. And for the 25th anniversary, we had a celebration in the East Room of the White House. Both President Biden and Vice President— sorry, both President Obama and Vice President Biden spoke. There were also— there was also a disability history White House tour that anyone going on a tour of the White House that month could participate in. So we had disability historical artifacts from the Smithsonian placed throughout the White House, and people received a proclamation celebrating the anniversary. And we also did a number of events, but one, one that I loved was our Intergenerational Champions of Change for Disability Rights. So we honored a group of 10 disability advocates, some of whom were from, you know, Justin Dart's generation, and some of whom were from the ADA generation, and it was really a phenomenal celebration.

It was. And I was at the White House at both, and at that 20th, President Obama— 100,000 people with disabilities hired over 5 years, and then he was able to announce, as you just said, that they fulfilled that goal. And that was both such a great day. Well, I know that we're getting close to the end of the show, so I'm going to ask both of you if you have a message for our listeners today. Kelly, I'll start with you.

Well, I just— I would encourage people to celebrate our history. But at the same time, I really want to encourage people to think about the future and where we really want to be. I think there are still so many areas in people's lives, people with disabilities' lives, that really are still running up so— against so many barriers. And I really think we also really need to think about people who are multiply marginalized and some of the systemic things, systemic racism that exists in all of society, and that includes the disability rights community as well. And we all need to work harder to include everybody. And I really think, again, I would really kind of echo Maria's comment about Justin. And his unconditional love for people. I think a lot of the great leaders in history have come from a space of love—Dr. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, and Justin, and others. And hopefully we can see that kind of love again in our lifetimes to move us all forward.

Ah, amen to that. Love your neighbor as yourself without edits. That's what I always say. How about you, Maria?

First of all, I just— Kelly, that was really beautiful. I will say, take time to celebrate yourself. Life, especially right now, life is hard and can get you down. The ADA would not exist without those advocates who fought for it and would not exist without those legislative and political leaders who signed it into law. But it also wouldn't exist without all of us every day demanding our rights to be in the world. And Audrey Lorde, who is a Black, disabled, lesbian woman and feminist theorist, she said that self-care is an act of political resistance. And I think especially right now when we talk about celebrating the ADA, One of the things we have to do is celebrate ourselves and recognize the gifts that we all have to bring into this world and use that as our motivation to continue moving forward and to continue fighting.

I so agree with you, Maria. I love that. Celebrate yourself. Well, we end every show with a quote. And today it has to be, since we're kicking off the month, "Lead on, lead on, no matter what," said Justin Dart Jr. We will continue celebrating the ADA next month with Hai Feldblum. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters. At VoiceAmerica.com.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific time and 2 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters right here on the Voice America variety channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.