0:00:01.219,0:00:05.599 My name is Jeff Moyer. I am a 71[br]year old disability rights advocate, 0:00:05.599,0:00:10.109 writer, and musician. I've been[br]involved with the ADA since before 0:00:10.109,0:00:14.209 it's inception when we were [br]working to establish the [br] 0:00:14.209,0:00:20.579 beginning of disability rights[br]through the 504 regulations 0:00:20.579,0:00:28.079 that were signed in 1977[br]following a 26 day sit in at 0:00:28.079,0:00:32.079 the San Francisco federal[br]building and I was a musician 0:00:32.079,0:00:35.439 during that, although I did not [br]live there like those heroes did. 0:00:35.439,0:00:41.219 I came and went. I had a young child.[br]My involvement with the ADA began 0:00:41.219,0:00:49.189 when I heard Justin Dart speak in 1988[br]I was captivated by his soaring oratory, 0:00:49.189,0:00:53.189 and his unifying message.[br]I introduced myself and 0:00:53.189,0:00:57.999 asked if I might one day record [br]his oratory, he said yes and that 0:00:57.999,0:01:04.059 began our friendship which led to [br]him inviting me to perform my song 0:01:04.059,0:01:10.099 the ADA anthem at the U.S. senate [br]at the evening reception following 0:01:10.099,0:01:14.099 the signing of the ADA at the white[br]house in the morning. 0:01:14.099,0:01:20.499 I then became involved as a member[br]of the ADA implementation network 0:01:20.499,0:01:25.169 and worked pro bono with people[br]all over the country. 0:01:25.169,0:01:31.119 Helping ensure that the rights created[br]by the ADA were realized in their lives. 0:01:33.907,0:01:40.057 I began to go blind the summer of [br]1954, two weeks before my younger 0:01:40.057,0:01:44.967 brother was born with a severe [br]cognitive disability and I think my 0:01:44.967,0:01:53.197 realization of exclusion and such [br]occurred for me as I was trying to see 0:01:53.197,0:01:59.117 in first grade, to read and the[br]materials were not accessible, 0:01:59.757,0:02:03.757 but my teacher had to write out [br]everything she wrote on the board 0:02:03.757,0:02:07.757 and hand it to me separately. [br]So it was my first realization 0:02:07.757,0:02:11.757 of a need and also the human[br]intervention that met my needs. 0:02:11.758,0:02:18.298 For my brother it wasn't so easy[br]and he became the victim of 0:02:18.298,0:02:24.748 extreme thuggery, and childhood[br]violence and there were no schools 0:02:24.785,0:02:28.785 that would accept him, not even[br]the schools for kids with disabilities. 0:02:28.852,0:02:34.322 As a result, he was institutionalized[br]when he was 9 years old and that 0:02:34.891,0:02:41.141 opened a chapter in my life that [br]continues about understanding 0:02:41.141,0:02:48.151 the needs of people with cognitive[br]disabilities that thanks to the mighty 0:02:48.151,0:02:54.121 Olmstead decision as part of the ADA[br]institutional life was considered a 0:02:54.121,0:02:58.371 violation of civil rights. There's so [br]much to that story. 0:02:58.772,0:03:09.702 The ADA was a wonderful construct,[br]however in it's construction, 0:03:09.711,0:03:16.321 the decision was made by the [br]senate to exclude blindness so 0:03:16.321,0:03:25.017 every intersection in the country had curb[br]cuts, but putting in accessible signals 0:03:25.017,0:03:32.147 for people with visual disabilities is[br]a local option and I'm afraid that 0:03:32.147,0:03:38.127 and I know that for a fact. A dear [br]friend of mine who's since passed 0:03:38.127,0:03:42.807 was part of that whole process in [br]Washington. Her name was 0:03:42.807,0:03:51.237 Mary Jane Owen. So the ADA is a [br]great promise, but it's only realized 0:03:51.237,0:04:01.155 through individual action when [br]people apply the skills of advocacy 0:04:01.155,0:04:05.155 to make sure that case by case,[br]it's realized. 0:04:05.808,0:04:12.318 I was invited to the white house for[br]the signing ceremony and I got 0:04:12.318,0:04:16.318 there early just by virtue of when[br]my plane landed so I was seated 0:04:16.318,0:04:20.938 in the front row of the public section.[br]There was a section for congress, and 0:04:20.938,0:04:24.058 the administration and then a [br]section for the public. 0:04:24.058,0:04:28.058 When the president walked out [br]crossing the platform that had 0:04:28.058,0:04:31.628 been constructed so that he could[br]be seen by the crowd, by the 0:04:31.628,0:04:36.219 audience rather, of course the [br]congressional section rose as one 0:04:36.219,0:04:41.099 in applause and then there came [br]people yelling, "We can't see, sit 0:04:41.099,0:04:47.129 down!" Senator Kennedy was [br]sitting right in front of me 0:04:47.129,0:04:50.369 and the woman who I met who[br]was sitting next to me said that 0:04:50.369,0:04:55.819 he whipped around and realized[br]that they were blocking the 0:04:55.819,0:04:59.819 view of people in wheelchairs.[br]So there was this moment of 0:04:59.819,0:05:03.819 collision of protocol and accessibility 0:05:04.527,0:05:11.067 Of course people sat down. So it [br]was the first time, as the ADA was 0:05:11.067,0:05:17.077 being signed, that accessibility was [br]realized by virtue of personal action. 0:05:19.632,0:05:26.637 I think this is going to be a difficult[br]time for realization of anything new 0:05:26.687,0:05:31.342 concerning disability rights, [br]because as our country is now 0:05:31.342,0:05:37.016 wrestling with the economic [br]outcome due to being shut 0:05:37.016,0:05:43.392 down due to Coronavirus, I [br]think we're going to be 0:05:43.392,0:05:47.741 working real hard just to [br]maintain the ground we have. 0:05:47.790,0:05:54.849 If I could have anything I wanted[br]in terms of accessibility, it would 0:05:54.879,0:06:01.175 be to reopen the ADA's mighty[br]pages to include information 0:06:01.220,0:06:07.396 and orientation access and by [br]that I mean if you're able to 0:06:07.396,0:06:13.678 ambulate and you're blind or [br]you can't read by virtue of a 0:06:13.678,0:06:18.798 cognitive disability, simple things[br]like street crossings, bus numbers, 0:06:18.798,0:06:25.325 signs in buildings are difficult, [br]impossible to read if you can't 0:06:25.373,0:06:33.726 see or can't read. This technology [br]is called talking signs, and we came 0:06:33.752,0:06:40.002 very close. All of this is not [br]required by the ADA, to see that 0:06:40.031,0:06:47.031 realized as part of the ADA. [br]However, the republicans blocked 0:06:47.068,0:06:50.657 the highway bill because they[br]didn't want President Obama 0:06:50.657,0:06:55.060 to have any victories and we [br]had a high priority amendment 0:06:55.060,0:06:58.805 to that, that would've made[br]Washington, D.C. the first 0:06:58.805,0:07:03.381 accessible city in the world for[br]people who can't see or can't read. 0:07:03.425,0:07:07.258 When that happened after 10 [br]years of effort to get to that 0:07:07.286,0:07:11.608 point, the little company went[br]under. I had been a volunteer 0:07:11.608,0:07:18.462 for it for 10 years and with it [br]came really a crushing defeat 0:07:18.462,0:07:24.165 for that type of accessibility. [br]Now, there certainly are many 0:07:24.177,0:07:29.936 types of access through one's [br]cellphone if you're able to 0:07:29.986,0:07:35.715 do that, but so many people [br]aren't able or can't afford it 0:07:35.756,0:07:42.985 that it makes accessibility [br]something that requires money 0:07:43.030,0:07:49.393 and the responsibility that the [br]ADA made clear is that the 0:07:49.393,0:07:54.241 responsibility for access is on [br]behalf of the government. 0:07:54.269,0:07:59.071 People have disabilities,[br]situations create handicaps. 0:07:59.117,0:08:05.293 I think what the ADA did was [br]open the possibility for people 0:08:05.347,0:08:09.204 that employment was going to be[br]open to them. 0:08:09.254,0:08:14.598 In fact we've lost ground since the[br]ADA was passed, because people 0:08:14.598,0:08:18.897 hid behind it in terms of their [br]response to hiring. 0:08:18.897,0:08:26.349 We need to make greater progress[br]in terms of employment equity. 0:08:26.380,0:08:30.650 As well as orientation and [br]information access. 0:08:30.650,0:08:37.250 The ADA, I just heard Robert [br]Moses who is one of the great 0:08:37.280,0:08:44.731 heroes of the civil rights[br]movement, freedom summer 1964 0:08:44.731,0:08:52.553 and he said the Civil Act of 1964 [br]and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 0:08:52.606,0:08:58.981 are ideas, but they have yet to be [br]fully realized. 0:08:59.023,0:09:06.206 The ADA, it's an idea, it's a [br]construct, it's a mighty 0:09:06.206,0:09:11.109 accomplishment, but to see it[br]fully realized in our lives 0:09:11.109,0:09:16.759 requires accessibility and [br]said decision addresses 0:09:16.788,0:09:23.037 what I consider to be the most [br]extreme need we have. 0:09:23.037,0:09:28.311 That is safe and accessible [br]housing for people with 0:09:28.311,0:09:33.614 cognitive disabilities.[br]Institutions still exist, and even 0:09:33.652,0:09:36.937 in the community it takes [br]advocates to make sure that 0:09:36.973,0:09:43.289 people are able to live in safe and [br]welcoming environments, even in 0:09:43.316,0:09:47.714 their own home. I saw this with [br]my brother who died of lung cancer 0:09:47.746,0:09:50.939 because of being addicted to [br]cigarettes in the institution 0:09:50.939,0:09:52.567 when he was a child. 0:09:52.596,0:09:59.497 But even in his last days there was [br]thievery and violence in the home 0:09:59.497,0:10:04.144 which is of course what we [br]expected we would be getting 0:10:04.219,0:10:08.070 away from when I was able to [br]move him from the institution 0:10:08.070,0:10:13.645 into a supported living home.[br]So the greatest need is the 0:10:13.679,0:10:21.598 needs of the least among us.[br]Once again, we must listen to 0:10:21.598,0:10:27.497 our heart intelligence, know [br]what is right and then find 0:10:27.497,0:10:31.576 the way that one's rights can[br]address that. 0:10:31.576,0:10:39.577 The ADA, IDEA, 504, the Voting [br]Rights Act, or the Fair Housing 0:10:39.577,0:10:44.626 Act amendments. There are many [br]laws in the quilted protections 0:10:44.626,0:10:49.831 we have, but each of them require[br]individual planning and each of 0:10:49.831,0:10:54.634 them require advocacy. [br]So all of you advocates, 0:10:54.634,0:10:59.056 all of you young people there[br]that are reading this or 0:10:59.095,0:11:03.306 watching this, the torch is [br]being passed and it's 0:11:03.306,0:11:08.032 important that younger [br]generations now take on the 0:11:08.063,0:11:13.606 mantle of continuing to move [br]forward with our beloved, hard 0:11:13.606,0:11:18.359 won disability rights, which are [br]our civil rights. 0:11:18.359,0:11:24.886 I hope that people are able to think[br]more broadly about what we 0:11:24.886,0:11:29.927 need as a community and pull[br]as one in common direction, 0:11:29.927,0:11:35.055 common cause for possibly[br]the good of a few in the 0:11:35.055,0:11:39.026 community, but we all benefit[br]when we are lifted up through 0:11:39.026,0:11:40.678 accessibility. 0:11:40.704,0:11:47.930 I added music to our [br]demonstration to the signing 0:11:47.930,0:11:51.956 of the ADA, to the commemoration[br]of it's 10th anniversary. 0:11:51.992,0:11:56.006 Throughout I've understood the [br]power of music. 0:11:56.006,0:12:00.881 It communicates to the wider[br]community. It buoys us up as 0:12:00.911,0:12:05.655 advocates and it unites us.[br]Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 0:12:05.655,0:12:11.609 widow said it the day of national [br]service, the Martin Luther King 0:12:11.636,0:12:17.063 holiday, that we have when we [br]were involved in the civil rights 0:12:17.092,0:12:20.110 movement, the 60's the [br]disability rights movement 0:12:20.110,0:12:24.783 in the 70's, it was music that[br]helped us create a community 0:12:24.813,0:12:29.785 because we sang together[br]as one and I do hope that 0:12:29.815,0:12:34.325 music is not lost as a means [br]to pull us together. 0:12:34.325,0:12:39.661 If there's one thing we need [br]now, it is to know that we are one 0:12:39.736,0:12:46.387 as people with disabilities, that we [br]all share the same histories of 0:12:46.416,0:12:51.765 in different ways of discrimination[br]and exclusion and our rights 0:12:51.765,0:12:58.477 are protected by the same laws.[br]I do hope that culture continues 0:12:58.477,0:13:04.348 binding us together and giving [br]voice through it's myriad ways 0:13:04.348,0:13:10.630 so that people are able to express [br]the reality and hope. 0:13:10.630,0:13:15.546 Hope is what we need more [br]than ever right now and 0:13:15.574,0:13:19.920 that is what the ADA provided,[br]was a great beacon of hope.