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My name is Jeff Moyer. I am a 71
year old disability rights advocate,

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writer, and musician. I've been
involved with the ADA since before

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it's inception when we were 
working to establish the 


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beginning of disability rights
through the 504 regulations

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that were signed in 1977
following a 26 day sit in at

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the San Francisco federal
building and I was a musician

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during that, although I did not 
live there like those heroes did.

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I came and went. I had a young child.
My involvement with the ADA began

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when I heard Justin Dart speak in 1988
I was captivated by his soaring oratory,

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and his unifying message.
I introduced myself and

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asked if I might one day record 
his oratory, he said yes and that

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began our friendship which led to 
him inviting me to perform my song

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the ADA anthem at the U.S. senate 
at the evening reception following

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the signing of the ADA at the white
house in the morning.

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I then became involved as a member
of the ADA implementation network

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and worked pro bono with people
all over the country.

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Helping ensure that the rights created
by the ADA were realized in their lives.

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I began to go blind the summer of 
1954, two weeks before my younger

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brother was born with a severe 
cognitive disability and I think my

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realization of exclusion and such 
occurred for me as I was trying to see

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in first grade, to read and the
materials were not accessible,

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but my teacher had to write out 
everything she wrote on the board

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and hand it to me separately. 
So it was my first realization

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of a need and also the human
intervention that met my needs.

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For my brother it wasn't so easy
and he became the victim of

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extreme thuggery, and childhood
violence and there were no schools

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that would accept him, not even
the schools for kids with disabilities.

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As a result, he was institutionalized
when he was 9 years old and that

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opened a chapter in my life that 
continues about understanding

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the needs of people with cognitive
disabilities that thanks to the mighty

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Olmstead decision as part of the ADA
institutional life was considered a

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violation of civil rights. There's so 
much to that story.

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The ADA was a wonderful construct,
however in it's construction,

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the decision was made by the 
senate to exclude blindness so

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every intersection in the country had curb
cuts, but putting in accessible signals

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for people with visual disabilities is
a local option and I'm afraid that

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and I know that for a fact. A dear 
friend of mine who's since passed

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was part of that whole process in 
Washington. Her name was

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Mary Jane Owen. So the ADA is a 
great promise, but it's only realized

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through individual action when 
people apply the skills of advocacy

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to make sure that case by case,
it's realized.

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I was invited to the white house for
the signing ceremony and I got

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there early just by virtue of when
my plane landed so I was seated

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in the front row of the public section.
There was a section for congress, and

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the administration and then a 
section for the public.

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When the president walked out 
crossing the platform that had

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been constructed so that he could
be seen by the crowd, by the

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audience rather, of course the 
congressional section rose as one

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in applause and then there came 
people yelling, "We can't see, sit

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down!" Senator Kennedy was 
sitting right in front of me

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and the woman who I met who
was sitting next to me said that

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he whipped around and realized
that they were blocking the

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view of people in wheelchairs.
So there was this moment of

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collision of protocol and accessibility

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Of course people sat down. So it 
was the first time, as the ADA was

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being signed, that accessibility was 
realized by virtue of personal action.

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I think this is going to be a difficult
time for realization of anything new

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concerning disability rights, 
because as our country is now

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wrestling with the economic 
outcome due to being shut

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down due to Coronavirus, I 
think we're going to be

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working real hard just to 
maintain the ground we have.

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If I could have anything I wanted
in terms of accessibility, it would

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be to reopen the ADA's mighty
pages to include information

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and orientation access and by 
that I mean if you're able to

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ambulate and you're blind or 
you can't read by virtue of a

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cognitive disability, simple things
like street crossings, bus numbers,

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signs in buildings are difficult, 
impossible to read if you can't

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see or can't read. This technology 
is called talking signs, and we came

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very close. All of this is not 
required by the ADA, to see that

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realized as part of the ADA. 
However, the republicans blocked

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the highway bill because they
didn't want President Obama

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to have any victories and we 
had a high priority amendment

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to that, that would've made
Washington, D.C. the first

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accessible city in the world for
people who can't see or can't read.

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When that happened after 10 
years of effort to get to that

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point, the little company went
under. I had been a volunteer

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for it for 10 years and with it 
came really a crushing defeat

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for that type of accessibility. 
Now, there certainly are many

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types of access through one's 
cellphone if you're able to

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do that, but so many people 
aren't able or can't afford it

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that it makes accessibility 
something that requires money

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and the responsibility that the 
ADA made clear is that the

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responsibility for access is on 
behalf of the government.

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People have disabilities,
situations create handicaps.

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I think what the ADA did was 
open the possibility for people

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that employment was going to be
open to them.

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In fact we've lost ground since the
ADA was passed, because people

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hid behind it in terms of their 
response to hiring.

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We need to make greater progress
in terms of employment equity.

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As well as orientation and 
information access.

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The ADA, I just heard Robert 
Moses who is one of the great

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heroes of the civil rights
movement, freedom summer 1964

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and he said the Civil Act of 1964 
and the Voting Rights Act of 1965

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are ideas, but they have yet to be 
fully realized.

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The ADA, it's an idea, it's a 
construct, it's a mighty

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accomplishment, but to see it
fully realized in our lives

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requires accessibility and 
said decision addresses

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what I consider to be the most 
extreme need we have.

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That is safe and accessible 
housing for people with

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cognitive disabilities.
Institutions still exist, and even

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in the community it takes 
advocates to make sure that

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people are able to live in safe and 
welcoming environments, even in

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their own home. I saw this with 
my brother who died of lung cancer

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because of being addicted to 
cigarettes in the institution

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when he was a child.

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But even in his last days there was 
thievery and violence in the home

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which is of course what we 
expected we would be getting

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away from when I was able to 
move him from the institution

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into a supported living home.
So the greatest need is the

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needs of the least among us.
Once again, we must listen to

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our heart intelligence, know 
what is right and then find

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the way that one's rights can
address that.

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The ADA, IDEA, 504, the Voting 
Rights Act, or the Fair Housing

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Act amendments. There are many 
laws in the quilted protections

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we have, but each of them require
individual planning and each of

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them require advocacy. 
So all of you advocates,

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all of you young people there
that are reading this or

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watching this, the torch is 
being passed and it's

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important that younger 
generations now take on the

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mantle of continuing to move 
forward with our beloved, hard

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won disability rights, which are 
our civil rights.

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I hope that people are able to think
more broadly about what we

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need as a community and pull
as one in common direction,

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common cause for possibly
the good of a few in the

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community, but we all benefit
when we are lifted up through

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accessibility.

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I added music to our 
demonstration to the signing

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of the ADA, to the commemoration
of it's 10th anniversary.

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Throughout I've understood the 
power of music.

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It communicates to the wider
community. It buoys us up as

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advocates and it unites us.
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s

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widow said it the day of national 
service, the Martin Luther King

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holiday, that we have when we 
were involved in the civil rights

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movement, the 60's the 
disability rights movement

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in the 70's, it was music that
helped us create a community

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because we sang together
as one and I do hope that

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music is not lost as a means 
to pull us together.

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If there's one thing we need 
now, it is to know that we are one

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as people with disabilities, that we 
all share the same histories of

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in different ways of discrimination
and exclusion and our rights

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are protected by the same laws.
I do hope that culture continues

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binding us together and giving 
voice through it's myriad ways

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so that people are able to express 
the reality and hope.

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Hope is what we need more 
than ever right now and

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that is what the ADA provided,
was a great beacon of hope.