- [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-