- [Interviewer] Now, do you see the record button in the corner?
Up in the corner it should say "Recording," and so-
- [Leroy] Yep.
- [Interviewer] Okay, cool. And then I'm gonna mute myself
while you introduce yourself.
You're going to tap on the table or make a noise before you start.
- [Leroy] Okay.
Hello, my name is Leroy Franklin Moore, Jr.
and I live in Berkeley, California.
I am an author, activist, founder of many organizations,
founder of Krip Hop Music with a K
to, back in the day, I had a nonprofit called
Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization,
and I also helped to start what's called Sins Invalid.
I'm a journalist with POOR Magazine,
and yeah, just an activist and a writer of many books.
The latest book is Black Disabled Ancestors.
And I'm also a lecturer on college campuses.
- [Interviewer] Great, Leroy, thank you.
Okay, so the first question is tell of your first memory realizing
that there were accessibility issues, discrimination, or lack of inclusion.
What is your personal story or connection to the Americans with Disabilities Act?
What do you remember about the day that it was signed, if applicable,
and what was the impact on you and on others?
- [Leroy] So the first example that I realized that there was discrimination
was back in the early '80s when me and two other Black disabled boys
decided to a letter campaign,
and this was before computers so we had to write.
So we did a letter campaign to a lot of Black organizations
and Black leaders at the time
asking why there was no Black disabled people on TV or anywhere.
So that was the first time that I, you know, put it on my shoulders
and challenged the system.
So the other time when I realized that there was a lack of accessibility
is when I was attending my father's activist meetings in the early '80s,
and they were talking about police brutality
and other stuff that happens to Black community.
And when I left that meeting, I was approached by a disabled group
that wanted me to join their group to talk about, to advocate about curb cuts.
And I asked them, "Well, you know, I just left a meeting with my father,
"and they were talking about police brutality,
"and a lot of Black disabled people can't enjoy the curb cuts.
"They can't go outside, because they're getting shot by the police."
And the group said, "Well, we can't deal with that.
"We're dealing with curb cuts."
So that's when I really found out, like,
wow, this is two different worlds and two different issues.
So that's the first time that I found out there's, you know, difference.
And with the ADA, you know, when the ADA was signed
and that picture was everywhere,
once again, I looked at the picture and I was like,
"Huh. Nobody looks like me."
And back in the late '90s,
I had an organization called Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization,
and we had tons of copies of the cover of the ADA,
and we put on the top of the ADA who is, what is missing from this picture.
And, of course, we all knew the answer is people of color,
so, you know, that was the first statement that I made about the ADA.
You know, it was like where is people of color in the picture of the ADA?
- [Interviewer] Yay! Beautiful, thank you.
- [Leroy] Yeah.
- [Interviewer] The present.
Has the ADA made a difference?
Tell us about your a-ha moment that told you that the ADA
is or is not making a difference.
And to what extent, based on your passions and areas of expertise, where do you see
or not see the impact of the ADA?
- [Leroy] So, yeah, of course the ADA has made a difference in society,
in, you know, the global society.
You know, you can see it with accessibility in public places.
You can see it in communication, you know,
especially during these social network life that we're living in
with Google and Twitter, you know,
all of them are making their products more accessible, so that's good.
You know, we see a little-
We're in the airlines a lot, but, you know, yes, we see it.
And the place that it needs more growth
is, of course, people of color, you know,
people that are poor, people that are "immigrants."
And they still, the ADA do not reach them,
and that's why my organization in the '90s and early 2000s
had the Other Side Rally.
It was the other side of the ADA,
to give the voices of communities that hadn't felt the good of the ADA.
So yeah, it needs a lot of work,
especially when it comes to our cities, our inner cities.
You know, I live in Berkeley.
Berkeley's like a utopia place for people with disabilities.
You know, you see curb cuts, we've got the Ed Roberts building.
But if you go to East Oakland, you know, there's only a handful of curb cuts.
The roads are still bumpy; stores are still small.
So you can see the difference between communities.
And so that needs to change.
Of course, the high unemployment rate of people with disabilities
hasn't changed since the '80s.
Talking about Black and brown disabled people,
it's still a high 90% unemployment rate.
So that still hasn't changed.
And I can go on and on, but yeah.
There needs to be more push of the ADA in certain communities.
And also I think our leadership more actually needs to change.
Not only the president, but our disabled lobbyists needs to change.
We need more young people with disabilities
taking over the leadership who won't compromise,
because I think that's one of the biggest things that we lose
is that, when we compromise, we look back and it's like,
"Oh my God, we didn't get nothing for that compromise."
So I think we need more leaders that don't compromise.
- [Interviewer] Well said, Leroy. You're doing great, thank you.
For the future, and you may have already covered what you want of this,
but you can just listen,
and if there's more you want to say, then go for it.
With the work you've been doing,
you've seen a lot in terms of progress and barriers.
If you could pick one thing to change or that needs to occur
to have access and equality present in the lives of people with disabilities,
what would that be?
- [Leroy] I think people with disabilities in key roles.
I think we need a disabled president.
You know, in key roles, we need disabled people in the media.
We need disabled people in the DOJ, the Department of Justice.
The DOJ enforces the law,
so we need strong people that will enforce the laws.
We need more disabled people in all kinds of areas.
Education, mental health, legislators,
people that are passing budgets, you know. Yeah.
- [Interviewer] Thank you, Leroy.
And for the call to action,
what steps can we as community members take right now?
- [Leroy] Well, right now it's hard, because of this COVID-19.
Right now, people need to be safe,
you know, that's basically, from COVID-19.
Really think of what they're doing,
really think, you know, if it's necessary to go outside,
if it's necessary to protest.
Yeah, we definitely need to think what's really necessary
and what's not necessary.
So I think, at this time, we can't think of anything else,
because it's life or death, you know?
The media is talking about the elections,
talking about other things, but, if we don't live,
then we can't enjoy anything on this Earth.
So I think people really to take serious on this COVID.
Because t's not over, and that includes about all the services
and the laws and the lifestyles of people with disabilities.
So, yeah, that's on my plate.
The only thing that's on my plate right now.
It's, you know, trying to stay safe
and trying to stay in contact with people with disabilities.
- [Interviewer] Very nice, Leroy. Very nice.
Is there anything else that you want to say that you didn't say?
- [Leroy] I think also there needs to be
more mentorship for young disabled people coming up.
And mentorship in the public domain,
not only in the disability community, but in the community wide open
so people know about about it in other communities.
That and I also think that, going back to Black and brown disabled communities,
there needs to be a national campaign, national awareness campaign,
for the Black and brown community around disability,
because we do not get it through the ADA.
We do not get it through 504.
And, because of that, our communities are slowly becoming not important
for Black and brown disabled people.
We have to leave our communities to get services.
We have to leave our communities just to be recognized as disabled people.
So I think there needs to be a national campaign
in the Black and brown communities
so disabled people can return home
and really educate our Black and brown communities.
And what I call "Black ableism" is one thing that is a roadblock
for a lot of Black and brown disabled activists that want to come back home
and work in our communities.
So we need a national campaign so we can get rid of the Black ableism.
- [Interviewer] Awesome, Leroy. Awesome.
I appreciate you taking your time out to just share your thoughts,
and I think this is gonna be eye-opening for a lot of people.
I love it, thank you.
- [Leroy] Yeah! So when is this gonna go up?
- [Interviewer] So let me-