3-23-06
[Headline] Group feats' message got stuck in traffic

[Subheading] Protest chaos may have overshadowed plight of disabled

By KATE HOWARD
Staff Writer

An activist group for dis-ability rights that has protested healthcare funding at Capitol Hill intersections this week plans to leave today, disappointed that the governor wouldn't meet with them and worried that the public cares more about traffic than the state's disabled residents.

Protesters with American Disabled for Attendant Pro-grains Today ended their rally with a day of "peaceful protest" yesterday near the state's TennCare and Housing and Urban Development offices. The national activist group travels the country to bring attention to a lack of funding support for handicapped people who want to live in the community instead
of nursing homes.

On ADAPT's third day of demonstrations, more than 100 protesters sat in the MetroCenter parking lot and quietly reminisced about the week. The location, under the watch of police officials in a patrol car and a few unmarked vehicles, was a vast change from Monday's chaos. Protesters, most in wheelchairs, blocked key intersections near the Capitol and kept state workers in a traffic jam, delaying their trips for home at the end of the workday.

On Tuesday the group blocked only Charlotte Avenue. More than 100 protesters were arrested during the week and released.

Bob Kafka of Austin, Texas, an outspoken ADAPT leader, feared the group's message might have been drowned out by the public's reaction to the tactic.

"A lot of people focused on the inconvenience to the

[image]
[image caption] LARRY MCCORMACK / STAFF. Metro police cars pull onto Charlotte Avenue in anticipation of ADAPT protesters yesterday.

[text resumes] state workers," Kafka said. "The point was, for people in nursing homes and institutions, their whole lives are inconveniences."

Kafka scoffed at Tuesday's letter from the governor's office, denying a request to meet with the group and characterizing the week's events as public spectacles created by "professional protesters." He saw a glimmer of hope in the letter's reassurance that the state has asked for added federal funding to support 400 more disabled people who want to leave nursing homes.

"The bottom line is, will Bredesen make this commitment?" Kafka said. "There are many people here who have had years stolen from them because there wasn't the support to get out of an institution."

The group also was pleased that the state's HUD director came out to talk with them yesterday when they passed by the office on Great Circle Road. The majority of the police presence remained down-town, where the Capitol building was closed yesterday to visitors as a precaution because of the previous days' events.

Seven Access Ride vans waited at a staging area to assist police if they arrested any wheelchair-using protesters. The Metro Tran-sit Authority uses the vans for an on-call service for disabled residents. MTA spokeswoman Patricia Harris-Morehead said lending the vans to Metro didn't cause any interruption to the regular service.

Between 50 and 100 officers were on location Monday through yesterday, said Metro police spokeswoman Amanda Sluss. The

[Subheading] AT TENNESSEAN.COM
• Read Bredesen spokesman Bob Corney's letter to the ADAPT protesters.

• See the e-mail from Interim Safety Commissioner Gerald Nicely.

• Read the statement of Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas regarding the Capitol protests.

• See previous stories written about the protesters. Go to Tennessean.com and type ADAPT into the keyword search box.

[text resumes] Tennessee Highway Patrol and Davidson County Sheriffs Department also provided officers.

Some protesters saw all the hoopla as a waste of time, saying all they wanted was a meeting with Bredesen to talk about disability policies.

"A one-hour meeting is not too much to ask, and it would've saved the city a bunch of money for the police and transporting people to jail," said Don Dew of Gorham, Kan.

The protest was a first for Dew and his partner, Brad Rohr. Dew has become more involved in activism since nine months ago when the started using a wheelchair on and off. He said the cause is personal for him and Rohr but that it should hit close to home for just about anybody.

"Of course it's always personal when it involves you," Dew said. "But there is always a relative, a mother, a sister that will have something happen to them to give a reason to need causes like this."

Kate Howard can be reached at 726-8968 or kahoward@Tennessean.com.

Criada em

Terça-feira 23 julho 2013

Enviado em

Sábado 5 dezembro 2020

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• Nashville - Free Our People Hearings, March 2006

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