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In This Issue
Happy Birthday ADA!
Dear Friends,
Today the nation celebrates the 20th anniversary of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. On this day, we recall not only the legislative triumph of the ADA and the changes it has wrought for people with disabilities, we also honor the Congressional leaders, disability community advocates, and supporters who transformed the vision of a comprehensive disability rights law into the reality of the ADA.
We also join with colleagues, allies, and family and friends around the country as we pause to acknowledge one of the most important achievements of the disability rights movement and to re-envision a future where disability discrimination and second class citizenship is a distant memory.
There is no doubt that the ADA has brought about extraordinary changes by transforming the architectural face of the nation, improving access to public transportation and to telecommunications, and by spurring a shift in pubic attitudes about disability. Moreover, the ADA has sent a powerful message to the world that it is both possible and practicable to break down age-old social policies and barriers that prevent people with disabilities from realizing full equality.
As we celebrate, we also acknowledge that much work remains ahead to free people with disabilities from poverty, from being confined to institutions, from experiencing health and health care inequities, from exclusion from meaningful educational opportunities, and from being overlooked or forgotten as technology advances at an ever-faster pace.
Today, however, we salute the achievements of our movement and the fearless advocates who led the way, and we recognize the place of the Americans with Disabilities Act in the pantheon of enduring human ideals.
From the staff and board of directors of DREDF, many thanks to each of you who made this day possible.
© 2010
Combined Federal Campaign #11944
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