On the Bus for Disability Rights

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After being appointed by former President Reagan to be the vice chair of the National Council on Disability, Justin Dart Jr. took his wife along with him on a cross-country adventure in the name of equal rights.

Dart was the 1998 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and has spent more than five decades advocating human rights across the globe. He has been noted for serving five presidential appointments in the field of disability policy.

At their own expense, the Darts advocated an end to discrimination against people with disabilities by creating a national policy. The result of embarking on a nationwide grassroots campaign--the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990--and his influence still live on. Buses continue to roll across state lines in an effort to speak to America about the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the disability-rights movement.

Known as the Road To Freedom, the national awareness campaign, is a year-long tour from Washington, D.C., mobilizing Americans to keep the ADA's protections and rights.

The ADA vow is to guarantee freedom, inclusion and opportunity for children and adults with physical, mental, cognitive and developmental disabilities, according to www.roadtofreedom.org.

The project was established by ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights, a coalition of disability, civil-rights and social-justice organizations. 

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The Freedom bus is destined to stop at 80 locations to speak in a variety of venues such as malls, disability conferences, sporting events, and other public forums.

The bus first stopped in Baltimore, Md., so riders could attend the National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy Conference. It will return to Washington, D.C., on Nov. 15 to complete the tour with The Disability Rights Concert.

Along the way, advocates are holding press conferences, sounding off over the airwaves via radio shows and television interviews, which plan to show both the challenges and triumphs of Americans living with disabilities. 

Advocates also are partnering with the National Youth Leadership Network, an organization comprised of approximately 300 youth leaders with different disabilities, to visit schools and colleges and design youth curriculum.

Tom Olin's photographs of the disability-rights struggle will be featured on the traveling exhibit to serve as a visual reminder of the forward progression of the disabilities movement.

The tour aims to restore and strengthen the ADA at a time when the courts have dramatically narrowed the scope of the disabilities act.

ADA Watch is currently hosting a petition to encourage Congress and the president to pass and sign the ADA Restoration Act. The bipartisan act seeks to restore civil-rights protections for children and adults with physical, mental, cognitive and developmental disabilities.

Among the bus tour sponsors are the Open Society Institute, Independence First, AARP, AOL, Ted Leonsis Foundation, Dircks & Associates, Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center, and the National Disability Rights Network.

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