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- ADAPT (1824)
Incitement Incitement Incitement Vol. 9, No.1 A Publication of Atlantis/ADAPT Jan/Feb, 1993 [image] [image caption] Co-directors Wade Blank and Mike Auberger reflect on the past decade of organizing and activism. Photo: Tom Olin [Headline] If Heaven Isn't Accessible, God Is In Trouble... by Tari Susan Hartman ADAPT mourns the loss of one of our greatest leaders, Wade Blank, and his son Lincoln. While on a family vacation in Todos Santos, Mexico, Lincoln got caught in an ocean undertown. Wade swam out to save him and both drowned on February 15th, 1993. They are survived by Wade's wife Molly and daughters Heather and Caitlin. Ironically, Wade died in the same way he lived-swimming out into the face of hostile undercurrents, and giving his life to help others fight for theirs. Those who have come to national ADAPT actions remember in the early days Lincoln rode along Wade's back. Later, he walked by Wade's side while Caitlin rode. With his elfish smile, Lincoln quietly drank in all the action at demonstrations, vigils, planning meetings and anything else that came up in his dad's activist life. While other kids play "doctor" or "house", Lincoln played "rally." Wade was born December 4, 1940 in Pittsburgh, PA. After attending an all white high school, he travelled with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Selma on a dare by a black college roommate. His experiences there taught him the deep oppression perpetuated by our "civilized" society. Once he graduated college, he served as pastor of a church just outside of Kent, OH that became the underground meeting place for the Students for a Democratic Society, SDS. After the Kent State killings, he returned to get a masters degree from McCormick Theological Seminary and was ordained a Presbyterian minister. Burnt out on his past activism and organizing, he moved to Denver and began working in a nursing home. With years of civil rights, war on poverty and anti-war organizing experience, he could not ignore the opression he found there. So he began to deliver Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of freedom directly to the doorstep of the disability ghetto: the nursing home. In 1971, while on staff at Heritage House, a Denver nursing home, Wade tried to work within the system to dignifiy the lives of the young disabled residents. A recent ABC-TV movie with Fred Savage entitled "When You Remember Me" chronicled this story. Wade and the resident's efforts were doomed to fail, but they gave birth to a better alternative. In 1974 Wade founded the Atlantis Community-a model for community-based and consumer controlled independent living-named for the lost continent of Atlantis, those easily forgotten and dismissed. The first members of Atlantis were those young adults incarcerated in Heritage House, from which Wade had been fired. Forgotten by [image] [image caption] Wade taking time out from an action. Photo: Tom Olin. [text resumes] the system and often by their families, these individuals were not forgotten by Wade as he began to liberate them from the nursing home into the Atlantis Community. Years later Wade and attorney John Holland masterminded a $32 million lawsuit against Heritage House nursing home for obstruction of justice and violation of civil rights. The case went all the way to the US Supreme Court. Today many of those original nursing home residents are raising families in homes they now own. In 1978, Wade and Atlantis realized that if people with disabilities were to truly live independently, they would need, and should have a right to, accessible public transportation. On July 5-6, 1978 a "gang of nineteen" disability activists and Wade held their first inaccessible bus hostage in the Denver intersection of Broadway and Colfax. Late that night Wade was surprised when US Congresswoman Pat Schroeder handed him a doughnut and a cup of coffee. Atlantis' decision to take the fight for lifts on buses to the national level soon led to the birth of ADAPT (American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit). ADAPT was the nation's first direct action, grass-roots movement of disability activists and mushroomed in over 30 states, Canada, Sweden and England. Like the freedom riders of the 60s, ADAPT's struggle for accessible public transit became a national battle cry of the '80s. Over the course of eight years of bi-annual national demonstrations throughout the country, hundreds of ADAPT activists and their families and friends were arrested for their beliefs and commitment to ensure civil rights for all disabled citizens. Twelve years after the first bus seize, the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA, mandated lifts on buses. ADAPT's street chant "access is a civil right" echoed in the halls of Congress, as politicians became increasingly aware that ADAPT and the disability rights movement fully expected ADA to be passed as landmark civil rights legislation. ADAPT organized the "Wheels of Justice" march in March of 1990, and Wade played a key role. It was a call-to-action that galvanized the disability rights movement to demand swift passage of ADA with no weakening amendments. Over 1,000 disability Wade, continued from pi rights activists from across the nation joined forces with ADAPT to demonstrate to the world that they were to be taken seriously. On the second anniversary of the signing of the ADA (July 26, 1992), the city of Denver and its Regional Transit District commemorated that historic event by dedicating a plaque to Atlantis/ADAPT and the "gang of nineteen" who held the first bus. Wade refused to have his name engraved on the plaque, but his silent tears at the dedication ceremony revealed the depth with which he felt the issues of disability rights. He had left his mark forever etched in the foundation of our civil rights movement. In 1990, when it was clear that ADAPT had successfully led and won the fight for accessible public transportation with the passage of the ADA, Wade and other national ADAPT leaders convened to plot their next course of action. There was little question for anyone what that next issue would be. ADAPT transformed its mission and became "American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today." Together, ADAPT and Wade returned to the scene of one of society's most heinous crimes the warehousing of 1.6 million disabled men, women and children. These disabled Americans committed no crime, yet were and still are, interred against their wills in nursing homes, state schools and other institutions. They are used as the crop of industries like the nursing home lobby, physicians and their conglomorate owners who continue to get rich by robbing our people of their fundamental civil, human and inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Most of us are spectators sitting on the sidelines of life, learning history from books. Wade, was an active participant in over three decades of political organizing. He taught others how to create and record their own destiny. A brilliant strategist, he helped shaped the tide of the disability rights movement. Yet Wade was never too busy to roll up his sleeves and assist someone with attendant services, push or repair a chair, or drive a van. He stood up for what he believed in and expected others to do the same. In his pursuit to free others [text cuts off] [boxed text] "Some - mostly those who didn't know him - have said that Wade's methods were "extreme." They said that civil disobedience in the eighties and nineties is "passe","obsolete," 'inappropriate." Bullfeathers! The same kind of things were said about Washington, Jefferson, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. What is extreme, what is inappropriate is millions of human beings living with less dignity than we accord to our pet dogs and cats. What is inappropriate is American citizens imprisoned without due process of law in oppressive institutions and rat infested back rooms. What is inappropriate is tens of thousands of people with disabilities living and begging and dying in the streets. What is inappropriate, what is unspeakably immoral, is a society that cannot be bothered to make the simple changes necessary to give its own children the opportunity of full humanity. "It has been my privilege to work closely with Wade Blank during the last several years. He has demonstrated against a meeting I chaired -when HITS Secretary Louis Sullivan spoke at the 1991 President's Committee on Employment of with Disabilities annual conference in D8118S. We have counseled together by telephone at all hours of the day and mgt. We served together on the ADA Congressional Task Force and in negotiating ADA with the President of Greyhound We marched together for equality in San Francisco, Philadelphia and Washington. We were together in the freezing mid-night outside the barricaded Departmert of Transportation in Washington I never put myself in a position to be arrested. Wade said that was alright, because I could play positive role within the system. I was never sure in my heart if that I was on the right side of the bars. I knew he was. "Let us join together in memory of Wade - on May 9th [at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington Dq ... to continue the struggle for a truly human society. Let us join in one voice to shout his shout - "FREE OUR PEOPLE " — Justin Etta Jr [boxed text ends] [quote begins] 'From my heart, I know the dream will keep on and on, because what Wade started and everyone picked up and caned on with is more important than just freedom and rights — there is a spirit and feeling from all of this of home, family, love and respect caused by the emergence of the common bonds of freedom and equality. It is a great feeling to know that there .is a "family of man" where we all work and play together, laugh and cry together, and all realize that together is the key to our success: We have something that is unique in this world and my hope is that we can spread it all around in ever widening circles to encompass the world" --Star Stephens [quote ends] [quote begins] Wade used to tell me I could so anything iI want to do. He said I didn't need him or anybody to live a good life. Now I've got to prove he was right...Wade was like a daddy to me. He did more for me than my real daddy did. We're going to miss him. -George Roberts [quote ends] from the chains of oppressions he was arrested 15 times and proud of itl Several weeks ago Wade Blank's story, including the development of Atlantis and ADAPT, was officially accepted into the National Archives. Wade, a passionate Cleveland Browns fan, was a loving husband, daddy, friend, organizer and leader. He valued and encouraged the unique contributions that each of us has to give to ourselves, each other and the world around us. We honor his contribution, value his friendship, and grieve the loss of our beloved friend and colleague. Wade was one of the few non-disabled allies of the disability rights movement who understood the politics of oppression. At times through the years, his leadership role was questioned, but he never lost sight of the vision, nor lacked the support of those he was close with. [image] [image caption] Wade was a brilliant strategist who could pall a plan from thin air. A constant communicator, Wade got input from lots of folks and loved to Pro-passible out-comes of different strategies and tactics. Often, during a long day of protest, Wade would pull the leadership team over to "run different scenarios", as he put it. Photo: Tom Olin. - ADAPT (1845)
- ADAPT (1844)
[Headline] Wheelchairbound Denverite credits Wade Blank for corner ramps [Subheading] Activist helped breach the prison of curbs [section (?) heading] People By Greg Lopez George Roberts was going up Broadway in his motorized wheelchair Wednesday afternoon, explaining why he could go up Broadway in a motorized wheelchair. It was in 1971 outside the nursing home where Wade Blank was an orderly, and Roberts was a resident with cerebral palsy. Blank walked. Robert was in a wheelchair with no power. He turned to Blank and said, "Wade, I can't go any farther." Blank said, "Come on, you can't just quit." "I'm not quitting, Roberts said. "There's no ramp, and I'm sure as hell not going to ride this wheelchair over a curb. You've got to understand that." "I'll try, " Blank said. Blank, 52, the founder of the Atlantis Community and a national handicap rights leader, drowned Monday in Todos Santos, Mexico, trying to save his 8-year-old son, Lincoln. Blank's body was returned Tuesday to Denver, but searchers had not found Lincoln's body. Roberts is 44 and spent the first 26 years of his life in nursing homes and the Ridge Home for the developmentally disabled. Blank had been a Presbyterian minister in Kent, Ohio, earned a master's degree in the theology of rock music, and came to Denver to work as an orderly. It makes sense they became friends. Blank began by organizing fund-raisers at churches to buy Roberts a motorized wheelchair. He took Roberts to a restaurant for the first time. When other residents complained somebody was stealing from their rooms, Blank gave Roberts a flashlight and told him to patrol the hallways. [image] [image caption] George Roberts, who suffers from cerebral palsy and uses a motorized wheelchair, credits Wade Blank with helping to improve access for disabled Denver residents. Roberts now has a job and lives independently. Glenn Asakawa/Rocky Mountain News [boxed text] Still Fighting. Disabled activists protest move to reduce nursing home fines/12 [text continues] Two nights later, Roberts shined the flashlight on a man taking a portable radio from a room. The man backed away. Roberts pinned the man against a wall with his wheelchair. "People didn't think I could do it," Roberts said. "I didn't even think I could do it. I think Wade was the only person who did." In 1975, Blank started Atlantis. Roberts moved out of the nursing home to work for him. A year later, Roberts, Blank, and 18 others were charged with disobeying an officer for blocking an RTD bus that didn't have a wheelchair lift. Since then, Roberts has been arrested 36 times in demonstrations for handicap accessibility, and Denver has installed wheelchair lifts on all of its buses and there are ramps at every curb. Roberts is an inspector for Atlantis, going into businesses and riding buses to make sure everybody else can. He lives in a house with a friend. He takes care of himself. Blank helped them to get the ramps, and now it is up to Roberts to see how far he can go. "Wade used to tell me I could do anything I want to do," he said. "He said I didn't need him or anybody to live a good life. Now I've got to prove he was right." - ADAPT (1843)
Rocky Mountain News Wed., Feb. 17, 1993 Greater Denver Deborah Goekeh, City Editor 892-5381 [Headline] Wade Blank, advocate for disabled, drowns [Subheading] Minister who led Denver bus demonstrations and spurred U.S. laws dies as effort to save son fails By Katie Kerwin Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer Wade Blank, who carried the fight for disabled Americans from Denver buses to the halls of Congress, died Monday in Mexico as he tried to save his drowning child. Violent waves and a powerful undertow claimed them both as Blank's wife, Molly, and daughter, Caitlin, watched from the shore. Their other daughter, Heather, 22, was in Denver. Blank was 52. His son, Lincoln, was 8. Co-director of the Denver-based Atlantis Community and a Presbyterian minister, Blank is credited with spurring groundbreaking state and national legislation guaranteeing rights to disabled Americans. Although he was not disabled, Blank was inspired to improve living conditions for the disabled after working in a Denver nursing home in the mid-1970s. "The Americans With Disabilities Act would not have passed without his leadership," said Justin Dart, chairman of the President's Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities. "Wade Blank was a great moral person-a great loving human being," Dart said. "He marched in the footsteps of the great moral leaders who have used civil disobedience combined with loving leadership to change the world. Presi-[text cuts off] [image] [image caption] Wade Blank, center, and Atlantis Community co-workers Robin Stephens and Ken Herd head South Broadway near the headquarters of the organization, which aids the disabled, in 1991. Rocky Mountain News file photo. [text resumes] -dent Clinton and the 43 million Americans with disabilities would join me in celebrating the life of this great soldier of justice and extending our most profound sympathy to his family and colleagues." Blank, his wife and children were vacationing in Todos Santos, Baja California, Mexico. He had been there since Feb. 9. The village, about 50 miles north of Cabo San Lucas, was a favorite getaway for the family. "Lincoln was out swimming and was pulled in by the undertow, and Wade went out to get him. They were both pulled in by the undertow," said Mike Auberger, co-president of the Atlantis Community. Molly Blank tried to summon help. "It was just too quick. The area has real rough water. It happens, and it happens quick," Auberger said. Blank's wife and daughter returned to Denver late Tuesday. They brought Blank's body home, but Lincoln's body has not yet been recovered. Funeral plans have not been determined. A demonstration planned for May in Washington, D.C., will become a tribute to Blank, Auberger said. Just last week Blank and the Atlantis Community filed formal complaints with the Department of Justice protesting the lack of wheelchair access to taxis in Denver. It was just the latest chapter in a long civil-rights battle. Blank called the disabled "the most powerless people in our society." "I fight the notion they should just be Jerry's kids. I want them to have control," he said. Blank grew up in Canton, Ohio, went to an all-white high school and college, and supported Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon for president. A black friend dared him to go to Selma, Ala., to march with Martin Luther King, Jr. Blank became pastor of a church in Kent, Ohio, which became an underground meeting place for the Students for a Democratic Society. After the killings of Kent State students by national guardsmen during a war protest, he went back to McCormick Theological Seminary for a master's degree. He moved to Denver and worked as an orderly in a nursing home. In 1975, Blank co-founded the Atlantis Community to tech the disabled how to live outside institutions and, soon after, he began attacking the barriers to independent living with confrontational, non-violent protests. In 1978, Atlantis members made national headlines when they surrounded two RTD buses with wheelchairs at Colfax Avenue and Broadway because RTD would not install wheelchair lifts, making Denver the first city in the nation with 100% accessible public transportation. Staff writer Kerri Smith and the Associated Press contributed to this report. - ADAPT (1842)
- ADAPT (1841)
Monday, February 22, 1993 The Denver Post Denver & The West [Headline] 'Warrior' for the disabled mourned By Sarah Ellis Denver Post Staff Writer More than 1,100 people gathered yesterday to share memories and grieve the deaths of disabled-rights champion Wade Blank and his son, Lincoln. Both drowned Feb. 15 during a family vacation in Mexico. Friends, co-workers and neighbors remembered Blank as an activist, devoted family man and one who dedicated his life to helping others. "Wade was a prophet, a warrior for justice and peace," said former colleague Art Waldmann. "But through it all, there was always his warm and caring self." In a memorial billed as a celebration of life, many shed tears and praised the man who had worked to give independence and dignity to disabled people everywhere. But the service at the downtown Radisson Hotel also was peppered with folk songs and laughter. "He touched a lot of people," said Mike Auberger, co-director of the Atlantis Community, which Blank helped launch in 1975. Wade's love warmed and empowered us all," said Justin Dart, chairman of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. "It breached the defenses and won the respect of policemen, jailers, judges, mayors and congresspersons." Blank's casket was draped with a [text cuts off] [image] [image caption] Pays last respects: Heather Blank, adopted daughter of disabled-rights champion Wade Blank, places a hand on her father's casket at memorial service yesterday. The Denver Post/ Brian Brainerd [text resumes] flag, the stars forming a handicapped. sign. His '60s-style civil disobedience to bring attention to the needs of disabled. people was credited with changing many lives. "He was a visionary and a teacher who worked for justice and equality for us all," Stephanie Thomas said from her wheelchair. Neighbors remembered Lincoln Blank as a boy "with dancing eyes" who played rally, instead of house or doctor, and who was a "big brother" to many neighborhood children. Auberger said Lincoln's first words were "We will ride!" a rallying cry for disabled access on public transit. A national memorial service for Blank will be May 9 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Contributions for the family may be made to the Wade Blank Memorial Fund at The First National Bank of Denver, 300 S. Federal Blvd., Denver 80206. A trust fund also has been established in the name of Wade Blank. Contributions can be sent to Atlantis/ADAPT, c/o Evan Kemp, 2500 Q St., N.W., #121, Washington, D.C. 20007. Blank is survived by his wife, Molly, and two daughters, Heather, 22, and Caitlin, 6. - ADAPT (1840)
- ADAPT (1839)
[Headline] Champion of disabled, son drown By Judith Brimberg Denver Post Staff Writer Wade Blank, a Denver resident who use civil-rights tactics to win accessible transportation for the handicapped, has died in a swimming accident in Mexico that also claimed the life of his 8-year-old son, Lincoln. The 52-year-old onetime Presbyterian minister had been vacationing with his family in Todos Santos at the tip of the Baja California peninsula when tragedy struck Monday morning, an associate said. Lincoln was caught in a Pacific Ocean undertow and when Blank went to the child's rescue, he too was sucked under. Blank's body had been recovered, but Lincoln's still was missing as of last night. A Denver resident since 1971, the able-bodied Blank was the spark plug for handicapped activism locally and elsewhere. Recognized by his blond hair worn long the style of the 1960s, the tall, lanky advocate was the driving force behind numerous demonstrations. He led protests in federal buildings and downtown Denver streets to advance independent living for the disabled; in Washington, D.C., to obtain passage of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act; and throughout the nation to liberate the disabled from nursing homes. "He is the one who cut the path through [text cuts off] [image] [image caption] Blank family: Left to right, Caitlin Blank, Wade Blank, Lincoln Blank, and Mollie Blank in a picture taken July 26, 1992. Wade and Lincoln died Monday in a swimming accident in Mexico. Special to The Denver Post. Tom Olin. [text resumes] the jungle to provide opportunity for the disabled and to educate the broader community about their rights," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena, who first met Blank in 1982 when Pena ran for Denver mayor. Blank asked Pena whether he would drop charges if the handicapped were arrested for civil disobedience. When Pena hedged, Blank told him: "That's the wrong answer. We want to be treated like everybody else. Don't give us any break." A native of Pittsburgh, Blank received a divinity degree from McCormick Seminary in Chicago. In the late 1960s, he was pastor of a Presbyterian Church in Akron, Ohio, and was involved in the anti-war movement at Kent State University. Admittedly burned out when he came to Denver, Blank worked in the youth wing of a nursing home before helping launch the Atlantis Community for the disabled in 1975. "I decided to move people out of the nursing home and do the care myself," Blank recalled in a recent interview. "You try moving eight people who are severely disabled into their own apartments and be responsible for dressing them, feeding them, bowel programs, bathing them. I think if I were sane, I probably wouldn't have done it, but within the first six months, I'd moved 18 people out. So now I was wedded to the concept." Atlantis today has about 100 disabled people who receive attendant services. From there, it was an easy step to civil rights activism. On July 5, 1978, under Blank's tutelage, 19 handicapped people in wheelchairs blocked two RTD buses for 24 hours to force public accommodations to be made accessible to people in wheelchairs. It was the start of a campaign that tasted victory in 1983 when RTD's first elected board rescinded an earlier action and voted to make 89 new RTD buses handicapped accessible. "That was major turning point in the way RTD responded to Blank's efforts," recalled former RTD Chairman Jack McCroskey. That same year, Blank and his cohorts formed a new umbrella organization--American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation--ADAPT--and began picketing meetings of the American Public Transportation Association. In 1990, to spur passage of ADA legislation, ADAPT organized a massive demonstration capped by 200 handicapped people crawling up the steps of the Capitol building to block the rotunda. "I do not think that was an extreme action," said Justin Dart Jr., chairman of the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped. "Homeless people with disabilities were dying in the streets or were incarcerated in nursing homes or institutions without due process of law." Saddened by Blank's death, Dart said: "I don't think the ADA would have passed as a civil rights law without him." Recently, ADAPT has taken a new name, American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, and has a new goal, that of making home health care a right so the disabled can live in their own homes. Despite his successes, Blank never collected more than $18,000 a year in salary. "Wade was one of those people you saw going on forever," said Mike Auberger, a paraplegic who is co-director of the Atlantis Community. "He was 52, but he was 18 years old as far as energy and drive were concerned. He kicked us into a whole other gear. He was a real center for the disabled community and a real focus of where disability rights needed to go." Blank is survived by his wife, Mollie; two daughters, Heather a 22-year0old handicapped woman whom he adopted 12 years ago, and Caitlin, 6; his mother Ruth, of Canton, Ohio, and two sisters. Funeral arrangements are pending. - ADAPT (1838)
- ADAPT (1837)
- ADAPT (1837)
[image] [image caption] Wade was always ready to lend a hand. Photo Tom Olin - ADAPT (1836)
"...I'll never forget the first day of work. The black community just hated me. I walked in the door and Luke White, who was the assistant director there, sent me out with a real old lady on the staff named Mims, and she was about a 68-year-old black woman, and I spent the entire day visiting other old black women in the community, and talked about knitting and stuff. When I came back, Luke was just laughing because he was going to show "whitey." He really stuck it to me. That was his was of getting to me..." -Wade Blank, 1992, about Twinsburg, Ohio - ADAPT (1835)
- ADAPT (1834)
- ADAPT (1833)
[Headline] RELIGION AND THE DISABLED .. . LIBERATION THEOLOGY AND THE DISABLED MOVEMENT by Rev. Wade Blank In the 1950's and 1960's, as the Black communities organized for freedom, we saw many church leaders become heavily involved In the civil rights issue. The core of the civil rights movement was the Black church, and as time went on, more and more white churches joined the struggle. While the oppression of the Black communities was economic, political, and social, and the goals of the movement were integration, and equality in American society, the rationale for this work for justice was based on theological thinking. The Creator had made all people equal, and there-fore love for each other among all humanity would bring about a community of justice and liberty for all. This was the message of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., which so stirred the country and the world, and it was this theological basis that gave momentum to the anti-war effort during Viet Nam in the 1960's and early 1970's. If the message of Dr. King and the church was so compelling on issues of justice and equality for people of color, then is the message not just as imperative now for the disability rights movement? Why have we not adopted the theological springboard for our civil rights movement"? There are several reasons: 1) All liberation movements evolve as people in history seek justice. This is called "salvation history" in which all humanity seeks equality and justice. This yearning that evolves into struggle is just now beginning to stir in the souls of people with disabilities. 2) People who are disabled are just now beginning to understand that the physical characteristics of disability are not more different that the fact of colored skin — a physical characteristic that locked millions of people out of society. The physical functioning, appearance, or difference should not determine if s/he receives justice and equality. In order for the disability rights movement to become powerful the disabled per-son must "own" his/her disability, as Black people own their Black skin. "This is what I am. I am proud of what I am. I need and demand what other members of my society have. The barriers erected against me in my own community are not the fault of my disability. They were built by others in their ignorance, prejudice, and paternalism." Until that perception becomes reality, we will not have the power of our own convictions to change anything! 3) Once the righteousness of our position is held in our guts — steadfast and unwavering it will begin to transmit itself to the larger society and church leadership will begin to deal with the issues. The church is getting a paternalistic message from the disability movement at this time. Church people honestly believe that all we want are ramps into churches! They don't understand that we are working for empowerment. Therefore, the liberation theology that the church applies to other oppressed groups is not realized for people with disabilities. It is up to us to make our position clear. While we are talking about access, we also demand the right to ride all public transportation, the right to keep our own children, the right to join our neighbors at the polling place, the right to an equal education, the right to eat in public places — entering through the front door with our friends and families, not around back by the garbage cans. These issues are identical to those the Black liberation movement addressed there is no difference and the church must hear that message! American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT) has received substantial support from the Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, and Lutherans because we have taken the time to extensively explain our issues to them. If we are to be successful in all communities, every member of the disabled community must see him/herself as a worker in a true liberation movement —steadfast and unwavering—able to triumph over every argument used against us — from "God's will!", through cost effectiveness, special treatment, architectural integrity, tradition, fear and loathing, holding firm until we, too, shall overcome. WE WILL RIDE NEW WORLD / MARCH 1988