Incitement
Incitement
Incitement

Volume 19 No.1
A Publication of ADAPT
Spring 2003

[Headline] No More Stolen Lives
[Subheading] A New "Soldier's" Viewpoint, May 2003
by Jeffrey L. Smith

On Sunday May 11, 2003, as I stood lined up in front of the White House in Washington DC with several hundred other protesters I thought to myself "Jeff are you SURE you're ready to GO TO JAIL for this cause?
As the police officers gave their third and FINAL warning for us to move away from the President's residence I rather quickly decided to "do what I HAD to do." The members of our organization ADAPT had made it crystal clear to me that possible arrest MAY be a price to pay to show we are serious about our mission. I stood my ground with about 90 other people on the side of the arrest line the cops had taped off. This time no one was actually taken to jail. The police decided to just do on-the spot arrests/citations. In years past the cops have indeed taken ADAPT members directly to jail, wheelchairs and all.

On Monday May 12, 2003, as I stood in front of the Department of Justice on a very dreary day in Washing-ton DC my heart swelled with sheer Pride! I stood there with at least 200 other

[image]
[image caption] ADAPT blocked the of Constitution and 9th sts. an entrance to the freeway. Photo by Anita Cameron

[text continues] people that had a variety of disabilities (many in wheelchairs) and was an integral member of an "ARMY fighting a system" to ensure that our CIVIL RIGHTS would stop being violated' I thought to myself ?Man now THIS is POWER!" I was new to all this. Within only the past few months I had started working at an Independent Living Center which launched me on a new journey in life. I had never BELONGED in any way such as this.

I was a soldier in an army of our times. This Army was NOT military in nature. No. Its target was a system which unjustly imprisoned people that are "different." I was hearing HORRIBLE stories from people who could live independently on their own with relatively minor services from personal-care attendants, yet their primary means of health insurance - Medicaid — would pay only for institutionalization. Some of these stories I was hearing involved cases of abuse, neglect, and varied other unfavorable elements. The WORST part of this for the individuals was they had NO CONTROL over their own lives. They were in JAIL for NO reason. They had committed NO "crimes" other than that of being different/ Abnormal. I SO empathized with these people. I myself had suffered two mild strokes since 1995 and was fortunate to have Medicare, which paid for ALL my services. Had I had only Medicaid, then I could've too been "relentlessly sucked into the same system."

We had the Dept. of Justice blocked off most ALL day. We had major intersections surrounding the property barricaded to where traffic was shut down. The citizens of DC were getting Highly Pissed at us "NUISANCES." We passed out info to curious passers-by. The few that I spoke with agreed that the system had to change. We finally forced a meeting with us from Assistant Attorney General Ralph Boyd, [head of Civil Rights for the Dept. of Justice. He made certain commitments. At this point we aren't really sure whether or not his words were mere "lip service" just to get us off his back.

On Tuesday May 13 we engaged in one last "blockade" of a Nurses Association, and on Wednesday May 14 we met with various State legislators.

On the 15th I traveled back to my home in Memphis, TN and have pretty much been on a high since. People will talk of our country's MILITARY might, but OUR "soldiering missions" used not a Single GRAIN of gunpowder! I was never able to be accepted into any branch of USA military due to my "medical condition." But I have been TOTALLY and unconditionally accepted into an army of a diffeent kind. I am PROUD to be an ADAPT soldier and ready for action!

[two images]
[caption for both images] (above) Day leaders Erik, Linda Anthony, & Steve Verriden went to to see if the Nurses were going to live up to their word, but they found the doors were locked. Photo by Mark and Tisha Cunningham (left) The nurses were boasting what a fortress their building was, but ADAPT would not sit down for their underestimation of people with disabilities. Here Billy the Kid demonstrates a rolling crawl technique to get up the steps to a side door of the ANA. Photo by Anita Cameron

Created on

Thursday 18 July 2013

Posted on

Sunday 22 November 2020

Albums

• Washington DC, Spring 2003

Visits

217

Rating score

no rate

Rate this photo