This Sunday July 26th marks the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are events and celebrations taking place across the country — many of them virtually. Here is a short list of some of the events you can participate in this weekend and recognize the landmark civil rights legislation supporting inclusion for all Americans.
AAPD ADA 30 Portal
This year marks a significant milestone in the fight for the rights of all Americans with disabilities. The disability community has seen modifications to the built environment, increased access to affordable healthcare and an uptick in political participation in the last 30 years. The AAPD portal includes all of the tools you need to celebrate, engage your community and a calendar of events and virtual celebrations.
Online Event for the Anniversary of the ADA | NOD
July 21, 2020, 1:30 – 3:00 pm ET; 12:30 – 2:00 pm CST; 10:30 am – 12:30 pm PT
Honoring the Fight: 30 Years of the ADA | U.S. Senate
Wednesday, July 22, 2020 10:30 am
“The ADA at 30: A Vision for a Future with Full Inclusion and Equity” | Bazelon Center and CCD
Thursday, July 23, 2020, 11:00 A.M. -12:00 P.M Eastern.
ADA at 30: Building an Inclusive Progressive Movement
July 23, 2020 12:30 p.m. ET
Join the Epilepsy Foundation for a Virtual Discussion – Celebrating 30 Years: ADA Architects Reflect on Historic Importance and Road Ahead
Thursday, July 23, 2-3 p.m. ET
ADA30 Lead On: Celebration of Disability Arts, Culture, Education & Pride
Streaming on YouTube & Facebook Live July 23 from 7:00 – 9:30 pm ET
Decolonizing Dreams: A BIPOC Celebration of ADA30 | NAMD
July 24 – 25, 2020
Panel: “Continuing the Fight: Ensuring the ADA Works for Everyone” \ U.S. Senate
Friday, July/24 1:00 -2:00 pm EST
30th Anniversary ADA Virtual Rally
Sunday, July 26, Noon CT 1:00 p.m. ET
Register (no charge) to Receive Your Ticket
Disability Unite Festival
Sunday, July 26, 2020 2:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Crip Camp ADA 30 Celebration
Sunday, July 26, 2020 5:00 p.m. ET
#ADA30InColor Online Event
Sunday, July 26, 2020, 4 pm Pacific 7p.m. ET.
Congressional Insider’s Reflections on the ADA: Past, Present & Future | Disability IN
Monday, July 27, 2020 , 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EASTERN
Join the U.S. Access Board for a Virtual Celebration of the ADA
July 29, 1:30 – 3:00 (ET)
Meeting link: www.zoomgov.com/j/1609886567
Dial in option: (669) 254-5252 or (646) 828-7666, Session ID: 160 988 6567
Registration not required
Add to Calendar
HHS Virtual Celebration of the ADA
Thursday, July 30, 2020, 1:00 p.m. ET
At noon ET on Thursday, July 30, ACL and OCR will host a virtual celebration of the anniversary. ACL Administrator Lance Robertson and OCR Director Roger Severino will be joined by Lynn Johnson, Administrator of the Administration for Children and Families; Rear Admiral Micheal Weahkee, Director of the Indian Health Service; and Calder Lynch, Director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, for a discussion of the progress we have made as a department – and a nation – in the years since the ADA established a clear expectation of accessibility and full participation, as well as the work that still remains to remove barriers to inclusion and equal access to all facets of American life.
The event will be livestreamed, and in effort to improve the viewing experience for the deaf and hard of hearing audience, there will be a second livestream that includes American Sign Language translation in a format that is more similar to in-person events.
“Breaking Down Barriers: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.”
Thursday, July 30, 2020, 2:00 p.m. ET
On July 30 from 2-4 p.m. ET the Department of Transportation is hosting “Breaking Down Barriers: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.” This event will bring together leaders across the government to acknowledge accomplishments in transportation that have resulted from this landmark civil rights legislation. In addition to celebrating the ADA’s success, speakers will also discuss what actions need to be taken to ensure an accessible transportation future for all Americans. Lance Robertson will participate on a panel that will begin at approximately 2:40 p.m. ET.
Disability Pride Philadelphia ADA Events – Month of July
News and Articles
Barrier Free Futures – July 18, 2020
NAB Convener Lex Frieden speaks the 30th Anniversary of the ADA with Bob Kafka and recall the importance and development.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley recognizes the ADA Anniversary and the Contribution of Major Owens |Twitter
As we mark #ADA30 and fix our eyes on the continued struggle for disability justice, we uplift CBC Chairman Major Owens. Told that the ADA was too ‘radical’, he fought to make it law & built a powerful coalition affirming that disability rights are civil rights.
I’m Disabled & I Refuse To Be Your Inspiration | Refinery29
One in four adults in the U.S. are living with a disability, but you wouldn’t know it given the lack of representation in the workforce, Hollywood, and media coverage. On the 30th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, Voices of Disability celebrates the real stories — not the stigmas or stereotypes — of this dynamic and vibrant community of individuals.
The story of the Americans with Disabilities Act is all about bridges | CNN
In remembering disabled activists who were instrumental in the creation of America’s disability rights movement and imagining what a more inclusive movement for social justice and full civil rights for the future could look like, we keep coming back to the partnership during the late 1970s between the Black Panther Party and the 504 activists, disability rights advocates who were pushing for implementation of a long-delayed section (section 504) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
For the sake of all of us, keep fighting for disability rights | Chicago Sun times
Thirty years ago this weekend, the Americans with Disabilities Act broke down barriers for people with all types of disabilities, opening access to transportation, education, recreation, business and employment.
‘Crip Camp’: Where disability rights stand 30 years after these kids fought for recognition and changed the world | KVIA
Today it would be unthinkable to nickname a summer getaway for children with disabilities “Crip Camp.” Yet that was the nickname given to Camp Jened, a summer camp for children, teens and adults with disabilities that operated in the Catskill Mountains of New York from 1951 to 1977. The camp is the subject of a documentary on the origins of the disability rights movement released earlier this year.
ADA@30: The Americans with Disabilities Act 1990-2020 | EEOC
July 26, 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Signed into law in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush, this landmark civil rights legislation increases access and opportunity for people with disabilities across community life, including employment. By ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to work, the ADA is an affirmation of our nation’s founding ideals and a cornerstone of our efforts to ensure a fully inclusive American workforce and economy.
30 Years Later, The American Dream Is Still Not ADA-Compliant \ Refinery29
July 26, 2020, commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, arguably the most broad-reaching civil rights legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For decades before the ADA, people with disabilities — all 61 million of us, who exist in one-third of households — were institutionalized, kept hidden out of shame, and isolated from society because of a lack of access. The legislation protected us from discrimination and increased our participation in public life.
I’m Young, Black, & Disabled — & This Is What I Want You To Know | Refinery29
My name is Lindsay Adams, I am a disabled, Black woman, artist, strategist, champion, and friend. I can lead with that now that in my nearly 30 years, I’ve become comfortable with this skin I’m in — embracing its challenges and peculiarities, while leaning into its preciousness.
People With Disabilities Deserve Great Style — & I’ve Made It My Life’s Work
Stephanie Thomas has what she calls a “non-severe disability,” which she says allows her to see the world from two perspectives: one from the vantage point of a person without a disability and one of a person who has one. It’s those two concurrent viewpoints that have allowed Thomas, the founder of Disability Fashion Styling platform Cur8able, to successfully provide the one in four people who have a disability with clothing that both looks and feels like it was made specifically for them.
Disabled activist Alice Wong reflects on the Americans with Disabilities Act: ‘A law does not change the world overnight’ | Yahoo! Life
When Alice Wong was a baby newly diagnosed with spinal muscular dystrophy, a doctor told her parents — Chinese immigrants who’d settled in Indianapolis in the 1970s — that she may not live past the age of 30. She’s now 46, and one of the country’s top trailblazers for disability rights.
ADA2020 – Celebrating 30 Years of the Americans with Disabilities Act | HHS-OCR
To celebrate the 30th anniversary, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) – both at U.S. Health & Human Services (HHS) – partnered to create a website that tells the story of how the ADA came to be, showcases some of the progress we have made as a country toward achieving the ADA’s promise of true inclusion, and illustrates some of the work being done within HHS and across government, to continue to remove the barriers to inclusion people with disabilities often face. Most important, through short video interviews, you can hear from people with disabilities about how the expectations for access and inclusion created by the ADA have affected their lives.
Hands Off the ADA | Center for American Progress Disability Justice Initiative
How a Landmark Law To Protect the Rights of Disabled People Is Being Twisted To Oppress Others. From voter suppression efforts exploiting the ADA to close polling stations to so-called anti-maskers, the ADA is increasingly being twisted to oppress others.
Exploring What Disability Means Today, and Could Mean Tomorrow | the New York Times
Thirty years after the passage of the A.D.A., a Times project featuring more than two dozen articles looks at the many facets of the law’s impact and the work that still lies ahead.
Apple, creatives, and disability rights activists reflect on 30 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act | Apple Newsroom
Since its founding, Apple has been a pioneer in democratizing powerful technology through products and services designed for everyone. From VoiceOver and Text to Speech to Voice Control, Switch Control, and even Siri, every product and service in the Apple ecosystem is designed with accessibility built in.
As ADA anniversary nears, lawmakers express concern about changes to captioned telephone service | The Hill
Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) conditionally approved providers of Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) that use only automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology. This approval could put veterans, older adults, and other people with hearing loss who use this service to communicate at risk due to the potential for significant captioning errors. In response to these approvals, two bipartisan letters were submitted to the FCC: one from Reps. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) and Don Young (R-Alaska), co-chairs of the Bipartisan Disabilities Caucus, and one from Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) asking the FCC to establish service quality standards that address the unique aspects of ASR-only services.
Chairman Pai on the Americans with Disabilities Act’s 30th Anniversary | FCC
https://youtu.be/_i10H72rnjg.