Mark's Weekly Message: Momentum
As you read this, a new page of AAPD’s history is unfolding. We are relocating to the HSC Foundation’s headquarters, which also houses other disability, veterans, and civil rights organizations. This move is not only about packing boxes and reorganizing old files. It’s part of a shift in our movement for equality.
We are not changing our principles or our purpose: we were founded to fulfill the ADA’s goals: independent living, equal opportunity, economic power, and political participation. AAPD’s staff and board live this mission every day. The shift is in scope. Over 21 years after the ADA was signed, the “ADA generation” is entering the work force. This generation of young people has had unprecedented opportunities but still face daunting obstacles. Job opportunity is the most important issue for these job-seekers—and other Americans with and without disabilities.
22% of U.S. workers are employed by a federal contractor. Access to jobs in this sector is critical to our community’s economic success. That’s why we have fight for a rule that will require government contractors to take action to employ people with disabilities. A proposed rule implementing § 503 of the Rehabilitation Act would do just that—fulfilling a decades-old promise and putting our community on a level playing field with other groups. This is the most significant chance to improve employment opportunity since the ADA. Business opposition could kill this rule if we don’t fight for it. You can help. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Tell friends to do the same. If you work for a federal contractor or know people who do, make your case.
Access to affordable transportation is a prerequisite to exercising other rights—such as the right to vote, to secure education and health care, and get to work. America’s transportation system is not serving our community adequately. We are chipping away at the barriers in our paths every day. AAPD has joined our allies in the movement to secure accessible taxicabs in New York, DC, and beyond. We will not be forced to wait in the rain as cabs pass us by and pick up people without disabilities. We blocked a discriminatory parking system in DC. In the process, we not only knocked down another barrier to our freedom—we found allies in city council members and government officials who are ready to fight along with us. This is what makes me hopeful.
Even in 2012, I’m struck by how many buildings remain inaccessible. In 2012, it shouldn’t be difficult to find a place for the whole AAPD staff to enjoy a holiday lunch or celebrate a milestone. But it still is. Even the office building where I’m writing this has serious accessibility problems. Which brings me back to our new space in the HSC Foundation building. In some ways, it is just an office. Our success depends upon the great work that we will do there. But it is much more. This building is an outstanding example of universal design incorporated into absolutely every element of the space. It is beautiful, functional, and accessible. This CAN be done. Not at “job-killing” prices. Not at the expense of design or comfort.
Accessibility has been legally required for a long time, but reality hasn’t caught up with the law yet. When donors, visitors, corporate partners, and advocates visit our new space, they will experience true accessibility. We will educate on it and immerse then in it. And I believe that they will walk away that much more committed to integrating it into their own buildings.
Thank you for supporting AAPD over the years. The best is yet to come.
--Mark
# For the American Association of People with Disabilities :
http://www.aapd.com/
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