[Image]
[Image caption] ADAPT takes the issue of attendant services in our homes, not nursing homes, right to the door of block-grant mastermind Gov. John Engler. Photo by Carolyn Long

[Headline] Lancing a Boil: ADAPT at Work

ADAPT's action in Michigan's tiny Capitol Lansing began with a double header. Breaking into two groups of 175 people each, ADAPT's crack troops simultaneously hit the Waldenbooks Stores in both Lansing area malls. Marching in single file through the malls, we made a bee line from the parking lot to the book stores. We silently slipped down the stores aisles between the shelves until every inch of the store was occupied by book browsing ADAPTers. All Newt Gingrich's books were collected and passed up to the leadership team by the front check-out counter. They asked to speak to the manager who was already threading his way through the throng.

[Subheading] What would Thoreau have said? C.D. at Walden!

ADAPT's demands were simple. Call your corporate office and tell them to call House Speaker (and author) Newt Gingrich with our message that he should stop the double talk. Until Gingrich makes good on his promise to introduce a Community Attendant Services Act, CASA, we want no one profiting from his book sales.

By backing out on his commitment to introduce this legislation, Gingrich becomes an active promoter of warehousing people with disabilities n nursing homes and other institutions. "Take the book off the shelves, give it away if you like," our spokes people told Waldenbooks' management, "but do not allow the blood money to continue to flow through your stores."

Looking around their jam-packed aisles, both managers quickly agreed to call the corporate offices. The corporate pencil pushers were willing to convey our message, but would not stop their sales. As this was only the start of a busy week we agreed that if the corporate headquarters would fax our demands to the Speaker, we would leave --for now. Waldenbooks complied, and we were on our way.

Three actions in one day is probably some kind of record. Moving the troops was quite a job and took several rounds of shuttling. Literally hundreds of us gathered in a church parking lot, as we waited for the rest. Yet ADAPT was still somehow ably to surprise our next target: the folks at the state Republican headquarters just next door.

[Subheading] SHOW DOWN AT THE ELEPHANT HOUSE

Once again sheer numbers allowed us to pack all available space so that no one could get in or out of this building. This time it was so tight, however, that when the police arrived they could barely get close enough to the leadership who were at the center of this human mass.

ADAPT declared the state Republican headquarters a nursing home, with no one getting in or out.without ADAPT's approval. We demanded that the Republican party call Speaker Gingrich and tell him to introduce CASA. We also wanted them to ask Michigan Governor Engler to meet with ADAPT, since he had not responded to ADAPT's previous letter requesting a meeting. Last but not least we wanted the Republicans to ask Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, a Republican and head of the National Governor's Association, to meet with ADAPT.

[Image]
[Image caption] ADAPT activates their wheelchair-cloaking-devices to march up to Gov. Engler's house unnoticed. photo: Carolyn Long

Michigan's Governor Engler was a prime target because he is one of the masterminds of the block grant with no strings attached, which is so popular in Congress these days. In addition Engler was one of 20 Governors who wrote the Speaker asking that, in the Houston version of Medicaid reform, they not include people with disabilities among the groups whose funding would be protected from being fully block-granted (see article p.6). Engler has also been slashing at the state community supports for Michiganders with disabilities,.so it was not too hard to imagine his vision for the federal reform of long term care.

The party tried contacting the Governor and soon some of his top level staff appeared on the scene. The staff hemmed and hawed, and in the meantime someone back in the Governor's office typed up a letter -- back-dated of course -- trying to pretend the Governor had already responded to r letter of request. (It was such a shoddy job though, that no one was fooled for a second.) Various state department heads were offered up for meetings, but ADAPT remained firm on the Governor. Police swarmed around, not actually doing much of anything. When one rogue cop started to go on a rampage the crowd mellowed out the scene by chanting loudly "WE'RE NON-VIOLENT!"

With another couple of intense days ahead, we returned their building, having given them a taste of the medicine forced down the throats of the over seven million disabled Americans needing long term care.

[Subheading] CRIPS IN HIS 'HOOD
Since Engler's Republican pals could not get him to budge, we decided we had to pay him a visit at home. After all, the policies designed by Engler and promoted by his buddies in Congress not only reach people with disabilities in our homes, they reach right into through our kitchens and bedrooms and into our bathrooms. Without the community based attendant services these power-brokers were so loath to support, many of us can neither eat, nor get in or out of bed, nor relieve ourselves; the only option left is the nursing home.

Bright and early Tuesday morning we loaded up our vehicles and began to shuttle our group to the. refined neighborhood the Governor calls home. Mansions dot the little lanes that curve through this 'hood. A little park just down the street offered a somewhat sheltered gathering spot. We were thankful for any shelter -- since freezing drizzle and snow whipped around us in the arctic wind.

Once gathered, we set out to find the biggest surprise of the trip awaiting us. Not only did none of the neighbors notice us, the Governor's own staff drove in and then out of the gated driveway as' we approached -- and they left the gate open. Some of the ADAPT gang, not a shy bunch to begin with, took it as an invitation to come on in --so we did. In fact over a hundred of us had strolled up the driveway before Security closed and locked the open gate.

[Subheading] LAST ONE IN SHUT THE GATE

While the cops were securing the one gate, several of our folks were securing our wheelchairs to the other gate with kryptonite locks. We declared Engler's home a nursing home for the day.

Having been caught with their pants down, security and city police decide to get tough: no one allowed out, and no food or drink allowed in. It was sad to think they thought our commitment to freeing our people was only as deep as a McDonald's 65 cent burger or a chilled cup of coffee. Our hearts knew better, and we loudly traded songs and chants with our folks outside the gates. So we kept ourselves warm and our message strong.

[Image]
[Image caption] show the cops two could play at that game. Photo: C. Long

[Subheading] NEITHER RAIN, NOR SNOW... SHALL KEEP THESE MESSENGERS FROM THEIR APPOINTED ROUNDS...

Police milled around. The media were all over this story. The Governor's staff came over from his office. They told us that the Governor refused to meet with us. They told the media we were terrorists. But mostly they just wound up looking foolish as our group sat in front of the front door waiting on the Governor to return home. After a while the police picked off a few ADAPT people Who tried jumping the fence and arrested them.

At about 4:00 pm, on a signal from our leadership, the ADAPT folks inside lined up along the 301) foot driveway, doubling back when we proved to be longer than the driveway. On cue we marched off the premises. The leaders had negotiated a meet-ing with the head of the state department of health and human services, and we still had one more card up our sleeve for the finale.

[Subheading] LAST BUT NOT LEAST

The last day offered up perfect fall weather, bright and sunny, with a slight chill in the air. It was far from the bone numbing cold and damp of the day before. This was great because we knew we would be spending much of the day outside again. For the first time we were free of the lengthy shuttling, because our target was just two blocks up the street: the state capitol.

The day before the Michigan state militia had been here to protest U.N. Day. But while their message promoted isolationism, ours promoted inclusion and mainstreaming, allowing the many different individuals to enjoy and share, together in one community.

We marched up the main thorough-fare that took us directly to the main entrance to the state capitol. We had tried having Engler's political buddies make a meeting, we had tried waiting for him at his home. The only place left it seemed was his office -- so here we were.

Upon arrival, we lined up to listen to our leadership talk about our goals and to hear some recent escapees talk about living in the community versus existing in a nursing home or other institution. As our press conference ended, groups set out and took a side of the building.

[Image]
[Image caption] They literally climbed out windows at the MI state capitol. photo: C. Long

[Subheading] GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN ADAPT STYLE

Within minutes every door of the Capitol was blocked. Security was dumbfounded, as were the power-suited lobbyists and legislators who had tried to ignore our presence up until then. Soon we saw suits climbing in and out of the ground floor windows as they tried in vain to go on with their business as if nothing had happened.

Just before 2 pm, when the Senate was due back in session, the police made an all out attempt and pulled one door open and used themselves to hold open a small passage so that people could enter and leave the building through that door. But what could have been better for ADAPT? Now everyone entering and exiting the building had to pass through our midst, hear our chants and get one of our flyers.

Engler still refused to meet and address our concerns, but he had heard us anyway. In fact we had made the Governor, the US Speaker of the House, the public and the state legislature very aware of our concerns. So we declared victory and marched back to our hotel to celebrate the end of another very successful series of national actions.

Governor Engler and his minions were so freaked by ADAPT they have tried to build us into a super-funded, militaristic band of terrorists for the media and general Public. It is amazing the lengths some people will go to in order to save face. It is also interesting that within a week or so, Michigan ADAPT received an invitation to meet.

Created on

Tuesday 16 July 2013

Posted on

Monday 23 September 2019

Albums

• Lansing, fall 1995

Visits

272

Rating score

no rate

Rate this photo