On July 26, 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. Each July is celebrated as Disability Pride Month in commemoration of the historic moment.
Every July since 1990 people have likely heard stories of disability rights activists like Ed Roberts and Judy Heumann, known as the father and mother of the Independent Living Movement respectively, who tirelessly fought for equal rights for people with disabilities in the U.S. throughout their lifetimes. While their stories are remarkable and should be told, there are many disability rights advocates who fought for disability rights alongside them whose stories are not often heard. ACIL will celebrate Disability Pride Month, in part, by sharing the stories of just a few lesser-known disability rights activists who were instrumental in securing equal rights for those with disabilities in this article.
Joyce Ardell Jackson is an activist who fought for equal rights for people with disabilities alongside the advocates mentioned above. Joyce was known for being spirited and adventurous despite enduring 50 surgeries in her lifetime due to rheumatoid arthritis. According to a class note in Santa Clara Magazine, a publication of Joyce’s alma mater Santa Clara University found here, in April 1977, after accepting a position at the CIL in Berkeley, Joyce joined 150 other disability advocates who occupied the Federal Building for nearly a month at the San Francisco regional offices of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), rebelling against local and federal officials, as they advocated for section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to be enacted. Section 504 was the first piece of legislation that made it illegal for businesses receiving federal funds to discriminate against those with disabilities.
Joyce is credited as being one of twenty activists sent to meet with Carter administration officials. While in DC, Joyce and other advocates convinced HEW officials to implement Section 504. Moving forward, all agencies and programs receiving federal funds were required to accommodate individuals with disabilities, ensuring accessibility to opportunities in education, employment, housing, and other areas. The implementation of section 504 essentially laid the foundation for the ADA. A Black History Month blog post about Joyce shared by the Center for Learner Equity found here describes how Joyce continued to advocate for the disability community fiercely for years to come, serving three terms on the national board of the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (ACCD), attending board meetings at the ACCD home office in Washington, D.C., and traveling throughout the country to answer questions regarding Section 504. She also continued working as a disability counselor for nonprofits and as a telecommunications support representative in the private sector, eventually retiring in the 1990’s at the urging of her doctors.
Johnnie Lacy is another advocate whose efforts were crucial to the Independent Living Movement. While attending nursing school at age 19, Johnnie contracted polio and became paralyzed. She wanted to pursue a degree at San Francisco State University in speech pathology but was initially denied because of her disability. Johnnie advocated for her rights and was eventually admitted to the program. She graduated in 1960 but was not allowed to participate in the ceremony. This fueled her determination to advocate for disability rights. Throughout her career, Johnnie spoke out against the systemic barriers that prevented people with disabilities from accessing essential services and from participating in mainstream society, according to a Black History Month activist tribute shared by the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities found here.
Johnnie helped found the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley, California, one of the first organizations in the country to empower people with disabilities to lead independent lives. She later served as director of the Community Resources for Independent Living (CRIL), another CIL in Hayward California. A blog shared by the Center for Learner Equity to celebrate Black History month explains found here explains that along with her work at CRIL, Johnnie served on the California Attorney General’s Commission on Disability, Hayward’s Commission on Personnel and Affirmative Action, and the Mayor’s Disability Council for the city and county of San Francisco. Her advocacy efforts helped to raise awareness about the challenges faced by people with disabilities and to pave the way for the passage of the (ADA) per an activist tribute shared by Independence Now, a CIL in Maryland, found here. Furthermore, through her activism, she brought to light the intersectionality of race and disability and worked to tackle ableism and racism.
Justin Dart Jr. is an advocate who had a profound, lasting impact on the lives of people with disabilities. Unfortunately, it is uncommon to have heard of him unless you work in IL or another disability-related field. Justin’s grandfather, Charles R Walgreen, established Walgreens Pharmacy. Unsurprisingly, Justin is known for his contributions to society rather than for being part of the once prominent family. Justin became a wheelchair user after contracting polio at age 18, according to his biography on www.brittanica.com. He graduated from the University of Houston with a BS in Political Science in 1953 and an MS in History in 1954. After graduating, Dart was a successful entrepreneur. While in Japan, he met his wife, Yoshiko, founded and served as president of Japanese Tupperware. He often hired women and people with disabilities to empower them. He and Yoshiko gave up corporate life when U.S. executives ordered him to stop promoting women to executive positions and stop his disability campaign. The couple instead dedicated their lives to championing the rights of people with disabilities. per www.polioplace.org.
In 1981, former President Reagan selected Justin to be the vice-chair of the National Council on Disability. Around this time, Justin and Yoshiko began a national tour, stopping in every state to gather stories from individuals with disabilities. Their goal was to collect accounts of injustices and hardships that disabled people faced. The couple traveled to each state to do so at their own expense twice, ultimately creating what their friend and fellow advocate, Tom Harkin, a senator in Iowa, referred to as “an emancipation proclamation for people with disabilities.” After compiling the struggles of numerous people with disabilities, Justin took the information to legislators in Washington D.C. and began working toward the legislation that became the ADA. Many advocates believe that the ADA would not have been signed into law if it weren’t for Justin’s efforts, according to a page shared by the Center for Disability Rights, a CIL in New York found here. In 1995, Justin and numerous other advocates founded the American Association for the People with Disabilities with the goal of increasing the political and economic power of disabilities. Justin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Clinton in 1998 because he “opened the doors of opportunities to millions of our citizens by securing passage of one of the nation’s landmark civil rights laws.”
This article shares the stories of just a few of the thousands of advocates who fought to secure equal rights for people with disabilities. Justin, Joyce, Johnnie, and their comrades would undoubtedly want people with disabilities to exercise those very rights that they advocated unforgivingly for us to have. As you celebrate disability pride this month, take a moment to consider how you can honor their heroic efforts.
