Paul Sableman
It’s just after dawn on a May morning in Washington, D.C. Our line of protesters, most of us in wheelchairs, snakes through the streets.
I have no idea who today’s protest by the disability rights advocacy group ADAPT will target. Only the leaders know, and they share that information judiciously because surprise is absolutely necessary. If we all know where we’re going, there’s bound to be chatter in the march line and the police will overhear.
So we all follow at a pedestrian pace until the people at the front of the line kick it into high gear. That means the target is near and we’re storming the door.
As we charge around the corner, I see a sign on the front of the building stating, “The Heritage Foundation.” The first thing I say to myself is, “Why are we bursting in on the Heritage Foundation?” Then I say, “Who the hell cares why! They’re the Heritage Foundation, dammit!”
A few people in wheelchairs make it into the lobby before a security guard plants himself nervously in the entrance. So the 100 or so more of us who didn’t get inside clog up the doorway outside. No one can get in or out. One of our leaders announces on the bullhorn why we are at the Heritage Foundation. All I hear him say is blah blah blah blah blah because it doesn’t matter to me right now. Knowing why we’re here might even take all the fun out of it. I’m excited to be clogging the door of the Heritage Foundation for whatever reason.
“Fat chance of them being on our side, I say to myself. Also, I’m not sure I want them on our side.”
Of course, the protest does have a reason. ADAPT’s press release demands that Heritage “publicly acknowledge that the Federal Government is denying Americans with disabilities their fundamental and constitutional rights to life, liberty and due process by forcing them into nursing facilities and other institutions.” It calls on Heritage to support the Disability Integration Act to ensure that “no disabled individual is denied their constitutional right to liberty by requiring people with disabilities be offered a community-based alternative to institutional placement.”
Inside, I see a white guy shaking hands with one of our leaders. He must be from Heritage. The guy looks like one of the G.I. Joe dolls I had as a kid.
Outside we chant, “Disability rights are Constitutional rights!” An angry white guy stomps up to us and says, “What about my Constitutional right to get into this building?!” He says it several times. We ignore him and merrily keep chanting. He eventually sulks away.
After about an hour, our leader and G.I. Joe emerge and announce that they have reached an agreement. Heritage will meet with us and discuss issuing a white paper supporting the Disability Integration Act, or something like that. G.I. Joe says Heritage believes in freedom and blah blah blah blah.
Fat chance of Heritage being on our side, I say to myself. Also, I’m not sure I want them on our side.
The Heritage’s Blueprint for Balance, released on June 14, calls for repealing the Affordable Care Act and harshly limiting federal Medicaid spending. With ADAPT, we fought against the bills to repeal the Affordable Care Act so intensely that many of us got arrested for committing civil disobedience on Capitol Hill.
Nevertheless, as we march away, I feel triumphant. There’s nothing like clogging the door of the Heritage Foundation to invigorate your morning. I highly recommend that everybody try it sometime.
Mike Ervin, a writer and disability rights activist in Chicago, writes the blog Smart Ass Cripple at smartasscripple.blogspot.com. His most recent book is Smart Ass Cripple’s Little Chartreuse Book.