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Naslovnica / Skupine / Nashville, fall 1993 Opryland 45
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[Headline] ADAPT's good cause deserves calm debate There is a tremendous difference between getting attention and getting results. Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, or ADAPT, received plenty of attention last week. Whether that attention translates to results will depend in large part on whether the group focuses in the future more on its message than on its manner. ADAPT's message is that this nation's health care system is skewed too heavily toward nursing home care. It argues that many people with disabilities who could live independently at home are forced into nursing homes because home health care isn't adequately funded. It specifically asks that 25% of the nation's Medic-aid money be funneled into home health care instead of nursing homes. ADAPT's basic premise is sound. While its demand for a particular figure of 25% of Medicaid money is debatable, there is little debate that a new focus on in-home-care, not just for people with disabilities but for many other people who have long-term illnesses, would stretch health care dollars and increase quality of life. But last week, ADAPT's manner over-shadowed its message. ADAPT brought its crusade to Nash-vile last week because the American Health Care Association, a lobbying group for the nursing home industry, was holding a convention at the Opryland Hotel. On Sunday, an ADAPT demonstration blocked the entrance to the Opryland Hotel for nearly two hours. On Monday, ADAPT members lined the halls of the state Capitol, demanding to meet with Gov. Ned McWherter, who was in Germany. [Subheading] Group should make its pitch to government! On Tuesday, when a meeting between ADAPT and AHCA didn't come off as scheduled, ADAPT members attempted to storm Opryland Hotel. Ninety-seven of them were arrested for trespassing. The real pity is that ADAPT can and should be making a serious contribution to this nation's health care debate. Per-aps its members sincerely believed that the only way they could draw attention to their cause was through protest. But even then, they were protesting to the wrong people. AHCA and ADAPT are both advocacy groups. ADAPT shouldn't be taking its case to AIWA. It should be making its pitch to Congress, the Clinton administration and state legislatures. But in order for ADAPT to achieve results, government officials need to view . ADAPT as a serious, responsible advocacy group. ADAPT's cause is too just, too necessary, and too immediate to be lost in a confusing shouting match. People can hear ADAPT's message much more clearly when its members talk, not shout.
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THE TENNESSEAN LOCAL NEWS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1993 B Briefs 2B Deaths 5B Weather 6B [Headline] With ADAPT protest over, Opryland to drop legal fight By KIRK LOGGINS Staff Writer Opryland USA officials say they will not pursue legal action against a group of disabled-rights activists, now that the group has ended pro-tests aimed at a nursing home convention at the Opryland Hotel. "This cost our company and Nashville a considerable amount, to be the unfortunate site of some-body else's dispute," ,Opryland spokesman Tom Adkinson said yesterday. But, Adkinson said, "That's something that we will just have to absorb." Fifty-two people pleaded no contest yesterday to charges that they committed criminal trespass during a demonstration at the hotel Tuesday. Davidson County prosecutors agreed to give the protesters suspended 30-day jail terms, on condition that they not stage any more group actions at Opryland. Forty-one of the protesters approached a makeshift judge's bench yesterday in wheelchairs. Some had difficulty speaking, and many had assistance in signing court documents. Attorney Vance Cramb, sitting as a special General Sessions Court judge, fined each protester $50, plus court costs averaging $138, but suspended most of the fines and court costs at the request of the protesters' attorney, Christine Freeman. Most protesters said, in response to questions from Freeman, that their only income is government assistance. Aides to District Attorney General Tory Johnson agreed yesterday to retire trespassing charges against 44 other protesters who were arrested at the hotel Tuesday but have since returned to their homes in other cities. Court personnel arranged a hearing yesterday in the gymnasium at Correction Corporation of America's Metro Detention Facility near Harding Place, where the protesters were taken after their arrests. All protesters arrested Tuesday were processed and released by early Wednesday, but they were ordered to return to court yesterday. The protests were organized by American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, called ADAPT, which has demonstrated at earlier conventions of the American Health Care Association, a national nursing home group that was meeting at Opryland Hotel. Diane Coleman, a Tennessee ADAPT organizer, said yesterday that the group's four days of protests here succeeded in focusing attention on the need for more public funding for in-home health-care services as an alternative to nursing home care. "For one thing, we have a meet-ing scheduled with Governor Mc-Wherter on Oct. II to talk about attendant services in Tennessee," Coleman said. "That holds the potential for significant progress."
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[Headline] Activists at Opryland shrug off court order By Glenn Henderson and Jeff Wilkinson Banner Staff Writers Disabled activists who have disrupted operations at the Opryland Hotel and the state Capitol are threatening to take their civil disobedience to the Grand Ole Opry tonight during the star-studded Country Music Awards. A decision on whether to try to disrupt the nationally televised CMA show (7 p.m. on WTVF-Channel 5) will be made later today, said Mike Auberger, co-director of Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today. Opryland officials said the CMA show will go on protest or no protest. ADAPT this week has been picketing the 44th annual American Health Care Association convention being held at the Opryland Hotel. The group is demanding that 25 percent of all Medicaid dollars be diverted from nursing homes to home health care. Auberger said that disrupting the televised CMA show would bring national attention to the group's cause. "It would be a good format to raise the issue," he said. Auberger added that the public protests are necessary to offset the power and money of nursing home lobbyists. "The industry is so powerful," he said. "It comes down to the fact that dollars are more important than people." An Opryland spokesman said park officials are not worried about possible disruptions at tonight's CMA Awards. "The show will go on smoothly no matter what," Tom Adkinson said today. "They (ADAPT members) are under a restraining order issued last night to stay off of our property. "We have no concern about the conduct of the show." Auberger said the restraining order will have no effect on his group's decision: "We have to get our message across." Adkinson would not comment on security arrangements but expressed frustration with the demonstrations. "This whole situation is both reprehensible and unnecessary," he said. "We at Opryland have tried to be accommodating . . . and, frankly, Opryland and Nashville are being victimized in this whole situation. "We don't have a dog in this fight; we're just caught in the middle." On Tuesday, a melee broke out at the Opryland Hotel when a scheduled meeting between ADAPT and members of the American Health Care Association [text cuts off here] Please see ARRESTS, page A-2
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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE THE TENNESSEAN THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1993 [Headline] ADAPT negotiators accept help on issues from trio of music legends By BRAD SCHMITT, MARK IPPOLITO and TIMOTHY CORNELL Staff Writers They said they couldn't say what the acronym ADAPT stands for. But three Grand Ole Opry stars, with kind words, handshakes and hugs, last night defused the disabled-rights group's plans to try to disrupt what is arguably Nashville's most important night of the year. Porter Wagoner, Whisperin' Bill Anderson and William Lee Golden brought a close to intense day-long negotiations between ADAPT and Opryland officials trying to head off any trouble during the nationally televised Country Music Association Awards show. An army of Opryland security and Metro police stood by in the event the negotiations failed. Opryland Hotel put chains across entrance roads, ready to block vans carrying protesters. Chain-link fences went up on sidewalks, though they remained open. [Image] [Image caption] Paulette Paterson of Chicago chants at the ADAPT rally. Behind her, country entertainers William Lee Golden, Porter Wagoner and Bill Anderson appear in support of the rally participants. Rex Perry • Staff The three entertainers showed at a 6 p.m. meeting across from the Opryland Hotel with about 150 protesters, mostly in wheelchairs, from ADAPT, Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today. A day after the protesters stormed the Opryland Hotel, knocking down a front door, the stars said they would try to help ADAPT push its platform of diverting 25% of Medicaid dollars for nursing homes to home health care. "We're proud and honored to be here with you," Wagoner told the group. A day after Opryland security un-successfully tried to herd protesters off hotel property, Opry stars signed autographs and posed for pictures with them. "I believe what they said was genuine," said ADAPT's Mike Auberger. The group had considered interfering with the CMA Awards show for attention, said Auberger. But after meeting with officials from Gaylord Entertainment Co., Opryland's owner, the group agreed to a press conference with the stars behind the Ramada Inn, across from Opryland Hotel. "We are not here to take away people's fun. We're here to make a point," said Diane Coleman, a Tennessee ADAPT organizer, who uses ‘a wheelchair. "Our opponent is the nursing home industry, not country music fans." ADAPT came to Nashville because the American Health Care Association, made up mostly of nursing home operators, was having its convention at Opryland Hotel. Yesterday's peace was shaky, though. When some groups of protesters entered the hotel afterward as "tourists," security personnel called out on hand-held radios how many entered at one time and where they were going. "We got two WCs [wheelchairs] and a walker, and they're headed to the presidential ballrooms," a radio crackled after one group entered. But the white limousines and Mercedes-Benz sedans driving in were greeted by waving Opryland security and suit-wearing maintenance managers. They were told to wave, several said, to show Opryland is a friendly place. Opryland spokesman Tom Adkinson said company officials tried all week to negotiate with ADAPT, even offering the group a demonstration site: "We've never allowed demonstrations on our property, but we offered it this time." Coleman defended ADAPT's tactics: "I guess it's like any other civil rights movement. When you've tried all the meetings and the phone calls, then there's nothing left but to take it to the streets." [Subheading] What other stars said Kathy Mattea: "We live in a world where there's a lot of need. There's so many people out there trying to do something, to get things done on behalf of so many great causes that sometimes it's just overwhelming. It's overwhelming how much we don't take care of each other." Joe Diffie: "I think any kind of violence is not the right way to go about things. I hope that doesn't happen; I hope they don't disrupt the show for our sakes and for their sakes, too. I think it would bring more embarrassment to them than anything else. If I knew more about it, I'm sure I'd be sympathetic to their cause, as would most people." Radney Foster: "I'm glad those people can exercise their right to protest. I don't know enough about the issues. As far as access for the disabled, I have two friends who live in wheelchairs. I'm all for it."
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[Headline] Country stars soothe ADAPT activists [Subheading] Trip a success, group believes By Rob Moritz Banner Stan Writer [Image] Banner photos by Laura Embry: A man [William Lee Golden] with below shoulder length gray hair and a long gray beard and mustache in a black suit, hugs a woman [Anita Cameron] in a green ADAPT jacket, headband and hat. Both are smiling. They are in a parking to and behind and slightly out of focus you can see lots of other ADAPT folks, a camera people, and others milling around. Caption reads: William Lee Golden (left) hugs ADAPT protester Anita Cameron of Philadelphia after the country artist met with the group. Three noted country artists"sympathize" with the goals of disabled activists who have protested in Nashville this week, including a violent disturbance at the Opryland Hotel. "We are here to try to help and help you every way we can. We want to bring attention to your cause and your fight," Grand Ole Opry member Porter Wagoner told about 150 members of the American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT) on Wednesday. "These people need to be heard. We hope we can bring people's attention to it," Wagoner said. Wagoner, Bill Anderson and William Lee Golden met with the protesters in a parking lot on Music Valley Drive across from the Opryland Hotel. The meeting occurred about an hour before the nationally televised Country Music Association Awards. The meeting was Nashville disabled fear backlash arranged by Opryland officials who feared that ADAPT might stage a disruptive protest at the CMA event. The group threatened such an action after 97 protesters were arrested Tuesday for trespassing at the hotel. ADAPT members have been in Nashville since Sunday to protest and try to meet with the American Health Care Association, which is having its annual convention at the Opryland Hotel. The group is demanding that 25 percent of all Medicaid dollars be diverted from nursing homes to home health care. ADAPT protesters demonstrated Sunday at the entrance to the Opryland Hotel before being told they'd be able to meet with [ Please see PROTEST, page B-3] (unavailable at this time) [Headline] Nashville disabled fear backlash By Glenn Henderson Banner Staff Writer [Image] Photo 2: A curved line of people in wheelchairs and sitting on the ground curves from a woman in a wheelchair [Paulette Patterson] who is raising her fist and yelling. Behind her stands a main in a black suit with long gray hair and bear [William Lee Golden] and another man in working type clothes [Porter Wagoner]. Both are holding black and pink ADAPT shirts rolled up in their hands. They are outside in a parking lot. [Image caption] ADAPT's Paulette Patterson cheers the group on. Golden and Porter Wagoner (right) look on. Disabled activists who converged on Nashville to loudly promote their cause have left local disabled residents holding the bag, they claim. "They're going to leave Nashville, leaving the ones of us who live here to deal with the backlash," Mary McDonald says of the protesters who disrupted operations at the state Capitol and the Opryland Hotel this week. McDonald, 43, who has multiple sclerosis, uses a wheelchair. She's not the only member of the local community of disabled people who disagrees with the tactics of American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT). Rick Slaughter, a 31-year-old man whose legs, in his words, "don't work," says the group has gone too far. Slaughter volunteered when Metro police needed someone to teach them the proper way to subdue a disabled person. "These, people come into town and stir things up and then leave town," Slaughter says. "Today, I couldn't help but feel awkward whenever I encountered a stranger. It makes me look bad." They should get what they're after, Slaughter says, but they're going about it the wrong way. "They're making a lot of people in town uneasy-- they're making a mess in Nashville," he says. "If they want to raise Cain, they need to take it to the top. Why don't they go see Hillary?" While McDonald, Slaughter and Mollie Ingram are critical of ADAPT's tactics, they do support its cause in wanting 25 percent of Medicaid money now going to for-profit nursing homes to be diverted to at-home care, or attendant programs. They've chosen the American Health Care Association, currently holding a convention at the Opryland Hotel, as their primary target of protest. AHCA represents most of the nation's nursing homes. "I believe in what they want," McDonald says. "No one wants to live in a nursing home. But I'm very much against the way they're trying to get it." [Please see REACTION, page B-3] (unavailable at this time)
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Nashville Banner Wednesday Afternoon, September 29, 1993 Nashville, Tennesse 46 pages, 6 sections TODAY'S NEWS TODAY [Headline] Disabled threaten CMA show [IMAGE 1] Photos by Steve Lowry: Photo 1 - Four uniformed police officers in safety jackets and holding clipboards talk with five people in wheelchairs. Front row is Karen Tamley (left) with pony tail, Stephanie Thomas with bush hair and far right facing the camera head down looking at her communication letter board is Phillis Burkehead. Two men are behind them, one with a head pointer and the other, on the left, in a large manual wheelchair. He is talking with a man [Jim Glozier] kneeling on the ground beside them with his hands handcuffed behind his back. In the background are several plain clothes officers. Photo 2: A man [Bob Kafka] with a beard and mushtasche wearing a fishing hat with an ADAPT patch on the front, holds up his hand and looks out of a window. Caption reads: Metro police officers (above) obtain information from arrested ADAPT protesters during the group's demonstration at the Opryland Hotel. After his arrest, protester Bob Kafka (right) missing picture id uses sign language to communicate with people outside the school buses that were used to transport the demonstrators to jail. Trespassing charges were lodged against 97 protesters. ADAPT's next target: tonight's nationally televised CMA Awards show at the Grand Ole Opry. Banner photos by Steve Lowry
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Incitement [Headline] TENNESSEE ADAPT MEETS WITH GOVERNOR As promised, Governor McWherter met with Tennessee ADAPT November 2nd, in an interesting follow up to the National ADAPT action. The Governor came right out and said he did not like protests, and yet there he was. With him was Health Commissioner White who announced the approval of the first statewide nursing home waiver, for 150 people. (This waiver is also known as the ADAPT waiver, thanks to the statewide ADAPT protest which got the project started.) Fourteen ADAPT representatives from across the state arrived ready for bear. Jerry Adams, using his communication board, began the meeting calling for an end to the institutional bias of support services and support for community based services Each representative introduced themselves and another piece of the problem with the current institutional bias in support services. Tennessee ADAPT had three demands of the Governor: - Establish a State Task Force (50% or more consumers) on home and community based services to make recommendations on expanding these services. - Apply for a Medicaid waiver for residents of developmental centers (state schools). - Contact the National Governors’ Association - requesting that ADAPT be given a chance to address the NGA. McWherter assigned his head legislative staff person as liaison between his office and ADAPT. He agreed to set up the Task Force and ADAPT is now negotiating the details. It was agreed the Task Force will look at the developmental center issue. (Legal suits against these centers for violations of residents civil rights, by the Department of Justice and People First, are close to final decisions and look to be trending toward closure of these warehouses.) Last but by no means least, the Governor agreed to take a resolution to the next Governors’ Association meeting related to long term care. PHOTO by Tom Olin: A large crowd marches down the street with the Capitol building behind them. The march is led by three in wheelchairs, Tim Craven, left and chanting forcefully, Paul Ford, center, and Wynelle Carson are all members of Tennessee ADAPT. Caption reads: Tennessee ADAPT led the Victory March home from the Capitol. Title: Michigan ADAPT Chant We’re the ones Who March and roll We've come today To take control SOUND OFF LISTEN — HEAR US We're the ones Who had no voice We’ve come today To make a choice SOUND OFF LISTEN - HEAR US
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INCITEMENT INCITEMENT INCITEMENT Vol 9. No. 3 November. 1993 A Publication of Atlantis/ADAPT PHOTO by Tom Olin: In front of a brick wall with a large sign reading Opryland Hotel, a group of people in wheelchairs and standing chant passionately. From left to right: Terrance Turner, above him Tommy ____, and behind him Jerry Eubanks (closest to the sign), to their right Julie Nolan speaks with someone, Verlon McKay is at the center with a People Not Profits sign on the front of his scooter, to his right, standing is Suzy Polkinghorn, and in front of her are two women in wheelchairs. Caption reads: ADAPT did not let AHCA hide behind Opryland's picket fences. [Headline] ADAPT GOES COUNTRY What do Opryland, Apocalypse Now, and Mash have in common? Anyone who took part in ADAPT’ s latest action can answer in a second helicopters. Despite this new high-tech, approach to security, ADAPT’s Nashville action was the most successful yet. [Subheading] SOUTHERN GENTILITY GONE SOUR Opryland Hotel sits right on the edge of McGavock Pike, a four lane highway. Music Valley Drive leads to its front door. The huge hotel complex is surrounded with white painted fences and rolling green pastures. For most Americans it is the picture of gentile country charm, understated wealth and wholesome good living. But for ADAPT in September 1993, Opryland was the den of the American Health Care Association, AHCA, the professional lobby association of the nursing home profiteers. Marching down Music Valley Dr. we crossed the pike and headed to the Opryland Hotel. Police had been prepping for months, with "sensitivity" trainings and media releases on what s PR problem this was for them. Hotel security had created a special protest area off in their multi-acre parking lot. ADAPT had other plans With four days to get our message across, we had no time to stand on ceremony. PHOTO by Tom Olin: People in suits and casual work outfits walk past a man in a wheelchair (Terrance Turner) who is attempting to pass out flyers. The suits are ignoring Terrance. Behind him you can see more ADAPT folks in the distance. Caption reads: NO TAKERS - AHCA tries to ignore Terrance Turner. As we approached, security came forward with the unique message: if you come onto this property you will be arrested. Instead of charging, ADAPT's 300 activists began to cross the streets in an orderly, if somewhat crowded line, going around and around as we waited for AHCA. Police were stymied .They had blocked off the highway, but as we circled in the cross walks, traffic was backing up somewhere just out of sight. We simply continued to cross the streets, chanting as we marched. Overhead a helicopter circled and hung in the air, apparently getting a new angle on our protest. Earlier that day we had held our organizing meetings, orienting the new folks, discussing strategies, and hammering out a plan for the afternoon and the week ahead. Over 300 activists had come from across the nation to join in the demand to stop the warehousing, stop corporate profiteering off of people’s lives, and free our people with a national attendant services program. They came with a renewed commitment and energy for the fight. [Subheading] AHCA SETS A TRAP FOR THEMSELVES The police soon had Al-ICA outside negotiating with us. Our leadership team did a great job demanding a meeting with the AHCA leadership, a presentation to their membership on our side of the issue, and a vote by AHCA on our proposal for a national attendant services plan. Within two hours AHCA agreed to have their Executive Committee meet on Tuesday at 3:00 with 50 representatives from ADAPT. AHCA was to locate a room and let us know where. ADAPT left victorious. AHCA thought they had closed us down for two days, but ADAPT had other plans. [Subheading] HUMAN RIGHTS BEFORE STATE'S RIGHTS Tennessee has virtually no attendant services program. ADAPT members from that state have literally had to move to other states to get services. Others are trapped in nursing homes, while still others live in fear of the day their precarious support systems break down. In real life terms, Tennessee has chosen to ignore the attendant services needs of its citizens with disabilities, whether young or old. ADAPT felt it was time for that kind of unacceptable policy to be brought to light. Beyond the problems this irresponsible policy decision causes for our sisters and brothers in Tennessee, ADAPT saw national implications. Every proposal for reform of the long term care system so far has included a strong states’ rights approach in service delivery. So a state like Tennessee which chooses to do nothing except nursing homes and a few other institutional programs might well be A.O.K. with these plans. NOT OK with ADAPT! So Monday morning ADAPT members poured out into the parking lot of our Days lnn and lined up to march on the Capitol. Another helicopter hung in the air. Behind our freedom flag we marched over the Cumberland River and into Nashville. The lunch rush stopped to watch as our seven block long march proceeded through downtown, turned the corner and headed for the Capitol BOXED TEXT "I miss my family, but I don ‘t miss worrying about losing my freedom. I'd rather die than go to a nursing home. " — LaTonya Reeves, ADAPT organizer who had to move to Denver from her home in Memphis to get attendant services. The only accessible entrance led down a long basement corridor to two tiny elevators. The first folks up rushed to the Governor’s office door but were blocked by security. Our numbers quickly clogged the doorway, then the hall and finally the entire floor. They would not let us in the office, so we blocked staff and security’s passage too. The Capitol became a nursing home; no one came or went without permission. Our demand was simple: a meeting with the Governor. Since he was in Germany, we wanted staff to call him to bring his attention to a problem at home. Our chants and knocks on doors echoed up and down the Capitol’s marble halls as we continued to press our demand Staff pretended they were not able to call Germany but soon this sham became too ridiculous even for them; they tried to call and found he was out wining and dining. ADAPT decided if the Governor was dining on fancy German cuisine we should at least get pizza. So our order for pizza for 300 at the Capitol was called in and eventually believed and delivered. The afternoon wore on. Staff climbed in and out of the first floor office windows to come and go. We thought to up-the-ante by blocking intersections in the streets around the building, but found that the police had already done that for us. Finally the Governor agreed to meet when he returned. We held a press conference at 5:00pm announcing our meeting and our belief that human rights are more important than states rights. Reversing our path we marched home through a chorus of honks from the supporters in the homeward bound traffic. Our message was clearly getting out to the public and they were learning of a problem that has been hidden too long. WE WERE THERE, THE PRESS WAS THERE, BUT WHERE WAS AHCA? Day three was the show down with AHCA. They started the day hemming and hawing about the meeting, claiming they could not find a room, their people were busy in another meeting, and on and on. ADAPT stood by our original agreement, we were not changing plans. We arrived at the agreed upon location (the Ramada across from Opryland) at the appointed time, only to find AHCA had made no arrangements for a room. (Later Opryland people told us they had offered AHCA a 250 person room and AHCA had turned them down). AHCA had never spoken to the Ramada. They had no intention of meeting. Instead they sent out one of their PR mouthpieces, Claudia Askew, to spout lies and excuses to the media. Amazed that AHCA would so blatantly reveal themselves, ADAPT gave them over an hour to come through, but AHCA made no attempt. PHOTO by Tom Olin: Three uniformed police officers stand in a doorway filling the space. One is talking on a telephone. In front of them at least three folks in wheelchairs face off with them. A short person (Spitfire) in a white sweatshirt with NEVER SURRENDER printed on the back is at the front of the crowd by the door. Caption reads: Callin' Governor McWheter in Germany, Capitol Security blocked ADAPT. BOXED TEXT: Incitement is available on tape. If you or someone you know needs the newsletter on cassette tape: call Stephanie at 512/ 442-0252 or write: Incitement 1339 Lamar SQ DR #B Austin, TX 78704 As Mike Auberger put it "if there’s no meeting here, we're going to make a meeting." Forming into a line, ADAPT began to march up Music Valley Dr. to the AHCA Hotel. As the front line people reached the fence they split off to form two lines, one on each side of the entrance. Suddenly a group rushed up the middle, heading for the front doors of the hotel, bursting through their flimsy barriers. Anita Cameron was pinned face down, and Quentin "Q" Williams was dumped on his head. Bob Kafka, Cassie James, Gil Casarez and few others were pinned in their chairs, but these few opened a way for over a hundred others to rush in. [Subheading] THE RUSH "It felt like we were flying" one wheelchair warrior smiled, "and we kept coming and coming." The first few up to the hotel were able to wriggle through the guards and get inside. A little later another group found a side door and slipped in, so about 15 people in all got inside and into an AHCA workshop (ironically titled "Under Siege") which was all about how to avoid litigation under patients‘ rights laws. ADAPT chanted and yelled "The People United Will Never Be Defeated" and "El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido" until the meeting abruptly stopped. Meanwhile outside over a hundred people had made it to the front doors, which security were struggling to keep shut. Overhead the helicopter loomed, as everyone wondered what its purpose was. Hotel security had apparently underestimated ADAPT; one muttered "that was the damnedest thing" as his mind replayed the rush on the hotel. Finally the police began arrests, corralling people in the hotel driveway, thereby extending ADAPT’s blockade. [Subheading] OFF TO JAIL AGAIN Loaded into yellow school buses, 97 protesters were eventually driven off to a local privatized jail run by Corrections Corporation of America. This facility certainly took from Sparks, NV the title for most accessible jail visited by ADAPT. Booking took hours, and while we waited a couple of people were served with a restraining order, telling us ADAPT was forbidden to return to the Opryland Hotel. By 5:00 AM everyone was processed, released and back at the Days Inn where we were staying. The police tried to badger hotel staff into releasing all kinds of information about who was staying with ADAPT, but, impressively, the Days Inn staff felt no need to cater to such harassment. [Subheading] AN UNUSUAL OFFER The next morning the lawyer and chief of security for Opryland Hotel arrived at the Days Inn asking to meet with ADAPT. The leadership team listened to their offer to coordinate a media event with Country Music stars to endorse and publicize our issues if we would agree not to protest at the Country Music Awards that night. Hotel personnel were underwhelmed with AI-ICA’s double cross of ADAPT the day before. (They had offered AHCA a 250 person room for Tuesday’s meeting, and had been turned down.) After some negotiations the leadership team took the idea to the group at large and it was agreed we would do the event at 5:00 that evening. The event was a typical bizarre happening which ADAPT finds itself in from time to time. Country music stars Porter Wagoner, William Lee Golden (of Oak Ridge Boys fame), and Bill Anderson arrived at the appointed time. Live TV coverage and lots of other media swirled around as Bob Liston, Paulette Patterson, Jennifer McPhail and Mark Johnson presented ADAPT’s desire for a national attendant services program and an end to the institutional bias of our current service system. Wagoner, Golden and Anderson listened and spoke in support of freedom and independence for people with disabilities. The event ended with ADAPT vowing to confront AHCA again in Las Vegas at their convention next fall. "Many people were critical of ADAPT or simply wished it would go away. The demonstrations should be understood as what they were: the desperate, brave cry of people who know too well the isolation and everyday misery of many who are needlessly confined to nursing homes. " — Gordon Bonnyman JR, Ietter to the Editor of the Tennessean. PHOTO by Tom Olin: A long line of ADAPT folks, several people across, marches down a wide street. A police car bocks the wide intersection. The ADAPT flag flies overhead and Paulette Patterson rolls beneath it. Caption reads: ADAPT marches under the Freedom Flag in Nashville. BOXED TEXT: INCITEMENT IS LOOKING FOR YOUR NEWS What's up in your neck of the woods? Been to any good disability protests lately? Know any horror stories? Won any victories? Working on an outrageous issue? We want to know about it. Drop us a line. Your pictures, cartoons, flyers and graphics are also welcome, and your newsletters! Send your stuff to: Incitement/ADAPT 1339 Lamar SQ DR #B Austin, TX 78704 Fax: 512/442-0522 [Headline] HAPPY ANNIVERSARY AND MANY ACTIONS [Subheading] WE WILL RIDE! FREE OUR PEOPLE! ADAPT celebrates its first decade of disability rights this year. Ten years of hard driving advocacy have brought us a long way. On Page 3 of this issue you'll find a chronicle of the national actions. We've lost some friends and gained many others along the way. Some of us show the wear a trifle more than others, but our collective power has grown exponentially. People power really works. The next issue of Incitement will have a section featuring the last decade in photos and words; watch for it! Looking ahead there's still much more work to be done, so keep your calendars free for the following: January, 1994 Freedom Day April, 1994 Philadelphia Action October 1994, Las Vegas Action More later, but in the meantime happy holidays!! And when you are making your holiday toasts, remember to toast each other and ADAPT. Remember it wouldn't have happened without you!