Making Connections Across Movements and Building for the Future
The following article is the Viewpoint article from the Fall 2013 Making a Difference magazine. Click here to read the entire magazine.
Making Connections Across Movements and Building for the Future
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Developmental Disabilities Bill of Rights and Assistance Act (PL 88-164, "The Mental Retardation Construction and Facilities Act of 1963") and the March on Washington. Much progress has taken place since 1963, but there is much more needed. The same can be said for much of American society, and this edition of Making a Difference attempts to remember and align the social justice and civil rights movements that have helped shape who we are today as a country.
Over the next year leading to the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), we hope to engage our readers in conversations about the legacy of the civil rights movements and where we need to go in the future. We will feature articles about the history of people with disabilities in the social justice movement and what role people might play moving forward. This includes recognizing that persons with disabilities have other characteristics that define who they are and connect them to their neighbors in so many ways. People with disabilities are young, old, African-American, Latino or Asian American. They are male, female, transgender, straight, gay or lesbian. They practice different religions including Christianity, Judaism or Islam; and, they are poor, middle class or affluent. The point is that a person is not just defined by his or her disability and it's time that the disability movement begins working with other movements. We need to ensure our voice is heard in every social justice or rights movement taking place because it makes all of us stronger.
Everyone knows about Atlanta and Georgia's connection with the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and many of the other leaders were from Atlanta and much activity took place in our State. Much of the work of Dr. King is hosted here, and next year the National Center for Civil and Human Rights (NCCHR), opening in downtown Atlanta, will educate the public on
the different rights movements nationally and internationally. Doug Shipman, NCCHR executive director, writes about the need to remember our past while building toward a future - one that links the movements of the past with those of the present and the future.
US Representative John Lewis, an icon leader of the 1960s, shares his experience in the civil rights movement and the Supreme Court's decision to overturn much of the Voting Rights Act. He reminds us that we ride on the shoulders of so many people who have come before us and who fought for liberty, equality and justice. And, State Senator Nan Orrock reminds us how the 1963 March on Washington not only changed her life, but the direction of the country.
We have a little over a year to prepare for the ADA' celebration and remind Americans of the role that people with disabilities have played in making this the greatest country.
We hope you enjoy reading this magazine and we want to hear from you. Let us know your thoughts and connections to the civil rights movement by writing to our editor-in-chief
