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Avaleht / Albumid / Märksõna disability 24
- Video Incitement- Las Vegas 1994
Here is the video Incitement story of the ADAPT action in Las Vegas Nevada, 1994, when ADAPT again protested the American Health Care Assn, AHCA, convention there. Closing streets, protesting at the Convention Center and the AHA hotel, ADAPT fought to make the nursing home providers deal with the pain and havoc their industry causes in the lives of people with disabilities of all ages. - ADAPT v AHCA Las Vegas 1994
Edited video footage of Las Vegas ADAPT action mixed with news clips from same action. Shows protest of AHCA convention by disability rights group ADAPT. Shows protests at Las Vegas Convention Center, on Paradise Dr. and at Hyatt Hotel. Video by Gordie Haug - Rotunda part 1
This is part 1 of the story of the ADAPT protest in the Capitol Rotunda to call for passage of the ADA with no weakening amendments. The ADA had become bogged down in the House and there was concern the bill would not pass. The day after the Wheels of Justice March and the Capitol Crawl, ADAPT took over the Rotunda of the United States Capitol building and over 100 people were arrested protesting for our civil rights. This is almost raw footage and gives a real sense of the event as it unfolded. Part 2 of this action is included in the next video Capitol Rotunda part 2. - Video-Incitement Lansing
This is a video Incitement for the ADAPT action in Lansing MI in 1995. We took on Newt Gingrich, the Michigan Republican party, Governor Engler, and the State Capitol and legislature. - Real_People_Real_Voices_2006
Abridged version of testimony on getting out of nursing homes and how that changed people's lives for the better. 7 hours of personal stories were shared by people with many kinds of disabilities at ADAPT hearing in Nashville TN in 2006. This video just includes highlights. Original music by D4Dub and Ballad of Josie Evans sung by Johnny Crescendo. - ADAPT (601)
THE DENVER POST / NATIONAL Friday: September 9, 1989 [Headline] Senate approves bill to guarantee rights of disabled By Knight-Rldder News Service WASHINGTON — An estimated 43 million America with disabilities won a major victory last night as the Senate approved a landmark bill aimed at moving them into the nation’s social and economic mainstream. The Senate, on a 76-to-8 vote, passed legislation that would extend for the first time sweeping civil rights protections to persons with hearing impairments, epilepsy, AIDS and dozens of other physical and mental disabilities. The measure, which now goes to the House for expected approval, would ban discrimination in the hiring of the disabled; require businesses, shops and transit systems to make their facilities more accessible to the wheelchair-bound; and force telephone companies to provide special operators for the deaf. The bill was endorsed last month by President Bush, and administration lobbyists joined advocates for the disabled yesterday in opposing efforts to modify the legislation to meet business objections that it will be too costly to small firms. Business leaders warned that the measure could put some employers out of business if.they were required to make expensive structural changes in their buildings to accommodate disabled customers and workers. Critics also said the compliance provisions of the bill were vague and would result in years of litigation in federal courts over what constituted discrimination against the disabled. Major provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act would: * Prohibit employers from discriminating against qualified job applicants with disabilities. Changes to accommodate the disabled in the workplace would be required unless they would cause an “undue hardship," a term critics say is too vague. * Require new business establishments to be accessible to the disabled and require existing establishments be made accessible if the alterations are “readily achievable." * Require new buses and trains to be equipped with wheelchair lifts. * Require telephone companies to provide operators who could relay messages from the deaf to hearing individuals. Deaf persons can communicate with each other by telephone now by using Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf (TDDs), but can't communicate with people who don't have the TDDs. “We’re not asking for special treatment," said Pat Wright, government affairs director of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund Inc. “Whether it’s putting a ramp in or providing a reasonable accommodation in employment, it makes you equal, not special." The bill, as originally written, would have exempted Congress from its provisions — but that exemption was deleted during debate. And in another concession to the intense interest of the disabled in the measure, the Senate for the first time allowed an interpreter using sign language to translate the televised proceedings of the floor debate so that the deaf and hearing impaired could follow the action. Extending civil rights protections to people with AIDS or the AIDS virus had been recommended by a Reagan administration commission on AIDS, but was opposed by President Reagan himself. Bush, however, has supported the protection. The bill bars employment discrimination against persons with AIDS but does permit employers to deny jobs if the employee poses a significant risk of transmitting the infection to others. However, homosexuals are not covered by the legislation. They can still be discriminated against solely on the basis of their sexuality. After an inquiry by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., sponsors agreed to delete transvestites from nation protections. Helms also raised questions about providing protection to schizophrenics, manic-depressives and psychotics, but their status remained intact in the measure. - ADAPT (562)
USA Today, Wednesday, March 14, 1990 * 3A CLOSE-UP: RIGHTS OF DISABLED House panel passes landmark bill. As wheelchair-bound activists demonstrated at the Capitol, a sweeping civil rights bill for the disabled survived a key House vote. The Energy and Commerce Committee, successfully fending off an attempt to exclude people with AIDS or the HIV virus from the bill's protection, recommended the measure 40-3. Passed by the Senate last year, the bill gives the disabled the same civil rights and job protections that minorities won two decades ago. It also calls for public places and public transportation to be made accessible to people in wheelchairs and requires telecommunications systems to accommodate the deaf. "Ensuring equal rights for the disabled will result in greater productivity and responsibility for a significant portion of our population,” said Rep. Thomas Luken, D-Ohio. An estimated 43 million disabled could be affected. Meanwhile, police arrested 104 disabled demonstrators who confronted House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash., in the Capitol Rotunda on the second day of intense lobbying by disabled people seeking quick passage of the bill. Foley reassured the demonstrators he is “absolutely satisfied” the measure “will become law.” Earlier, Rep. William Dannemeyer, R-Calif., was rebuffed in attempts to exclude people with contagious diseases or behavioral disorders from coverage. “When the people of this country realize just how far-reaching (the bill) is, they will rise up in opposition,” he predicted. But Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said the bill does not protect people with diseases that can be transmitted through the air: “If someone poses a threat, they can be discriminated against." (Help sought for AIDS victims, 2D) PHOTO (AP): Close-up of a man's face with large glasses, large ears and dark hair. He has a look of urgency on his face. Caption reads: Luken: Cites 'productivity' - ADAPT (558)
Grapevine (the title is surrounded by grape leaves and clusters of grapes) Weekly Happy birthday, TJ, see Editorial, p. 2. New Thomas Pynchon novel reviewed, see p. 5. FREE! In This Issue: Editorial . . . . ............ . . . 2 Letters to the Editor ..... 2 City Board Agenda.........2 Lithuanian Story to Tell..3 Grapevine Digest............3 Sheffield Nelson's Vi......4 The Way Were.................5 Grapevine Comics...........6 KUAF Radio Guide.........6 Classifieds.........................7 Community Sportsline.....7 Dictionary of Democracy..7 Watching the Environment 8 The Movies . . . . . . ..............8 Local Live Music . . . ..........8 Volume XXI, Number 32 A Free Weekly Newspaper Fayetteville, Arkansas Friday, April 13, 1990 PHOTO (by Tom Olin): The front line of a big march, headed by an African American man (George Roberts) in a motorized wheelchair with dark glasses and a sign reading "We Shall Overcome", a woman (Stephanie Thomas) with frizzy hair and mirror sunglasses in a manual wheelchair, a sign across her legs reads "Access is A Civil Right", a Latino blind man (Frank Lozano) standing tall with his back back, bandanna-headband, and dog-guide Frazier on his left all with stern expressions on their faces. To Frank's left a young girl (Jennifer Keelan) almost stands in her wheelchair yelling a chant as her grandmother and sister Kailee push her along. Behind them a man in a white button down shirt (Evan Kemp) smiles, Justin Dart's hat is visible over Stephanie's hair and he is being pushed by a tall man (Jay Rochlin) in a suit with a button on his lapel. Between Frank and Jennifer, a short man (Michael Winter) in a wheelchair is visible. Behind them, row upon row of marchers heads, several with mouths open chanting. Breaking Down the Barriers Civil Rights for People with Disabilities by Yaél Hana Bethiem In 1983 I considered killing myself. l considered this out of a deep despair, an agony over my life. In 1983 I had been diagnosed with a progressive disease. I could no longer work, could no longer sit in chairs and could stand for shorter and shorter periods of time. In other words, I was becoming disabled. I was panicked. How could I live without my physical life, my strength, my independence? What I didn't see at the time was that I was buying into our culture's attitudes about disability. I could not value myself or value my life because the system I had to fight to get my basic needs met, did not value me; l live in a culture that believes that "out of sight, out of mind" is acceptable policy for dealing with people with disabilities. In a culture that values productivity above all else, those who cannot produce, or who need assistance to be able to produce, are considered a burden. Our culture also has a myth called the “American way," which says that if anyone "tries hard enough" he or she can “make it." When applied to people with disabilities this means that if only we “try harder" we can "overcome." We can rise above the barriers, showing superhuman strength, and then we will be more acceptable. This attitude makes people believe the barriers do not need tn be removed. Instead, they think we, the disabled, need to overcome them. In other words, the closer we cart be to “normal," the more we are accepted. Those who cannot become more normal are locked away, out of sight, out of mind. Those of us living within this oppression, for it is oppression, often internalize the culture's attitudes. We believe there is something wrong with us. Millions of people share this fate with me; we are locked away by a society that would prefer to pretend we do not exist. We are imprisoned by attitudes that do not see people with disabilities as fully human; attitudes that expect us to "overcome" (or heal ourselves); attitudes that create barriers, or do not see the barriers that do exist. There are 43 million people with disabilities in the United States. We are one of the most repressed minorities in this country. We are denied access to basic rights, transportation, jobs, and respect. For people with disabilities there are thousands of ways the oppression affects us, thousands of forms of prejudice and visible and invisible barriers. An example of the effects of this oppression is the story of David Rivlin. David was a quadriplegic who, last summer, chose to have his respirator turned off. He went to court to ask for the right to die. His story was aired on TV. I heard people around me say, “l would do that too. I wouldn't want to live like that." David lived in a nursing home. He lay in bed twenty-four hours a day tied to a stable respirator. David didn't have to live this way. He could have had a portable respirator and thus been able to use a wheelchair. He didn't know about a portable respirator and no one ever told him. The government was paying $2300 day to keep David in a nursing home, but would pay only $207 a month for an attendant so David could live independently. The day before David died, a reporter covering David's story discovered that money could have been gotten for David to live independently if someone had known how lo “work the system." David's struggle reflects the struggle of people with disabilities in this country. If David, and other people with disabilities were given their right to make choices in their lives all along, there would be no necessity of fighting for the right to die. The Americans With Disabilities Act There is a growing awareness of the need for change in policy and attitude toward people with disabilities. Last year a bill was introduced in Congress called the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA would begin to guarantee civil rights for people with disabilities. Although it has already been modified since its inception, the ADA, as it now stands, would be a beginning to removing barriers that prevent people with disabilities from participating in society. Unfortunately, the ADA is facing serious compromise due to powerful lobbies against it. It is also facing changes that would remove its power as a civil rights act. Last summer, the ADA was passed almost unanimously by the Senate. It was endorsed by President Bush. It then moved into the House of Representatives, where it is now stalled. The most powerful lobbies against the bill are Greyhound and the National Federation of Independent Businesses along with the Chambers of Commerce. Greyhound is against the ADA because they will have to equip new buses with wheelchair lifts. They claim it will cost them millions of dollars, yet they are adding in costs that have nothing to do with the Americans With Disabilities Act. While using erroneous concepts for the cost figures, Greyhound is pouring money into Washington to fight the bill. The National Federation of Independent Businesses also base their antagonism to the ADA on erroneous concepts. The NFIB is saying the ADA will cause hardship for businesses. The ADA requires that public facilities constructed after the ADA becomes law be accessible. Existing facilities have to be accessible within two years of enactment if the access is "readily achievable without much difficulty or expense." In other words. businesses can decide for themselves whether they can afford to provide access. On March 10, American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT) held a march on Washington to promote awareness of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Over 1,000 people with disabilities came from all over the country. They marched from the White House to the steps of the Capitol. The rest of the week was filled with talks with key figures and demonstrations. Many people participated in planned civil disobedience aimed at calling attention to the current injustice. Because the ADA is civil rights legislation, it ties in with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. New legislation has just been introduced that would create real remedies for violations of the Civil Rights Act. Because the ADA is tied to the Civil Rights Act these remedies would also apply to violations of the ADA. Opponents of ADA want to separate the ADA from the Civil Rights Act. For people with disabilities this would be a compromise that essentially negates the purpose of the ADA. People with disabilities deserve to be treated fairly and humanely, which at this point we are not. It is time to remove the barriers, especially the barriers of mind. It is time to break down the walls that have kept people with disabilities imprisoned. The Americans With Disabilities Act is a very important step. Please write to Hon. John Paul Hammerschmidt at U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515 or 35 E. Mountain, Fayetteville, AR 72701 . Let him know you are aware of the ADA. Ask him to support it as it now stands. Only unity can save our threatened planet.On every level we have to move out of the mindset of differences and into the awareness of our shared humaneness. Now it is time also to move out of separation based on physical ability. Only then can we really share our resources. Only awareness of barriers can bring the possibility of their removal. Yael Hana Bethiemn is a free lance writer from Eureka Springs. - ADAPT (556)
Cover of the magazine Habilitation! there is a line of only partially readable text:something Research and something Coalition The picture which fills the cover is of a crowd of people with various disabilities sitting in wheelchairs, 15 people are visable but it seems they are just a part of a much bigger crowd. Most are ADAPT members wearing various ADAPT T-shirts, one fellow has a white button down shirt and tie. Facing the camera, they are cheering and clapping . At the bottom of the picture six more people, again apparently part of a much larger group, face the rest, backs to the camera. In the center Justin Dart sits sideways to the camera. He is wearing his signature hat, black rimmed glasses, a coat and tie; in his lap are papers and he is holding something like a pen in one hand. He appears to be addressing the crowd around him. Directly behind him, her back to his back, stands a short woman who appears to be a sign language interpreter. - ADAPT (537)
The Handicapped Coloradan Small Text Box: If you feel like spending a few days In Washington, D.C. this March, give Wade Blank or Mike Auberger a ring at (303) 936-1110. They've got a tour of the Capitol Building that most travel agencies don't offer. PHOTO (by Tom Olin): Joe Carle, Diane Coleman, Bob Kafka and Mark Johnson, all in wheelchairs and dressed in revolutionary garb lead a march under the leafy trees of Philadelphia's historic district. They have tri-cornered hats, jackets with fancy buttons, ruffled shirts, a fife and drum. Behind the front of the line Ann ___ is visible, as well as other marchers. Diane carries the ADAPT flag and Joe has another dark flag on a tall pole. Caption: Militants could seize capitol rotunda -- Dressed In Revolutionary War garb, several ADAPT members rolled toward the Liberty Bell while the U.S. Court of Appeals was ruling that disabled people have a right to public transit. Many of these same activists are heading for Washington, D.C. on Mar. 10, in an attempt to get Congress to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1989. Protesters intend to leave their wheelchairs and crawl up the steps of the Capitol Building while Congress is in session. Article begins: ADAPT sets roll on D.C. To prod ADA passage Still a mile high following their victory in Atlanta last fall, disabled activists from across the country are planning on rolling on the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., to demand that lawmakers pass the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1989. The act, which grants sweeping civil rights to disabled people (much as the 1965 Civil Rights Act aided blacks), has passed the Senate but is currently bogged down in four House committees, and no one expects a vote earlier than Feb. 28 by the full House membership. Disabled militants, mostly members of the Denver-based American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT), are planning on arriving in Washington on March 10. "If the bill is still in committee at that time, we're going to treat it as if the bill is in trouble," said ADAPT founder Wade Blank, co-director of the Atlantis Community, a Denver independent living health care provider. Blank said that disabled lobbyists in Washington have warned ADAPT to avoid the confrontational politics that it has used in other cities while battling its arch-nemesis, the American Public Transit Association (APTA). The professional lobbyists said it is not advisable to upset Congress, according to Blank. That's too bad, Blank said, because "we're telling them right here and now that we're going in and kicking ass.” Blank expects several hundred will participate in the march on the capitol, with about 125 of the protesters prepared to leave their chairs and crawl upon the capitol steps while other militants sneak in and seize the rotunda itself. If all that works out, it could be ADAPT’s biggest action so far in its seven-year struggle to force transit companies to put a lift on every bus in the country. The federal government unofficially agreed to support that goal in a deal hammered out between representatives of ADAPT and President Bush in Atlanta last October. Part of that deal called upon the President to push for disabled rights in his State of the Union address, which he did, much to the satisfaction of ADAPT, which Blank described as being “very pleased” with Bush. “Now we're going to smoke out a few Democrats," he said. When the agreement was reached in Atlanta, two cities had already started the process of purchasing non-lift equipped buses. Since then Pittsburgh has reversed its position and agreed to buy only accessible buses, while Albuquerque refused to consider altering its plans. “They’ll go down in history as the last city in America to buy lift-less buses," Blank said. In the months since Atlanta, ADAPT has switched its attention to pushing for lifts on intercity coaches. To that end some 45 wheelchair demonstrators were in Dallas Jan. 21-24 to picket a joint meeting of the American Bus Association (ABA) and the United Bus Owners of America (UBOA). Greyhound, the largest intercity bus company, is headquartered in Dallas. Most of those demonstrators were participating in their first action, which Blank said proves that ADAPT is continuing to grow in strength and power. On the first day, pickets blocked the entrance to the conference hotel with relatively little fireworks. But on Monday, Jan. 22, the protesters hit the Greyhound depot where some 29 demonstrators were arrested for blocking buses. Twenty of those were first-time arrestees. Trial has been set for Feb. 12. On the third day, protesters stormed in the exposition hall and interrupted a trade show demonstrating the latest advances in bus design. Most of that design had nothing to do with helping wheelchair riders get on board, Blank said. UBOA president Wayne Smith, who has published articles in the New York Times arguing against the transit provisions of the ADA, decided not to call in the police, and for three hours militant wheelchair protesters engaged in debate with professional transit providers. “It was a very successful happening,” Blank said. He said he hoped that spirit would hold true for the Washington, D.C., action, where he expects to see more first-time protesters. A seminar on ADAPT’S history and tactics is set for Mar. 10 at the Comfort Inn on H Street in northwestern Washington, where neophyte activists are urged to go even if they are planning to stay elsewhere during the action. Although the ADA covers all disabilities, this action, called the “Wheels of Justice," will center on the rights of the mobility-impaired. Blank said he tried to coordinate his action with other groups, including the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), but was rebuffed. “They don't think of themselves as disabled,” he said. “And that’s fine.” (For more on this topic see Homer Page’s column on page 2, “The ADA and the Blind.”) Some blind advocacy groups, including the NFB, have argued that they don't want adaptive devices, such as special buttons on street corners, written into the bill. “We don't need them," said Page, who is vice president of the Colorado NFB chapter. Those people wishing to participate in ADAPT‘s “Wheels of Justice" should contact Blank or Mike Auberger at (303) 936-1110. PHOTO: Medium close up of Wade Blank from the waist up. He is smiling, wearing dark sun glasses and a vest. His below shoulder length blondish hair is parted in the middle. This text covers the article that appears in 537 and 538. - ADAPT (498)
The Atlanta Constitution For 121 Years the South's Standard Newspaper TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1989 SPORTS FINAL Photo: A tall man holding a toddler in one arm stepping over and between two motorized wheelchairs blocking the passage. One woman [Christine Coughlin] in a red jacket and headband faces the camera, while the other wheelchair user, in a blue jacket and hood, faces away. Photo by DIANNE LAAKSO/Staff Caption: A man steps over protesters in wheelchairs blocking the doors of the Richard B. Russell Federal Building on Monday. Bush Order Lets Disabled Resume Courthouse Sit-In Protesters Demanding Access To U.S.-Funded Transit Systems By Pat Burson and Alma E. Hill, Staff Writers After occupying the plaza floor of the Richard B. Russell Federal Building for eight hours Monday, more than 100 disabled activists were evicted at the close of the business day. only to be allowed back inside alter President Bush personally intervened. Boxed quote on the side: "The decision is to let them stay in the building because of the president's deep commitment to the handicapped and their right to protest" -- Gary Cason, GSA Main story: The protesters, who formed a human blockade near the main entrances to the 26-story tower about 10 a.m. Monday, vowed to remain until federal regulators require wheelchair lifts on all buses purchased with federal dollars. “We're here until the order gets signed," said Michael W Auberger of Denver, one of the co-founders and organizers for American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT). Mr. Auberger and other demonstrators from throughout the country lined their wheelchairs two and three deep near the doorways to the federal building, located at the corner of Spring Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, trying to stop anyone from leaving or entering. Mr. Auberger, who has been disabled since he suffered a spinal cord injury 17 years ago, and others blocked revolving doors by attaching chains and iron bicycle locks around their necks and locking them to door handles. a tactic used to prevent security from simply lilting protesters out of their wheelchairs to clear the doorways. At one point Monday afternoon, Mr. Auberger, 35. said, “They‘ll have to carry everybody out or arrest them." At 6 p.m., Atlanta police and officers from the General Services Administration, who provide security for the building, ordered the protesters to leave and began carrying them outside. The guards used large bolt cutters to sever the chains holding some demonstrators to the doors. At about 8 p.m., as guards were removing the last of the demonstrators, Gary C. Cason, regional administrator of the General Services Administration, told police and maintenance workers to allow the protesters back into the building. “The decision is to let them stay in the building because of the president's deep commitment to the handicapped and their right to protest," Mr. Cason said. Mr. Cason said Mr. Bush also said he was concerned about the protesters sitting outside in the chilly overnight temperatures and rainy mist. Maintenance crews appeared a half-hour later with blankets. and cots were promised. Mr. Cason said the protesters would be restricted to the lobby floor and would have access to the restrooms. Protest organizers credit White House counsel C. Boyden Gray for Mr. Bush's action. Mr. Auberger said they contacted Mr. Gray, who took their case to Mr. Bush. The president then called the head of the GSA, Richard G. Austin, in Washington, telling him to allow the demonstrators back inside. Mr. Auberger said the group planned to stay in the building overnight and would block the entrances again at noon if the Transportation Department does not order changes in transit-access rules. “At noon the administration has to decide whether or not they are going to arrest us, or we're closing the building do\vn again," he said shortly before 11 p.m., as the protesters ate Chinese food they had ordered and made themselves comfortable in the hallway on the Spring Street side of the building. The protest forced most visitors to the building Monday to use a basement entrance adjacent to an underground parking lot. The demonstration was the second in as many days held by ADAPT, a nationwide organization. The event was held in Atlanta to coincide with the annual conference of the American Public Transit Association (APTA), meeting this week in Atlanta, and to attract the attention of U.S. Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner, who spoke to APTA Monday morning. APTA opposes legislation pending in Congress — that ADAPT supports — called the Americans With Disabilities Act. The proposal would remove barriers in public transportation by requiring public transit authorities to have wheelchair lifts on any new buses purchased 30 days after the measure was enacted. APTA officials say they oppose that portion of the measure because it would cut into limited federal funds. While Mr. Skinner has said he supports the bill, ADAPT wants him to issue an executive order so the stipulation can take effect immediately prior to congressional action. Protesters demanded to talk with Mr. Skinner while he was in Atlanta, but Mr. Skinner departed for St. Croix without meeting with them. Robert Marx. a spokesman for Mr. Skinner, said the secretary does not have the authority to issue such an order, only the president. [This is a combination the story on ADAPT 498 and 497] - ADAPT (497)
This is a continuation of the story on ADAPT 498. The full text appears on 498. - ADAPT (494)
PHOTO only by Tom Olin Paulette Patterson in a manual wheelchair, Anita Cameron and another woman protester sit on the floor mouths open, all chanting in unison. Anita and the other woman wear ADAPT headbands and have their fists raised in the power sign. Behind them George Roberts and Claude Holcomb are in their wheelchairs up against a a glass door that reads "DO NOT ENTER (with and ADAPT sticker over the center)" and "OUT." George is also chanting, Claude looks off to the side. - ADAPT (492)
Atlanta Journal Constitution, Thurs., September 28, 1989 [Headline] Demand by Disabled: 'We Will Ride' (This story is in two parts both of which are included here) Photo: African American police officer with hat perched on his head uses large bolt cutters to cut through a very heavy motorcycle chain that is locked to the neck of an ADAPT protester and the steering wheel of a bus. Behind him is the door of the bus and another officer stands below on the steps. In the foreground is part of a protest sign saying Greyhound. Photo by John Spink, Staff caption reads: Officer C.A. Wardlaw cites a chain holding protester Clayton Jones to a Greyhound bus steering wheel. [Headline] Protesters Arrested After Halting Greyhound Buses. By Pat Burson, Staff Writer More than two dozen disabled activists were arrested Wednesday after they halted bus service at the Greyhound bus station in downtown Atlanta for nearly five hours by blocking driveways with their wheelchairs and, in some cases, chaining themselves to the buses. The demonstrators, who were in town this week to protest the lack of accessible transportation, were driven to jail in a lift-equipped transit bus. Those arrested were charged with criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and failing to clear streets and sidewalks, said Atlanta police Maj. J.L. Mullins. They were released later on their own recognizance. More than 100 disabled protesters wearing headbands and carrying placards began encircling the bus terminal at 3:30 pm. with the majority lined up against the front of the building along International Boulevard. chanting, “We will ride" and “Access is our civil right." Others moved to the back of the terminal and blocked five buses by parking their wheelchairs in front and behind to prevent the drivers from leaving the station. During the protest, police also closed International Boulevard between Spring and Williams streets and rerouted rush-hour traffic. Greyhound officials declined to comment on the protest, which effectively closed the station until 8 p.m. One demonstrator, Clayton Jones, 41, of Houston, pulled himself into the driver‘s seat of an unoccupied bus and chained himself to the steering column. Earlier in the afternoon, he chained himself to the rear wheel of a bus. “I am trying to hold up Greyhound because they are holding up my life," said Mr. Jones, who lost the use of his legs in a 1985 accident. Mr. Jones said he has tried to ride Greyhound alone, but could not because of its “Helping Hands" policy, which requires a passenger in a wheelchair to be carried on and off the buses but allows a companion to travel with the disabled passenger free of charge. The policy also prohibits battery-powered wheelchairs inside the buses. “Is this a free America?" Lillibeth Navarro of Los Angeles shouted at police, draping a full-sized American flag around her body as other protesters were being loaded into the lift-equipped bus. “You are abetting Greyhound’s discriminatory policies!" The bus station was a new target for members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, or ADAPT, who spent Monday and Tuesday occupying the main floor of the Richard B. Russell Federal Building several blocks to the south. They protested outside the Atlanta Hilton Hotel on Courtland Street on Sunday, where the American Public Transit Association (APTA) is holding its annual convention. Atlanta was chosen as the target for the protests, even though MARTA only buys handicapped-accessible buses, because of the APTA convention here. The Denver-based ADAPT is demanding that all public buses purchased with federal dollars be made handicapped-accessible through installation of wheelchair lifts. The demonstrators targeted Greyhound, one of their major foes in the transportation industry because it does not have lift-equipped buses, will not transport people using electric-powered wheelchairs and requires disabled passengers to travel with their own attendants when they ride on its buses. Tom Street, regional general manager for the bus line, said only four buses carrying a total of 80 passengers left Atlanta during the protest. On a normal evening, 20 buses carrying up to 600 passengers would pass through the terminal. The protest came as a surprise to some who thought victories won by the protesters with federal officials Tuesday would have sent them packing. The protesters met with Steven A Diaz, chief counsel for the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, who told them he would ask Transportation Department officials to meet with them to establish a process to identify public transit authorities that are deliberately speeding up purchase of new buses to circumvent a bill pending in Congress mandating that such buses have wheelchair lifts. Protesters swarmed on the first Greyhound bus that pulled up to the International Boulevard entrance about 4:30 p.m. Three people in wheelchairs and one man who is blind sat in front of the bus, arms linked, while several other protesters went to the side of the bus. One man maneuvered himself out of his wheelchair and onto the steps of the bus while bewildered passengers looked on. One angry passenger screamed obscenities at the protesters as she stepped over the man lying in the doorway. “I just got out of Hardwick prison camp," said the 32 year-old woman, referring to the Georgia Women's Correctional Institution. “We left Hardwick at 8:30 and changed buses three times before we got to Atlanta. I want to go home. “I haven't been home in eight months. I have people waiting at the bus station for me. I said this morning, ‘I‘m free at last,‘ and I come to Atlanta and see this!" Greyhound officials called in police while protest leaders talked by phone to representatives of the bus company at its Dallas headquarters. Most protesters allowed officers to maneuver their wheelchairs over to a lift-equipped bus the police called to the site for the arrests, while others chose to evade police. Staff writer Ben Smith III contributed to this article. Photo (by John Spink/Staff): A group of 4 helmeted police men and a supervisor surround and hold a young African American woman wearing an ADAPT headband. Behind them is the side of an Americruiser over the road coach (bus). In one corner a sign reading "Greyhound is a Dirty Dog" is taped to the bus. Caption: Atlanta police remove protester Anita Cameron of Colorado Springs from Greyhound terminal Wednesday. More than two dozen demonstrators were arrested. - ADAPT (491)
Photo only. Photo by Tom Olin Picture of the lobby of the Russell federal building filled with ADAPT protesters in wheelchairs and standing. Two sides of the room are floor to ceiling glass windows and doors. People are scattered about in small groups. Outside it is daytime, inside the lights are on.