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Home / Albums / Tags march + protesters 4
- ADAPT (299)
Detroit Free Press 10/6/86 PHOTOs by JONN COLLIER, Free Press PHOTO 1: A large group of posters in a line that almost looks like a pile, are behind a woman in a manual wheelchair being pushed up a curb or slope. Two people are helping her up. One holds a poster which reads "Stop the war against the disabled! [something] Congress". In the crowd behind are other large signs, some unreadable, and a very large one in the middle is partially readable and says "...for the disabled not for war!..." PHOTO 2: People in wheelchairs appear to be fanning out in an intersection with large city buildings in the far background. Between the three people in wheelchairs in the front you can see a line of other folks in wheelchairs across the intersection. Caption reads: Disabled demonstrators move through downtown Detroit, carrying signs and chanting “We will wide," in protest of the lack of wheelchair lifts on the nation's buses and trains. Title: Handicappers protest at transit convention By BOB CAMPBELL, Free Press Staff Writer About 150 militant disabled people, chanting "We will ride" and carrying signs in a procession from Tiger Stadium to the Renaissance Center, Sunday protested the lack of wheelchair lifts on the nation's buses and trains. At least 40 Detroit police officers in scout cars and on motorcycles kept the demonstrators — most of whom were in wheelchairs — on sidewalks along the two-mile route. After a request from Detroit Police Chief William Hart, who cited illegal actions of the protesters in other cities, Detroit's City Council last week withdrew a permit that would have allowed the demonstrators to parade through the streets. At one point, police insisted the protesters go through a puddle instead of using the street. At the Renaissance Center, the end of the procession, about 2,300 conferees were gathering for this week's American Public Transit Association national convention The demonstrators, who are at odds with the association on the accessibility issue, were kept away from the entrance to the Westin Hotel. See DiSABLED, Page 15A Title for part 2: Militant handicappers decry poor bus access Text box insert: Members of the group have been arrested at demonstrations at other transit meetings. DISABLED, from Page 1A HOTEL SECURITY was tight, and visitors had to identity themselves to guards before being admitted. The protesters — members of Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation — say public buses and trains should be equipped with mechanical wheelchair lifts. Members of the group have been arrested at demonstrations at other transit association meetings after chaining themselves to buses and stopping traffic. "In the ’50s, a lot of blacks were on the back of the bus." said Michael Parker of Peoria, ILL. “We still can't get on the bus." Several members of the group told reporters there would be other protests against transit association members. Wheelchair lifts were required on buses briefly in the late l970s. But a transit association lawsuit led to a 1981 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a federal requirement for lifts on all buses overstepped the intent of equal access legislation. said Jack Gilstrap, executive vice-president of the association. Most local transit agencies provide transportation to handicapped persons using mini-buses in services such as Dial-A-Ride. Gilstrap said. "The vast majority of people in wheelchairs prefer Dial-A-Ride or demand service," he said. “it runs 10-, 15-, 20-1 over lifts on every bus." Gilstrap said it is cheaper to offer special transportation service for wheelchair users than to adapt all public systems to wheelchairs. The subway authority in Washington D.C. spent between $50 million and $60 million to build elevators to allow wheelchair access tor "35 to 40 people a day," he said. MEMBERS OF the handicapper group complain of disparate quality of Dial-A-Ride systems among various cities. and they cite a requirement that rides must be arranged 24 hours in advance. Bill Bolte, 55, of Los Angeles, said: "l was a law-abiding citizen before l realized how oppressive society was getting toward handicapped people. The problem ls. we depress people because of the way we look. They don't want us around." Long-time civil rights activist Rosa Parks canceled her plans to join the ADAPT members, citing tactics that would "embarrass the city‘s guests and cripple the city's present transportation system." said to her assistant, Elaine Steele. Leo Caner, chairman of the 21 member Michigan Commission on Handicapper Concerns, said: "The general public has to be sensitized to handicappers. But getting the people sensitized by getting run over by a bus is not the way to do it." Free Pres: Special Writer Margaret Trimmer contributed In this report. - ADAPT (55)
Denver News [Headline] Handicapped protest curbs PHOTO by Steve Groer, News photo: A slim young African American man [George Roberts] in a wheelchair looks down intently as the sledgehammer he is swinging hits the curb. Beside him another man in a wheelchair [Les Hubbard] holds another sledgehammer in left hand, while holding his right arm over his had, in almost a fencing pose. Behind them sits a third man, also in a wheelchair. Caption reads: George Roberts, right, and Les Hubbard swing hammers in effort to level curb at southwest corner of East Colfax Avenue and Colorado Boulevard [Headline] 'Put McNichols in a wheelchair' By Jane Hulse Les Hubbard has been hit by cars four times as he tried to maneuver his wheelchair over impeding curbs to cross Denver streets. Hubbard, a handicapped resident of Atlantis Community lnc., underwent painful back surgery as a result of one such mishap. “That’s why I've got this hammer," he said Monday, just before he took a sledgehammer to a curb at Colorado Boulevard and East Colfax Avenue. He was one of about 50 wheelchair bound Atlantis residents who destroyed the curb to protest the city’s discontinuation of a program to eliminate hindering curbs and replace them with ramps. Hubbard and George Roberts, another Atlantis resident, chipped away at the curb while others in wheelchairs gathered in the street to cheer. “Down with curbs!" chanted the group, as traffic inched its way around the protesters and spectators. Some protesters held signs that read “We demand curb cuts," “Come on Denver, level with us — cut curbs now," and “Make Denver accessible." The curb turned out to be much stronger than the entourage expected. Hubbard and Roberts chipped away at it, leaving a small mound of crumbled concrete in the street. “They build tough curbs," exclaimed Hubbard, sweating in the 90-degree heat. "This is just enough to get the message across to make the sidewalks accessible,“ he said. “I'd like to take (Mayor William) McNichols and put him in a wheelchair for one month. It ain't easy. It looks easy because we're good at it." He said he rolls his wheelchair down a driveway near an intersection, rather than jumping the curb. Then he must maneuver the chair along the street, trying to avoid traffic as he crosses the intersection. The wheelchair-bound men and women began their protest with a single-file, westward march along East Colfax Avenue. They rolled that way for a block, then crossed the busy street and headed back to Colorado Boulevard. Traffic came to a halt. The protest ended peacefully when Denver police arrived, ordered the hammering stopped and ushered the protesters out of the road. The participants had acknowledged in advance that they might be arrested for civil disobedience. No arrests took place. A few years ago, the city undertook to remove impeding curbs and replace them with ramps. Many such ramps were installed around the city, each put in at the request of disabled citizens who found certain curbs a barrier when the went to work or did their shopping, according to Mary Penland, an administrator for Atlantis. “There are no funds for the program this year,” she said, echoing the city's response to recent requests for new ramps. "We want the program re-established," she said. Ed Ellerbrock, chief design engineer for the city's Traffic Engineering Division, said he was surprised by the demonstration. He said he and other city officials met with Atlantis residents last Wednesday about the curb issue and the meeting ended on a friendly note. He said he'd told the residents then that he would request $100,000 in next year's budget to reinstitute the program, he said, he had planned $50,000, but he upped the amount at their insistence. Ellerbrock said the program was discontinued in 1978 because requests for curb ramps had slacked off. He has had 12 requests since then. With each ramp pegged at a cost of $1,500, Ellerbrock said, he has been unable to fulfill the request with money from other departments. - ADAPT (54)
Denver Post, Photo by John Sunderland: Ten people in wheelchairs [including, left to right, George Roberts, Les Hubbard, Bob Conrad and Debbie Tracy?] sit in the street in two rows along a curb. George and Les are hammering the curb with sledgehammers as the others watch. The woman to the far right holds a sign that says "We [unreadable] curb cuts, and has a stick figure picture of a woman in a wheelchair. in the background on the left side you can see part of someone else in a chair with a hammer. Cation reads: George Roberts, left, and Les Hubbard Bludgeon a Curb in Protest. Other members of the Atlantis Community surround them in a demonstration against obstacles to their mobility. [Headline] Atlantis Members Bludgeon Curb in Protest By Bill Scanlon, Special to the Denver Post An 8-inch curb is not much of an obstacle to most pedestrians. But when you are in a wheelchair and you’ve counted 44,000 of them and each one of them is an obstacle to your movement and your freedom, that 8-inch curb can become a symbol of intense frustration. Two handicapped Denverites bludgeoned such a curb with 20-pound sledgehammers Monday afternoon to show their anger at the mayor's office for what they described as a failure to make the sidewalks and streets of Denver safe and accessible to the disabled community. THE DEMONSTRATION at the corner of East Colfax Avenue and Colorado Boulevard was put together by the Atlantis Community, an organization of handicapped people. According to a press release, the group staged the protest to “express our anger and frustration at the 44,000 curbs in Denver which prevent us from using the sidewalks and crossing the streets." A crowd of about 30 people watched and cheered as a like number of handicapped people wheeled their chairs westward down the sidewalk in front of National Jewish Hospital. When they reached a curb that had been cut to provide automobiles access they crossed Colfax Avenue. Then they proceeded eastward along the Colfax Avenue sidewalk until they reached the Conoco service station at the corner. There was a rounded curb there, so the protesters wheeled their chairs across Colfax. They were forced to edge into Colorado Boulevard traffic to go around the concrete median. At the corner they found themselves up against an 8-inch curb, symbolic of thousands of others that had stirred the protest. THERE, LES HUBBARD and George Roberts began wielding their sledgehammers. Amid cheers of “Down with the curbs," they succeeded in inflicting slight damage to the concrete slab. Drivers stopping at the corner traffic light were mostly curious, often supportive, but also a little wary about hitting the wheelchairs. The chairs impeded but did not stop traffic at the busy intersection. During a break from hammering, Hubbard said, “We have the right to go places like anyone else, but we can't. I'd like to put (Mayor Bill) McNichols in a wheelchair tor about a month." Two years ago Atlantis staged a protest against the Regional Transportation District for failing to provide adequate means for disabled people to ride the bus. Bob Conrad, co-administrator of Atlantis, said the group was not protesting RTD this time. By 1982, RTD expects to make its bus system the nation's first that is fully accessible to the physically handicapped. CONRAD SAID the city has been “pretty responsive" in the downtown area to the needs of handicapped people, but it has not responded to particular curb problems elsewhere. He said, “The city only cuts curbs that have been damaged" and added that the city budget no longer provides money for cutting undamaged curbs at particular problem areas. Edward Ellerbrock, a spokesman for Denver's Traffic Engineering Department, said there has been less money budgeted for building wheelchair ramps the past two years only because the demand has been less. He said his department met with Atlantis officials less than a week ago for "some brainstorming." He said both sides agreed that Atlantis would start identifying specific spots where ramps were needed and the Traffic Engineering Department would respond to them within the limits of its budget. Ellerbrock said his department is requesting $100,000 to cut curbs and build wheelchair ramps. He added that there is “no guarantee we're going to get it," so for publicity's sake the protest might have had some merit. CONRAD SAID that for a wheelchair person “one curb is just as bad as a flight of stairs." He said handicapped people usually have to wait in their chairs at an intersection until some people come along to help them up the curb. “Unless you're really trained at doing it he said, “you can dump the person out while trying to lift him." Hubbard said he has been hit four times by automobiles “because of these curbs. Once I had to have back surgery." He said he wanted to hammer the curb “just enough to get the message across." After about a half-hour of hammering, cheering, chanting and impeding of traffic, a Denver police car arrived and the group was told to clear the intersection or the protesters would be ticketed. The group agreed to move, apparently believing the point had been made. Denver Police Sgt. Richard Nelsen later said, "They got the publicity they wanted. They're happy. I'm happy it's all over. - ADAPT (640)
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1990 Disabled protesters seize college building (This article continues in ADAPT 632, the entire text is included here for ease of reading.) PHOTO by Johnny Crawford/Staff: A thin man, Claude Holcomb, sits in a dark motorized chair in front of a huge memorial to Martin Luther King. He sits at an angle in his chair, in a button down striped shirt, his knees wide apart and thin rigid hands resting on his arm rests. Behind him the white memorial reads In memory of Martin Luther King Jr., 1929 - 1968, Outstanding alumnus of Morehouse College ..., World famous leader of the non-violent movement ..., Distinguished winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. From Morehouse College he launched his humanitarian pilgrimage to create the beloved community and for that purpose he moved... the classroom and his pulpit ... into immortality. ...Baptist Convention ... President ... General Secretary... College. Claude's chair blocks the view of some of the memorial's verbiage. You can see the push handle and part of the wheel of another chair next to him. Caption reads: Claude Holcomb at the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial at Morehouse College. Protesters compared their struggle to the civil rights leader's. Morehouse president’s office blocked By Ben Smith III, Staff writer Saying Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would smile on their protest, nearly 200 disabled activists on Monday seized the administration building on the campus where he was educated. The demonstrators, members of Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT), a national advocacy group for the disabled, took over Gloster Hall at Morehouse College in southwest Atlanta and barricaded the school president’s office. “This is a college that has always valued human rights,” said Michael Auberger, a co-founder of the group. “This is another minority that is trying to gain its human rights.” The protest was intended to force Morehouse President Leroy Keith to arrange a meeting with Louis Sullivan, secretary of Health and Human Services and an alumnus and former dean of the Morehouse School of Medicine. Group members were angry at Dr. Sullivan for not responding to their invitation to meet with them although he spoke at an AIDS symposium in Atlanta last week. “Morehouse Medical College invited him to speak. He came. This group invited him to speak on an issue as serious as AIDS. He chose to ignore the issue," said Mr. Auberger. More than a dozen wheelchair-bound activists rolled into Dr. Keith's office before noon Monday and barricaded the door. Scores of additional protesters followed, chanting, “We want Sullivan" and "We shall overcome,” and blocked the front door and hallways. Late in the afternoon, Dr. Keith exited through a rear door, and many other employees left the building. College officials said they were puzzled that the demonstrators took their protest to the Morehouse College administration building instead of the Morehouse School of Medicine, which is a separate institution. Richard Ammons, a school spokesman, said Dr. Keith had contacted Dr. Sullivan, who said he would not meet with the protesters. But the regional director of Department of Health and Human Services agreed to meet with demonstrators in his office today, Mr. Ammons added. “We as an institution are powerless to do anything other than [contact Dr. Sullivan],” Mr. Ammons told the protesters. “And we are asking you to leave at this time." Lee Jackson, a demonstrator, replied, “We’re going to wait right here for Sullivan.” At least 50 demonstrators said they planned to remain in the building until Dr. Sullivan meets with them or they are arrested. School officials said the college was reluctant to have the protesters arrested. The protesters said they chose to come to Georgia, in part, because the state is one of the worst at caring for the disabled. Mark Johnson of Alpharetta a spokesman for the Georgia branch of ADAPT, said the state offers no state-funded care for disabled people outside of nursing homes and no matching supplements for federal disability benefits. Most states offer such assistance, Mr. Johnson added. Protesters also complained that residential care facilities can be opened in Georgia with nothing more than a a business license. Some students who were locked out of Gloster Hall complained about the protesters, but others called their objections “hypocritical” because of the school's civil rights tradition. "Anytime you're dealing with basic human rights, protests may inconvenience some people," said Otis Moss, 20, a Morehouse philosophy and religion major. “But you have to understand that ultimately it's going to benefit all." Staff writer Lyle Harris contributed to this report. Photo by Johnny Crawford/Staff: The front of an ADAPT march. On the left side are the ADAPT marchers, most in wheelchairs, on the right, a line of parked cars at the side of the street the group is marching down. First in line is Lee Jackson in a white ADAPT sweatshirt and in a manual chair. He is African American and has his head shaved completely bald; he looks very intense. He is being pushed by Babs Johnson. Behind them is Mike Auberger in his motorized wheelchair with his left leg fully extended with foot in a protective boot; he's wearing a black ADAPT shirt still with the no steps logo. Behind him is Clayton Jones wearing the black ADAPT shirt and in a manual chair. Behind him you can see Frank McComb being pushed by Lori Eastwood. As the line snakes back from there you can see more people in the black T-shirts but their faces become less distinct until the whole group fades away. Caption reads: More than 150 advocates for the handicapped move down Westview Drive at Morehouse College. At the front of the line is Lee Jackson. There is a second photo in the text of the article, a close up of an African American man's face. He is wearing a suit and tie. Below it is the caption: Leroy Keith.