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Home / Albums / Tag Visitability 2
- ADAPT (1013)
Incitement [This picture contains an article and the "ADAPTed" lyrics to a song. The article text continues in ADAPT 1012, 1011, 1010 and 1009, but is included here in it's entirety for easier reading. The lyrics appear here after the complete article.] Photo: A man (Cisneros) and woman (Julian) sit with heads bowed writing on pads in their laps. At their feet a woman (Searle) sits on the floor her arm extended, speaking forcefully. Behind her Three guys in wheelchairs sit in front of a mostly obscured crowd. One other wheelchair user is visible between HUD Secretary Cisneros and Deputy Sec. Julian listen as Jean Searle tells it like it is! Norbert _______, Alfredo Juarez, Jose Lara and Sean Pevsner watch the fireworks. Photo: Holly G Gearhart [Subheading] DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS THE EYES OF TEXAS ARE UPON YOU! Five hundred strong ADAPT took on the third largest city in the United States, Houston Texas, which is home to the third largest nursing home corporation in the nation, Living Centers of America, LCA. As if anticipating ADAPT’s impact, Houston had record high temperatures of over 95 degrees each day. But ADAPT’s stalwart troops withstood the melting temperatures for one of the hottest actions yet! Action started Monday morning as wave after wave of wheelchair warriors reached the front door of Living Centers of America. Transporting these record numbers was quite a trick, especially since Houston’s traffic is known for bumper to bumper log jams on the maze of highways which crisscross its 596 square mile face. Living Centers of Americas corporate headquarters stand alone on the feeder road of IH-10. As if built for defense, this industry giant is surrounded by flat grassy fields, impossible to approach undetected. Clearly everyone could not gather before we entered the building, so speed was of the essence for the first arrivals. Unloading with efficiency learned from experience, the leadership team and first arrivals rushed through the front doors and the lobby. Building security began to realize something funny was going on. As they insisted we sign-in the guest register, we piled in the elevators and headed up to the eighth floor to find LCA corporate mogul Edward Kuntz and his cohorts. Photo by Cante Tinza Inc.: A tight shot of a crowd of ADAPT protesters in front of Living Centers of America glass building. Folks look hit and one woman is holding a poster over her head that reads: I'd rather go to jail than die in a nursing home!! Caption reads: Barbara Hines, AJ and tons of others gave Living Centers of America a does of their own medicine when their office was turned into a nursing home for the day. Last year, in Texas alone, Living Centers amassed $39.28 million in revenues after allowable expenses, according to state human services department cost reports. Nationally, LCA increased their net revenues $185 million, 26%, from 1994 to 1995. Over 50% of their revenues come from Medicaid and other public funds. And 100% came from the lives of people like you and me who do not have a fair choice to stay at home and with attendant services. Insert footnote: When reporting this to the public, ADAPT of TX used to use the term profits, but the Texas nursing home industry threatened to sue us if we used that term. FYI The American Heritage Dictionary defines profits as "the return received on a business undertaking after costs have been met." Your guess at the difference is as good as ours. [back to article] Kuntz and his top level cronies personally pulled in over $2 million in salaries and perques in 1994. This cozy financial package allows Kuntz’s family to live in a genteel little village on the outskirts of Houston. On another much less prosperous edge of Houston, over 200 kids with disabilities are kept on the second floor of the "Thomas Care Center" one of Living Centers’ nursing homes. Fenced in with barbed wire, some do not even leave the grounds to go to school. This is just one of the 209 nursing homes with over 24,000 beds which help pay for the comforts of Kuntz, his staff, board and shareholders. The second wave of ADAPT’s activists went to deliver some barbed wire to Kuntz’s home (since it was apparently good for the kids at Thomas Care Center we figured his family deserved the same protection) but found that -- learning of our plan in advance -- the family had moved down the road a ways. Helpfully, a neighbor phoned the Kuntzes with the unpleasant news of our attempted visit. [Subheading] MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE OFFICE Back at the eighth floor of corporate headquarters, the first arrivals headed into the offices to seek out Kuntz. Doors were locked in our faces and one man pulled a sofa across a hallway to block our passage. However, it was obvious our message had already penetrated the office. ADAPT’s chants rang through their halls, and downstairs van-load after van-load of ADAPTers kept pouring into the building, packing the lobby. Houston police, apparently unable to arrest people in wheelchairs, tried to negotiate, Kuntz hid for the first few hours, but as the building owner grew more and more tense, Kuntz was forced to respond. ln paternalistic frustration police arrested five people who could walk (some with disabilities that were not visible ones.) Negotiations progressed at a snail’s pace, while the police dragged hundreds of ADAPT members out of the building. In the end, Kuntz agreed to meet with representatives from each of the ADAPT `groups` that had come to Houston. The police delivered him outside, where he read a typed, prepared statement of the same old tired lines AHCA folks always use. Then he scurried back inside. << Photo by Cante Tinza, Inc.: Protesters are standing and sitting jammed in by the front of a building. Their mouths are open yelling, one person has a bullhorn and several have their arms raised in the air. Caption reads: Outside the Republican Headquarters ADAPT cheered upon hearing the party chairman had arrived and agreed to our demands. [Back to article] [Subheading] BACK TO THE BEGINNING The Houston event started Sunday with a day of workshops and a Housing Forum with HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros. The workshops were an excellent exchange of information on everything from promoting state versions of CASA (the Community Attendant Services Act, ADAPT’s draft legislation) back home, to developing real housing opportunities for people with disabilities. Justin Dart welcomed ADAPT and Cisneros to his old stomping grounds: Texas. At the forum Cisneros seemed to pick up on many housing issues and was supportive of "visitability" (adaptive or universal design offering basic access so people can visit family, friends, etc.) in addition to better alternatives and more consumer control. However, he was either unwilling or unable to see the problem with HUD sponsoring finance packages for nursing homes and other institutions. In fact he referred to nursing homes as a housing opportunity for older Americans, and seemed to think because people were older they would somehow require such "housing." Clearly, the Secretary’s understanding of disability discrimination is superficial -- at best. More education will be necessary. [Subheading] WE’RE HERE, WE’RE THERE, WE’RE EVERYWHERE Tuesday dawned with the same blistering heat as before. But ADAPT activists were as fired-up as ever to tackle the day’s targets. With over 500 people we could again divide and hit two places in one day, thereby reinforcing our message to the target, namely the leadership of the party in power, the Republican party. Speaker Gingrich and his cohorts still had not lived up to his promises to introduce CASA and include its principles in Medicaid reform proposals. Despite its adherence to the professed Republican values, the party generally has ignored the benefits of CASA: supporting family values, cost effectiveness and getting government out of people's lives. Photo by Carolyn Long: Three women in straw cowboy hats stand in a line arms around each other grinning. Caption reads: Free at last, Donna Redfern, Kathleen Sacco and Marita Heyden finally came out of jail. Bill Henning and Mike Butte were released earlier that day. [Back to article] Half of ADAPT headed for the Harris County Republican Party, and half for the district office of Tom Delay, the US House of Representatives’ Majority Whip (they guy who lines up the votes in favor of the Contract on America). [Subheading] NO ACCESS TO THE REPUBLICAN AND DOLE ELECTION HEADQUARTERS The two actions worked like a charm. ADAPT surrounded the converted gray house where the Harris County Republican Party Headquarters are located. Ironically, this inaccessible building was also the Presidential Campaign headquarters for Dole, who sells himself as the "disability candidate." After quite a wait staff finally located Gary Polland, Chairperson of the Harris County Republicans. In the meantime, ADAPT folks sang the staff numerous versus of "Deep in the Heart of Texas," ADAPT style (see below) When Polland arrived he was very receptive to our demands. He understood that our reform proposal CASA, met many of the Republicans’ goals, and that choice of services was the way to go. He faxed the letters to Dole, Gingrich, Delay and others regarding our concerns and promoting support of our CASA. He also spontaneously offered to have ADAPT representatives present our proposed Party Platform language to the Texas Republican Party Platform Committee when they met to prepare for the state Convention. [Subheading] DON’T DELAY, DELAY All of the 200 crack ADAPT troops who went to Representative Delay’s office managed to get inside the building unhindered, and most made it up to the second floor where Delay had his office. ADAPT’s negotiators were tough, at one point wadding into a ball a draft statement Delay’s staff offered and throwing it back across the table at them. After intense lengthy negotiations, Delay produced a letter committing that he would meet with ADAPT. [Subheading] FREE AT LAST Around midnight that night the last of the five arrested and jailed the first day were released to a rowdy welcoming home crowd of ADAPTers. [Subheading] DAVID AND GOLIATH On Wednesday ADAPT went all together to confront the potentially largest and most heinous enemy of long term care. This menace, lurking just on the horizon, is corporate managed care; this time in the form of one of the industry giants -- Cigna. Although police had spotted us gathering in a nearby empty parking lot, as van load after van load of activists unloaded, they could not stop us as we began to roll. Cigna is one of the biggest insurers handling managed care, a real mover and shaker in the health care arena. As both private and public health care systems move closer and closer toward the managed care model, many problems are surfacing for people with disabilities who have health care needs. Not least among these are the needs for long term care. Long term care is not considered as profitable as acute health care and therefore is less desirable to the managed care corporations. They tend to try and "cream" the most profitable services and ignore the rest. Marching in the front doors, we headed for the elevators to the 12th floor. Leaders demanded to see the CEO as ADAPTers kept filling offices after office and hall after hall. Once the 12th floor was packed, people went for the 11th and 13th floors, and still the lobby remained full of chanting protesters. We took building security and occupants by complete surprise. Working upstairs, a mother of a child with a disability heard the protest and came down to thank ADAPT for lighting for her son. "I worry about him having to go to a nursing home someday. It’s a frightening thought!" she said, and she is right. After some masterful negotiations upstairs and several rounds of ADAPT’s "Deep in the Heart of Texas" from those downstairs in the lobby, Cigna’s Houston CEO Richard Todd, came down to read their letter agreeing to meet with ADAPT to discuss our concerns. The air rang with cheers for ADAPT’s third day of victories. The building chief of security said to one of the day leaders that he was not too happy with our tactics, but the protester pointed out to him that training like this would have cost him over $1,000 a day, yet we had given it for free. The security chief looked amazed, but admitted with a grin it was true! Photo by Cante Tinza, Inc: Between two gleaming metal walls of elevators ADAPT protesters fill all the available space. Facing in all directions waiting for elevators, the group is packed together. Caption reads: ADAPT filled the lobby and several floors of Cigna. We don't want managed care to manage us out of the picture. [back to article] [Subheading] HAVE NO FEAR, ADAPT IS HERE With the largest numbers we have ever had, ADAPT was tested in our ability to work as a team. Each local group had worked hard and in almost every case was able to bring more activists than ever before. Many new faces and many new places were among us. Our people were tested in our faith in one another, and learned the strength we can harness when that faith is kept. Despite some wrinkles, we bested the tests of heat, lack of elevators and transportation. People put up with half hour long waits to get down from the hotel rooms to the staging area, inaccessible vans with make-shift ramps, long cross-city trips on Houston’s traffic-jammed highways, police targeting walking protesters, and record high temperatures and humidity. We put up with these hassles to get across a message, FREE OUR PEOPLE. Acting together ADAPT, once again, was a force to be reckoned with. ADAPT’s message was sent to as many players as possible: day one to the private corporations who seek tremendous profits from the current warped system, day two to the political forces which could effect change but don’t, and day three to those who seek to control the system as it moves to "public- private partnerships." Next stop ATLANTA! [The end of this article] Lyrics Deep in the Heart of TX (song to the tune of Deep in the Heart of Texas) We take no crap Cause we're ADAPT CHORUS: Deep in the Heart of Texas Nursing homes stink They're worse than you think Deep in the Heart of Texas Politicians lie We all know why Deep in the Heart of Texas We'll put a cowboy boot Up the ass of Newt Deep in the Heart of Texas But have no fear ADAPT is here Deep in the Heart of Texas It is my place To get in your face Deep in the Heart of Texas You will be trapped Cause we're ADAPT Deep in the Heart of Texas We want CASA new We don't care how Deep in the Heart of Texas We're making a plea To just be free Deep in the Heart of Texas Rather live in my home Not a nursing home Deep in the Heart of Texas So just be sure What we stand for Deep in the Heart of Texas We take no crap Cause we're ADAPT Deep in the heart of Texas - lyrics by Zak Zakarewsky - ADAPT (536)
Independen Life Spring 1990 Article 1: Urgent Call to Action! Pass Strong ADA Now! ADA needs you! And your family, your neighbors and your colleagues — to flood Washington with appeals for justice, today and everyday, until the president signs a strong ADA! Representative Lynn Martin 815/987-4326 (local) 202/225-5674 (Wash.D.C.) 1208 Longworth Office Building Washington D.C. 20515 NO TDD AVAILABLE Lynn Martin (R-IL) must hear from as many of us as possible for two very important reasons: 1) She is a member of the House Rules committee, which determines what version of the ADA reaches the House floor. Tell her you support the Senate version of the bill. 2) Martin, who is not an ADA co-sponsor will be running for the senate this fall. Let her know that we need her support. Contact Martin and all the Illinois House members today to urge their support of a strong ADA. NO WEAKENING AMENDMENTS! The grassroots efforts targeted at the U.S. House of Representatives will determine whether the ADA is ultimately enacted in the strongest form possible. Weakening amendments are expected. Our opponents will not give up. LET'S NOT STOP NOW! If you have sent letters to the President, Speaker Foley and Minority Leader Michel, send them each two more. If you have sent cards to members of Congress, send some more. If you have visited your Congressional office with five friends, visit again with more friends, and call every week to check on the progress of the ADA. (See page 5 for The ADA Western Union Hotline Number.) PHOTO Two women smile at the camera. The woman on the right has a sign behind her head that reads "PASS ADA WITH NO WEAKENING AMENDMENTS." The other woman holds her hand in a partially raised fist. Behind both is a third woman in the shadows, who is also smiling. Caption reads: Access Living's (l to r) Bobbie Boyce- Williams, Beverly Gonzalez and Pearl Mathews support the March 12th rally in D.C. at Chicago's rally for the ADA held in the Federal Plaza. Groups through-out the country held similar rallies on the same day. PHOTO: A line of protesters in a line at the front of the ADA March, chanting as they go. On far left two older women carry a huge poster. To their right and in front George Roberts carries a poster reading "We Shall Overcome." To his right Stephanie Thomas wheels her manual chair with a sign over her legs that reads "Access is a Civil Right". Holding on to the back of her chair is Frank Lozano who is also holding the harness of his dog guide Frazier. To their right is Jennifer Keelan, a girl of about 8 years who is partially standing in her chair as she chants. An older woman (her grandmother?) is pushing the chair. She and Frank are wearing ADAPT bandannas as headbands. To their right is her little sister Kaylee, walking and holding the handle of Jennifer's chair. Stephanie, Frank, Jennifer and Kaylee are wearing ADAPT T-shirts with the no steps logo. Behind them on the right side of the street is a huge building with columns along its side. Caption reads: Close to 1,000 people joined the "Wheels of Justice" march to the Capitol, March 12, 1990. PHOTO: Looking up from below at the dome of the Capitol against the sky. In front is a huge banner reading "Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere" Martin Luther King, JR. Quote beside photo: "It was great to see the unity among the disabled people there. It was an honor to be arrested and serve time with my colleagues." -- Michael Winter, Berkeley, CA President - National Council on Independent Living, NCIL. PHOTO: Picture of Cassie James squished between the back of a power wheelchair and a desk, holding on so she can sit up. Over her head three other protesters (Erik von Schmetterling, Carol Marfisi and Kent Killam) sit on the floor against another desk. Caption reads: Sit-in at Congressman Shuster's office. PHOTO: Marchers in wheelchairs, scooters and walking make their way up toward the Capitol building. In their midst is the ADAPT flag. One man is bent over helping a person in a manual wheelchair. In the foreground a person in a wheelchair has a sign on the back of their seat that reads: Basic access to every new home. The rest is unreadable, but is the basic tenants of Visitability from the group Concrete Change. Quote below picture: "We are not asking for our rights, we are taking them." -- Barbara. Jersey City, NJ ADAPT Member PHOTO: ADAPT members in front of the White House. In the foreground a man and woman in wheelchairs sit talking. Others are on the sidewalk around them, and behind them all is a line of ADAPT protesters with their wheelchairs backed up to the fence. Quote under photo: “The best part of it was that for once we brought every different type of advocate together to form a unified force for change. There was everyone from rehabilitation professionals to independent living staff to congressional staffers to A.D.A.P.T. It really demonstrated the potential power we possess." -- Chuck Graham, Springfield. IL, Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois. PHOTO: A slightly jumbled line of people in wheelchairs on the sidewalk next to a major boulevard. Behind them are other people standing and in wheelchairs, An ADAPT flag and another flag appear to be affixed to a nearby light pole. Toward the back of the picture someone is holding a sign reading "ADA NOW." Folks in the front of the shot are from Chicago ADAPT; most are wearing T-Shirts with the old ADAPT, no steps, logo and the woman in the very front has the Chicago ADAPT "ADAPT or Perish" T-shirt (partially obscured.) Caption reads: Joining the marchers are Dr. I. King Jordon, Paulette Patterson from Chicago, Congressman Major Owens, Justin Dart Jr. and Michael Winter, N.C.I.L. President. Quote beside photo: "I continue to feel empowered by having seen our people, in spite of most perceptions to the contrary, “stand up" for their rights." W. Michael Yeager. Washington D.C., Photographer Article 2 (The full text of this article, photos and captions appear here, in the photos it is on 536, 525 and 520): ACCESS LIVING JOINS RALLY AND MARCH ON NATION'S CAPITOL The biggest-ever national non-violent direct action sponsored by A.D.A.P.T. in support of disability rights and the Americans with Disabilities Act occurred in Washington D. C. March 12-14. The weather was unusually hot. Chicago represented one of the largest contingencies. Beto Barrera, Mike Ervin, Nancy Kelen, Ginger Lane, Rebecca Lanen, Rene Luna. Susan Nussbaum, Tom Rafferty, Judith Savage and Ora Schub represented Access Living at the historic event. MARCH 12 THE MARCH AND RALLY ON CAPITOL HILL MARCH 13 163 DISABLED PROTESTERS SEIZED AND 104 ARRESTED FOR REFUSING TO LEAVE THE CAPITOL MARCH 14 45 PEOPLE ARRESTED FOR TAKING OVER CONGRESSMEN SHUSTER'S OFFICE Photo: Marchers headed down an Avenue in DC, some are in chairs and two smiling men in white shirts and ties are in the foreground. One has his power fist raised and the other is holding a sign that says "National Association of the Deaf NAD. To: Congress, Re: ADA, Just Do It!" Caption 1 reads: "It was great being part of this movement and using our power to make things change." -- Rebecca Lanet. Chicago. IL, Access Living. Caption 2 reads: Access Living's Susan Nussbaum (far left) with DREDF's Marilyn Golden at the march. Photo: I. King Jordan standing at the plaza on the Capitol steps. Behind him you can see the top of the fountain and the upper level balcony of the Capitol as well as some fancy archways. He has a microphone in front of him and he is smiling as he addresses the crowd. Caption reads: “The time to pass this bill is now. We can wait no longer" Dr. I. King Jordan, Washington DC, President Gallaudet University A quote: "Together we shall overcome" Photo: A boy in wheelchair (Kyle Glozier) with a communication device on his lapboard. He is wearing several buttons and an ADAPT shirt. Hanging from the front of his lap board is a poster reading "We will Ride." Caption reads: An Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (A.D.A.P.T.) member. Photo: The Capitol rotunda crammed with people in wheelchairs and a few people standing. On the wall in the back is a life-sized black statue of a man from some olden times, and a humongous painting in a gilt frame. Everyone is looking toward a man in a suit who is standing next to someone doing sign language interpreting. Caption reads: “It was the most incredible amount of power a group of disabled people ever held over its government. We closed down the Capitol while people were being arrested. All visitors and staff were turned away from the Hill for several hours. Speaker of the House Foley and Minority Leader Michel who only meet in the rotunda for state occasions both came to the rotunda together to meet with us. I guess you could say that ADAPT actions are definitely occasions. " Mike Auberger. Denver, CO, ADAPT Member Photo: The dome of the Capitol rises in the background and below it is the ADAPT flag. People in wheelchairs being pushed, in power chairs, people walking, all heading toward the Capitol. Photo: Looking down into the crowd one can see the mix of people. Several are gathered around Dr. I. King Jordan. Others are sitting or standing listening or waiting. There are 2 men with mouth driven wheelchairs, one of whom is Tim Baker. There is a woman in a miniskirt and a sports wheelchair. Mike Ervin is kind of in the middle foreground. Caption reads: Michael Ervin (foreground) was among one of the 10 Access Living staff members at the A.D.A.P.T. action. Ervin is past president of Chicago's ADAPT group. Photo: Five people in wheelchairs and one standing person look toward a van. The standing woman appears to be clapping and Eleanor Smith (one of the folks in chairs) has her power fist raised. A scooter in the foreground has a Concrete Change sticker on it. Behind the group you can see the front of the Capitol, the side facing the Supreme Court and Library of Congress. Caption reads: "The impact we made was phenomenal. By arresting 104 disability rights activists, the police facilitated a very empowering situation. For eight hours as we waited to be processed through the system, we met new co-advocates, argued, debated and strengthened our political power." -- Ginger Lane, Chicago, Access Living