Caravan for Disability Freedom & Justics

Caravan for Disability Freedom & Justice Hits the Road

By Dan Wilkins, Caravan for Disability Freedom and Justice

From now through October 3, 2024, if you're out and about on the nation's highways and byways, you may come across or be passed by the red, white and blue flag-wrapped Caravan for Disability Freedom and Justice. It is currently traversing the country, stopping in cities and towns along the way, many of which are important to disability history.

The Caravan is really a grassroots continuation of the civil/human/disability rights road trips of the past, the "10th Anniversary Spirit of the ADA Torch Relay," the "Road to Freedom" tour in 2005 and 2006, and the "ADA 25th Anniversary" tour in 2015.

Driver and CDFJ Team member, Sandy Hanebrink and Judy Joseph, Executive Director of Texas Occupational Therapy Association (TOTA), pose in front of the Caravan for Disability Freedom and Justice van in Katy, TX (May 12, 2024)

The Disability Caravan Raises Awareness to Disability Issues Nationwide

Along the 20,000-mile route, each stop will connect with local disability-related organizations,
at which the Caravan will collaborate with local hosts to share a message that encourages civic engagement, raises awareness of current issues facing the disability community, and works to organize a national approach to address these issues.

One issue of national focus we are highlighting is the Latonya Reeves Freedom Act, which is         bipartisan and bicameral civil rights legislation that addresses the injustice of people who need Long Term Services and Supports (LTSS) being forced into institutions.

Lex Frieden, Director of the Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU), flanked by Malcolm Brodie, his friend and assistant, and Marisa Demaya, ILRU Deputy Director, pose in front of the Caravan for Disability Freedom and Justice van at the ILRU in Houston, Texas.

The legislation, previously known as the Disability Integration Act, builds upon decades of disability advocacy and activism to end the institutional bias and provide seniors and people with disabilities Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) as an alternative to institutionalization.

Currently labelled on the House side as HR 2708 "The Latonya Reeves Freedom Act of 2023," the bi-partisan legislation has 219 co-sponsors (16 Republicans and 203 Democrats). On the Senate side it's labelled S 1193 "The Latonya Reeves Freedom Act of 2023," with 23 sponsors and growing. For more information on this act, please visit: LatonyaReevesFreedomAct.org.

The Caravan Highlights Key Moments in the History of Disability Advocacy

"The Caravan is a traveling 'celebration of advocacy'," explains Mark Johnson, Caravan organizer and long-time advocate, "advocacy that has made positive impact on all aspects of community life for everyone."

It is an additional focus of the tour to shine a bright light on all that has gone before by honoring and celebrating people and places significant to our 100-plus year struggle for freedom and justice. We hope to do this by sharing stories that connect people to our rich history of activism and advocacy and its relevance to current national, regional and local issues.

The Disability Caravan at Ed Roberts Campus, Berkeley.

We have planned the route not just to meet with people interested in having us visit them over the year, but by focusing on many of the places and moments in time that we hold dear: San Francisco, location of the historic 504 Sit-Ins in 1977, Denver, home of ADAPT and the 1978 "Gang of 19" bus boycott, and Washington, DC, the location of many key moments in our history, including the 1990 "Wheels of Justice" march and "Capitol Crawl," actions instrumental to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

To honor the strong connections between the disability rights movement and other movements born out of the struggle for equality, respect, civil and human rights, the Caravan will be stopping at places like the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama, the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama and the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina.

The Caravan planners are cognizant of past, present, and future, with stops at the "Little White House," in Warms Springs, Georgia, made famous by President Roosevelt's visits there during his polio years; a stop in Milledgeville, Georgia, home of the now-shuttered Central State Hospital, notorious for being the world's largest institution at that time; and, on a much more positive side, a visit to "Park Circle," the world's largest inclusive playground in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Finally, through our new and growing website, we will be collecting and sharing tools necessary to create positive change. To follow the Caravan, explore these tools, and have immediate access to voter registration, please visit: TheDisabilityCaravan.com.

Join the Celebration of Advocacy

This is also where you can go should you choose to support the Caravan in any way. There is a donation button, and there is also a place to purchase the official Caravan for Disability Freedom and Justice T-shirt with profits going to support the Caravan effort. All Caravan funding and support is funneled through Touch the Future, Inc., a nonprofit center and supporter for people with disabilities in South Carolina.

The Caravan for Disability Freedom and Justice is currently underwritten by several generous donors and supporters. The van and trailer were purchased, and the wrap paid for by the Center for Disability Rights Regional Center for Independent Living in Rochester, NY. It was adapted by R&R Mobility and wrapped by Renntech Graphics.

Additional financial and in-kind support is provided by Elevance Health, Shepherd Center, ADA National Network, Lakeshore Foundation, Georgia Advocacy Office, Adamski-Smith Multimedia Solutions, The Nth Degree, Touch the Future, Inc., and Mark and Susan Johnson. The Caravan team is deeply grateful for the support.

For more information or to become involved, please e-mail: [email protected].

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