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July 27, 2010

20th Anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act Marked
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Events were held across the country Monday to mark the twentieth
anniversary of the signing of the landmark Americans with Disabilities
Act. At a ceremony at the White House, speakers included disability
rights activist Marca Bristo. She is the president of Access Living, a
nonresidential Center for Independent Living for people with
disabilities in Chicago.

Marca Bristo: "The changes that this law called for—lifts on
buses; accessible facilities, streets and public services; accessible
ATMs, telecommunication; access to the workplace; and many
others—could not and would not have happened without us. Civil
rights laws do not self-enforce. They only come to life when enlightened
citizens, people who say no to the outdated policies of segregation,
dependence and paternalism, seize their rights and push the envelope of
reform."



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