Friday, August 15, 2008

Kindred Spirits and Awesome Footage

As you may recall from my "A Blogger's World" post, I'm on this Boulder Mommy's Listserv that goes out to 1200+ moms. I sent out an announcement for our grocery store table fundraiser - that is definitely not what is soooo great! The greatness lies in this reply from a mom named Mari Dart, and that several hundred+ people are going to read it, and think "Wow! This is a real issue!"

Read below...
Thank you for posting this!
Most people don't know that there are 51 million Americans with disabilities today - and that number grows everyday.
While many people are vaguely familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act
(passed in 1989), they don't know that it was the first legislation of it's kind in the history of the world; that it freed and empowered MORE people than the original civil rights legislation of the early 60's; that it kicked off world wide awareness and passage of laws to empower people with disabilities, that continues to this day.
It has been argued that it is perhaps the most important civil rights legislation in the 21st century. But it has been under attack from the far right and people who do not understand nor have read the language of the act. It's protections have been chipped away at steadily for the last 15 years.
ADAPT and other disability rights groups are at the forefront of this fight. They are fearless, tireless and vital soldiers in the quest for justice and acceptance.
The odds are that someone in your family either is or will be disabled in the course of your lifetime. This is NOT someone elses issue, it belongs to and effects every
single one of us.
Your support is deeply appreciated and DOES make a difference.
She then sent me a link, which led me to discover that she is Mari Dart, niece of "Father of the Americans with Disabilities Act", the great Justin Dart.

Words fail to describe my feelings at this point.
We now believe we are kindred spirits, and I'm looking forward to sharing stories, and love, with Mari.

So ENJOY some awsome footage of last Saturday's Fun Run

Find more videos like this on EndeavorFreedomTV

Courtesy of the one and only, Tim Wheat!

The pic below was taken in April, at ADAPT's 25th Anniversary Celebration in DC, where, among other things, we ran in a national fun run. This is my favorite pic!

I also really like this one!


If we can go, September's action will be Desty's induction into the ADAPT fold!


AND FINALLY....A DIGITAL ANSWER TO THE QUESTION...

"WHY????"


Find more videos like this on EndeavorFreedomTV

Again, courtesy of the one and only, Tim Wheat!

4 comments:

Dustin said...

Start practing these ADAPT chants for September in Washington DC:

FREE OUR PEOPLE! NOW!

What do we want? COMMUNITY CHOICE! When do we want it? NOW!

ACCESSIBLE, AFFORDABLE, INTEGRATED HOUSING!

Our HOMES not Nursing Homes!

I personally like the ones we sing like:

Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Nursing homes have got to go!

Community Choice, Community Choice, Won't rest until we have a CHOICE!

Well, I went down to the rich man's house and I took back what he stole from me - took back my dignity! Now he's under my feet ... Where? Under my wheels! Ain't gonna walk all over me!

Oh, when ADAPT comes marching in! Oh, when ADAPT comes marching in! How I like to be in that number when ADAPT comes marching in!

There are more of course, these are just the ones stuck in my head!

Dustin said...

Those are some great videos and so professional! Thamks to Tim for letting us use them! Did everyone see me in the Boulder ADAPT Fun Run? I was wearing a goldish yellow shirt and an orange fun run thingy. I can be seen pushing BOB (our double stoller), drinking water, carrying a kiddo on my shoulders or just being my crazy self. FREE OUR PEOPLE! or as Tammy & Benny once said : FREE OUR FREAKIN' PEOPLE! (no offense intended, I assure you!)

Destiny Ann said...

The "FREAKING" came in a moment of mommy insanity, after a loooong hike, and many times singing our family theme song! Gotta little PUNCHY!!

Dustin said...

We found FREEDOM PARK in Arlington, VA where we stayed a few extra days after the ADAPT action. Arlington has a lot of interesting little parks like this mixed into the city. We also visited Arlington Cemetery. We saw the Eternal Flame at the grave of JFK and we saw the changing of the guard at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The Metro makes it really easy to get around the Washington DC area. One day we went to the National Cathedral and The National Zoo. The day that we flew home, we walked across Key Bridge from Arlington to Georgetown. We found Georgetown to be rather inaccessible and not too wheelchair friendly. We did have a lot of fun on The Teddy Roosevelt Island though, which is also near Key Bridge where we stayed.