No Protest Without Us: Tips and Tools for Protestors with Disabilities Webinar Transcript
August 29, 2024
AVIANCE: Welcome, everyone. My name is Aviance Brown. I use she/her pronouns, and I am an attorney with Disability Law United or DLU. I primarily handle our criminal legal sector work. I am a medium brown African-American woman with brown and blonde box braids that are pulled up in a high bun on the top of my head. I am wearing a vibrant orange dress and sparkly dangling hoop earrings. And I am so excited to be here with you all today as we discuss the right to protest, particularly for disabled protestors, especially as we witness and engage in the fight for our democracy. This event is co-sponsored by Disability Law United, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund or DREDF, Civil Liberties Defense Center or CLDC. And we are joined by two dynamic protestors, one from Atlanta, so Solidarity Fund and the other who's a lifelong activist and member of ADAPT. The slide that you're looking at here contains images of each of our organizational logos, as well as the title of today's event, No Protest Without Us, along with today's date, August 29th, 2024, and a small cartoon-like image in the bottom right corner of a blind person using a guide dog, a woman using sign language, and three people seated in wheelchairs. Next slide, please. Today, we will hear from directly impacted protestors who have had encounters with law enforcement while exercising their constitutional rights. We will dive into the rights of protestors, give tips in safety navigation, tricks. And lastly, we will discuss how organizations can mobilize with accessibility at the forefront of their minds. On this slide, there are two images. The image on the left is our pocket guide with quick tips for disabled protestors. And then the orange on the right, excuse me, the image on the right is a longer Know Your Rights Guide for Disabled Protestors. And for folks who would love to share this information, we are really excited to have it on our websites. The link will be shared with you as well so that you can access this information after this event. Next slide. Now, we will jump into our discussion with our two protestors. I'll have you share first, Anita. We'd love for you to introduce yourself. ANITA: Hello, my name's Anita Cameron. I am a Black woman with caramel-colored skin, long kind of green locks, wearing a pink T-shirt, pink and white T-shirt that says Not Dead Yet, which is the organization that I actually work for. I'm Director of Minority Outreach there. Shall I wait for... I didn't know if you just wanted me to introduce myself. AVIANCE: Yeah, that's good for now. We know you got a lot to give us today. We'll pass it over now to Adele for a brief introduction. ADELE: Hi, my name's Adele MacLean. I'm a co-founder of the Solidarity Fund. We bail out and support protestors and other movement people who've been targeted for repression for their movement activity. A White middle-aged woman in a wheelchair with glasses and a student's high. And if I didn't say, my pronouns are she/her. AVIANCE: Yeah. Thank you so much. And so now we'll just jump right in. We have a few questions in limited time today and so we just wanna be mindful of that. But the first one will hop right in and ask each of you to answer, why is it imperative for you to exercise your right to protest? ANITA: So this is Anita, my pronouns are she/they. I think that it's imperative that we do so. So protest is every bit American. This country began on protest. And I think that it's vital that we exercised the rights that we have as as Americans and the rights to protest is very American. ADELE: Yeah, absolutely. And so that I would add the world has so much wrong with it that it needs all of our participation. Everybody has unique strengths and things to contribute. And there's so much need that we can't do without the participation of anyone. And I think we talk about the need to include the most impacted, marginalized groups in any protest movement. And I think that's really important with disability as well as with everything else because if you have people that don't have that lived experience organizing without the direct in input of those that do, they're gonna be guessing about the needs and what needs to happen. And sometimes those guesses are gonna be inaccurate. AVIANCE: Can you tell us about a time and where you have been arrested as a result of protesting and how being disabled impacted that arrest and/or detention? ANITA: This is Anita. In my case, I've been arrested 140 times in 40 years, so all as a result of my protesting. And I protested with ADAPT. We were a national grassroots disability organization, So I was really spoiled there. Back in the heyday of ADAPT, we often had hundreds of people at our actions. And so the police had to deal with arresting and detaining literally hundreds of disability activists. And so oftentimes, our needs didn't get met. Oftentimes, some of our deaf people were arrested even when they weren't planning to get arrested because the police tapped on them, and they didn't move. And so often the police would just tackle them to the ground or whatnot before they realize, hey, they're deaf, they're not disobeying. I've often had my, for instance, my tactile cane taken from me. I spent 25 days in jail on an ADAPT accident, did not have my tactile cane with me at all. So sometimes they do that. If you have attendance services needs, your needs aren't gonna get met. Let's just say that. I'm going to be very honest with you. And so I'll stop right there to let Adele go further. Just that. Yeah, I've been so spoiled and that all of the protests with the exception of a couple of Black Lives Matter protests, all of my protests have been with ADAPT. And so it's a whole different dynamic when you know how to prepare for a protest and you know how to make a protest accessible. What happens a lot with us is what happens after we're arrested or if we are actually jailed. Yeah, I'll stop there. AVIANCE: Yeah. Really quickly... Sorry, Adele, before you hop in here, I think it's really important to note that that last piece that you said about making protests accessible and that's something that we will be getting into today. But I just had a quick follow-up question. You said that you've been arrested. Did you say over 140 times? ANITA: 140 times exactly. 140 times I've been involved in ADAPT. I retired last year, so we're talking in 38 years of membership of ADAPT, active membership in ADAPT. Yes, I was arrested 140 times. And that number is so big because oftentimes I was arrested multiple times during an action. ADAPT will have week-long actions in places and oftentimes I was arrested three, four times on an action. So that's why my number is very high. It's literally the highest number of arrests among disability activists in the country, so, yeah. AVIANCE: Wow. Yeah, were you going out there with the intent to get arrested? ANITA: So, I'm always willing to be arrested. I remember the one time that I didn't intend to be arrested was when I went back home to Chicago. ADAPT was in Chicago. Chicago Cops at that time were legendary, world renowned for how horribly they treated people. And I wasn't planning on getting arrested, but the police officer decided that... There was a new person who had cerebral palsy who accidentally kicked him. And he wanted to arrest that person, but that person used alternate communication methods. And so he decided that, okay, you were right next to him, you can talk and I'm gonna take you. And so that's what they did. Sometimes yes. Oftentimes yes, because I'm so passionate about it, yes. But there were some times that I did not intend to get arrested, and I wound up getting arrested anyway. I was involved in a suite in Orlando. There were 76 of us out there, including legal, the legal people who watch things and whatnot. And the police gave none of us a chance. And they swept, arrested all of us, including the legal folks. And we were in jail for three days. AVIANCE: Wow, wow. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. Adele, I did wanna turn to you and give you a chance to answer that question and to hear about your experiences in Atlanta. ADELE: Yes. I've been arrested seven-ish times, only twice since I've been disabled in the past 10 years. And that's been due to my involvement with the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, supporting the cop city protestors. I've been swept up in the sweeping Rico indictment that's targeting 61 people. So last May 2023, my house was raided in the morning and me and my two housemates were arrested. They were taken straight to jail. I was taken to the hospital for unknown reasons. I think that was their choice because I'm disabled. And the cop brain just breaks in response to seeing someone with a disability. And of course, the hospital was like, "What are you doing? Get out of here." And then I was taken to jail and put in post solitary confinement, spoke to a series of health and other jail bureaucrats. Told them all about my meds, never got my meds. I had been denied access to a bathroom before getting to the jail. Never got my other needs. I get cold easy. I needed another blanket and get stuff like that. And then when I got into the solitary cell, I was using a walker and they denied me the walker. I was sort of trying to advocate for myself with the jail staff and the guard. It was clear that the guard was just making a decision in that moment. Like, "Oh, you don't need this." And I was like, "I could fall without it." And she was like, "Well, there's nowhere to walk to anyway. You don't need to walk." So she just left it outside of the cell. And then so I was able to kind of hold onto the bed and scooch up to the door when food would get slid in the slot and stuff. And then, of course, the next time I was taken out of the cell, it happened I had a bail hearing and brought back in. A different person brought me back in, and they just let me walked in with a walker. So it was just an arbitrary decision like that. But I think an interesting thing to note with that is there are these moments when you're in jail that you're sort of called upon to advocate for yourself or that you might be able to advocate for yourself. And I was feeling very Stockholm syndrome. So I think I might have like passed up on some of those, but I think I would've been better off if I had been more loud and demanding of my right. I mean, it's a very marginal thing, right? As Anita pointed out, you're not gonna get your rights. You're not gonna get all your needs met in jail. That's kind of what jail is. But there might be some moments where you can put certain pressures on at certain times. And I think in my case, I would've been better off if I'd had spoken up more. ANITA: This is Anita. There were twice in ADAPT history that in order to get what we needed in jail, we actually staged the riot in the jail. In Orlando and in Reno, Nevada, we actually staged the riot to get what we needed because I my arrests have happened with hundreds of disabled people. Oftentimes they don't want us in the jail. And so they'll let us go. But the only times we, as a group, gone to jail for a few days is when the judge sentences us. And then when we're there in mass, we're more likely to have our needs met. When I was arrested in Ohio back in 2017, during the Medicaid stuff, I was arrested at Senator Rob Portman's office in Ohio. One thing that they did with me, they took me by myself. I was the only Black person among all the people arrested. And so they took me on a little ride similar to what they tried to what they did to Freddie Gray in Baltimore. They took me on a ride like that, tried to hurt me, they lost me. There were disability rights. Ohio was trying to find me because they lost me. So they will do those tactics. They knew that I was very loud and outspoken. That was my 138th arrest. And eventually when I was taken to jail, I did have someone from disability or Rights Ohio come in, interview me, and make sure that I got my needs met. But oftentimes that's not gonna happen when you are one of a few disabled people, that's less likely to happen. But when you're one of brunches or hundreds of disabled people and if you let them know the protection and advocacy folks, the civil rights law folks know, then you're more likely. But I think we're talking about in this situation where it's far less likely that we're gonna get our needs. But we've had to do that. We've done and I will. When I go to jail, yeah, I will demand any that I get and given the opportunity, yes, I will speak to advocates or anything to get my rights and the rights of any disabled person that's arrested with me. 'Cause when I was arrested in Ohio, we had a disabled person who's trans. So we had to advocate that she not be put in with what was her gender assigned at birth, but what was her gender now. And that's another thing that they often do. I served 25 days in jail off an ADAPT accident and spent 20 of those days in solitary confinement. So yeah. AVIANCE: Both of you have spoken to the solitary confinement piece. And we know that solitary confinement is cruel and unusual form of punishment, right? It is not a place that you want to spend any amount of days. And so I am really interested to hear about that and the practices happening across the US. If you all have experienced it, it's more than likely that others have as well. And it's something that I've read about that it is the holding place when they don't know what to do with people with disabilities in jail or in prisons. They say, "We'll just put them here 'cause we don't know what else to do," not thinking of the greater implications that that has. ANITA: I was in 24/7. I was not let out to anything. I was in there 24/7 around the clock for 20 days. AVIANCE: Wow. ANITA: On day 20, they took me out and put me into general population. So here I was now a disabled person, a blind person placed in general population, and then they insisted that I become a trustee before I was let out. And then when they let me out, they let me out at two in the morning, came into my cell, got me at two o'clock in the morning, told me I was going home, but I had no ride, I had anything. So I went and to lay down on the couch to go to sleep. And they told me, "You cannot go to sleep." I said, "Well, my ride's not gonna be here for three hours. Why'd you let me out? Rearrest me and put me back in jail, put me back in my cell." So that was my experience with solitary confinement. I had nothing. And trust me, trying to keep your mental health when you're in solitary confinement, it's not for the faint of heart. I mean, I would sing. I would holler. I would yell. I would scream. The only contact that I had was when they would push the food through the tray and they would often push it through and let it fall, And so being blind, I would have to like go on the floor and try to find what they gave me, find the milk or whatever and hope the goodness they wasn't something that I was allergic to 'cause in jail, they don't care about those things. And so for me, the whole solitary, and I don't even know why on day 20, they finally took me out of solitary confinement. But like I said, they continue to put me in situations where I was vulnerable. AVIANCE: Yeah, wow, wow. I have so many follow up questions after that, but I know our time particularly for this segment is short. So I'll keep on the track here. So the next question is, and this is for either of you or both, if you have an answer, can you just briefly discuss the distinction between apparent and non-apparent disabilities and why that distinction is particularly important while protesting? ANITA: You could go first, Adele. I talk too much and- ADELE: Okay. Well, I know you had a lot of really interesting things to say about this the other day. But just really briefly, I think so much of how the cops treat you and how prison guards and all the law enforcement system treats you depends on this like snap moment where they look at you and they decide what your identities are. So how apparent whether they decide you're disabled or whatever your identities are and how those fit together in the cop brain determines whether they're going to treat you with violence, whether they're going to try and protect you, whether they think it's gonna be convenient or inconvenient to arrest you. And all of these calculations pile up to create a whole experience. And that can be to your advantage or your disadvantage or both. ANITA: So in my case, I've lived all of them. I've lived as a disabled person with non-apparent disabilities and disabled person with apparent disabilities. In ADAPT, we try to look out for the people not only with non apparent disabilities, but who are not disabled, who serve as attendance and whatnot because often what happens is, the police will arrest anyone walking on their feet. So in our case, if you're walking on your feet, you're not disabled. Now, oftentimes, those folks walking on their hind legs have severe disability, extensive support needs, but they don't look. I define non-apparent disability is you don't look disabled, you don't look what people think of as disabled. You look just like some ordinary everyday person on the street, but you have disabilities and support needs. And often what happens is, is that in our case in ADAPT, cops will arrest you. 'cause they think that their leadership, or they think that if they take away all the people on the hind legs, that those of us in wheelchairs will just give up and go away. And so in ADAPT, we really look out and seek to protect those folks on their hind legs because the police are more likely to arrest you. If then on top of that you happen to be a person of color or you happen to be gender nonconforming, you look like you may be LGBTQ, the cops are more likely to get violent with you. Have a dear, dear friend, a brother of mine who the cops said before he arrested, looked at my friend and said, "I can't wait to get my hands on you." and my friend had nine apparent disabilities. And so then when you're disabled and you have apparent disabilities, how they treat you depends on who you are. So I'm loud. I've always been loud. I'm the loudest chanter in ADAPT. ADAPT often have me lead chants, songs and things of that nature. I'm extraordinarily loud that angers the police. And so because of that, I'm more likely to be targeted. I used to listen to the police target me on their walkie talkies, and they target me for any number of reasons. I was loud, I'm Black. Go get her, she's being a nuisance. Back in the day, I used to get beaten all the time by the police. And back in the day, the police didn't care if you were using a wheelchair. My friend who's a black panther, they took him out of his wheelchair by his Afro. Grabbed him by his Afro and slung him out of his wheelchair. They told him, "You're faking, you can walk." Obviously, he could not. And that's another thing too. The cops will think that you're faking and treat you like you're faking, say that you're faking your disability. If you are obviously have very severe disabilities, then they'll try not to arrest you unless of course you're allowed. If you're allowed, the cops are well more likely to arrest you. And so yeah, that's why I actually wrote an entire guide within the ADAPT guide on how to look out for those of us with non-apparent disabilities, those of us who were LGBTQ, those of us who were trans, those of us of color, and how to get around, circle around the police when they start doing dirty things to you, attacking you and whatnot. So yeah. AVIANCE: Yeah, thank you. Anita, folks in the comments, they're asking if they can get access to your guide. ANITA: I'm gonna send you that. AVIANCE: Okay. ANITA: It's called the Rolling Activist Guide to Planning a Vigil and the ADAPT. I'll send you the ADAPT guide too and it's in the ADAPT guide, that whole section on looking out for folks that was written by me. AVIANCE: Yeah, the ADAPT guide is actually on the ADAPT website. ANITA: Yeah. AVIANCE: I don't know if I saw your guide that you- ANITA: It's on there, yeah. AVIANCE: Okay. Okay, yeah, so we'll make sure that we can share that with folks too. To wrap this particular segment up. I have one more question for you guys before we move on, and that is just tell us, what are folks with disabilities who protest? What are some of their greatest strengths as protestors? ADELE: Well, I mean, I think each person's got strengths as a protestor depending on just their individual personality and interests and likes and dislikes. So maybe you love communicating with people or you hate doing the organizing stuff, but there's also this sort of distinct thing that if you've got disabilities you can bring to the protest depending on the way, cops look at you or authority figures look at you. Like me, I think being middle-aged and White and very visibly or perceptibly disabled, the cop brain, with those identities, goes, "Oh, protect her. Don't attack her." So I can play with that a little bit. If the police lines advancing, I can be like, "Oh, I'm going as fast as I can." And then everybody else is kind of going off, or I can be at the front line and the cops are like somewhat more reluctant to beat the disabled White lady. And so provide a little bit of protection that way. Obviously, there's no like magic wand that you can... Obviously, there's a limit to that benefit that you can sort of play with that sometimes. But I mean, I think each person's got a variety of different strengths. And there's whatever limitations you may have. There's a million different ways that you can participate in protest, not just at a protest march. Like that's one narrow way of looking at participating in protest. But there's a million other different ways that maybe you wanna be on the streets, maybe you don't,. Maybe you could help with the food or you could help coordinate the people who do the food, or the jail support, or the millions of other support tasks that go into a protest or a protest movement in a broad sense. And I think the importance there is for everybody to recognize the importance of including people and the importance of those background roles. It would be a very shallow way to look at protest as just being the people that show up to the front lines because there's so much work that goes on before and after that. And at the time of that, that isn't just being there on the streets. Although that's important too. I mean, maybe that's how you wanna contribute or that's one of the ways. So that's super. ANITA: I think for me, the strength in protestors with disabilities, we can think outside the box and we can solve problems. Depending on our disabilities... I mean, if you're doing a protest, you wanna bump something up, you got a few folks in wheelchairs, hey, block a door. That's what ADAPT is known for, shutting down buildings, blocking doors, block intersection. If part of your strategy is to block an intersection, people in wheelchairs can be utilized to do that. I block more than my share of intersections in the day, both in and out of my wheelchair. And so I think that disabled members of protests and actions, like I said, we can solve things. We make excellent police negotiators. We do,. I negotiate with the police. Why not have someone with a visible disability negotiating with the police? Because then we can negotiate in our care and whatnot. With ADAPT, oftentimes when we were huge, the police... I mean, even now they will negotiate, okay, how do you want to do this? How many people do you wanna do this? I please have disabled police negotiators on your team. And so there's so many roles that we can be in on a protest. And I'm gonna definitely back up what Adele is saying, outside of the protest. If you wanna do it from your house, you can do it. When we were protesting against Senator Portman in Ohio, one of the people on the media team was my friend who literally is in bed, is literally bed born, in bed all the time. And they do amazing stuff from their bed, including like directing video, music videos and whatnot, directing music video that got a Emmy, all of that. So you can do activism from your bed, from your home, and all of that. You don't have to be on the streets. But when we are on the streets, utilize us and do it on the ground floor, not like just when somebody shows up or whatnot. And don't assume that all of your folks are not gonna have disabilities. And so we can do some amazing things. There is such amazing strengths and positive things to happen, disabled folks planning the protests along with you from the ground floor, but also being out there in the trenches. AVIANCE: Yeah, thank you so much. That was awesome. I appreciate both of you all for sharing. So candidly, we're gonna hop into some of that too, Anita, that last piece that you just touched on on incorporating folks who are disabled in the planning phase right upfront. We're gonna talk a little bit about that later as well. But for now, we will pass it over to our friends, DREDF, to talk a little bit about what some of those constitutional rights are and to do some brief tricks and tips as well. JILLIAN: Hi, everyone. So my name is Jillian MacLeod, and I'm a legal intern at Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. And we're putting up some slides right now that we're gonna go through to educate everyone about your rights as a protestor with disabilities. So I will let Sinjita introduce herself and then, Lauren, you can introduce yourself. SINJITA: Hi everyone, my name is Sinjita. I use she/her pronouns. And I'm a Brown South Asian disabled woman in my twenties with dark brown hair. I'm wearing a black shirt and my background is blurred, and I'm a legal intern at DREDF. LAUREN: Hi, I am Lauren Regan. I also use she/her pronouns. I am the founder and litigation and advocacy director at the Civil Liberties Defense Center. I've been a movement lawyer for 27 years, so I'm 27 years old. No, just kidding. I am a middle aged White person with brown hair. I am wearing a white shirt. I've got a little nose ring in and my background is blurred as well. But you can kind of see 27 years of like movement photos and postcards and things like that behind me. JILLIAN: Thanks for the introductions, everyone. And apologies, I use she/her pronouns. This is Jillian speaking again. And I am a White woman in my twenties with short brown hair with bangs. And my background is kind of just a plain white background that is blurred. And as a visual description of the slide we're looking at right now, we have the title, which is Your Rights as a Protestor with Disabilities. We have Sinjita's name, my name, and Lauren's name on the slide, as well as we have a shout out to our paralegal Ally Cline at DREDF, who also contributed a lot to the development of the comprehensive Know Your Rights Guide, which we have dropped a link to in the chat and is posted on the DREDF website and will be later posted on the DLU website and CLDC websites. And the slide also shows the DREDF logo, the CLDC logo, and the DLU logo. And it has images, kind of cartoonish images of a blind person, a person using sign language, and some people in wheelchairs. So we'll go to the next slide. And so first, we wanted to just do a really quick disclaimer that this presentation is not a substitute for legal advice. So you should definitely speak to a lawyer if you are uncertain of your rights regarding a protest, if you have an interaction with the police, or if you become involved in the criminal legal system. Next slide. SINJITA: And I wanna continue the disclaimer by saying that we know that the police have a long history of violence towards multiply marginalized Black people, indigenous people and people of color. And we are sharing information about your legal rights at protests today so you can better navigate what happens on the ground. However, I wanna ground this presentation in the reality that knowing your rights will not protect you from the police. Not all the information that we share today will keep us safe. And we know that the police are not beholden to the law. Thus, we will share information about the legal framework they should be operating in with the understanding that they may not. Protestors with more privilege, sometimes engaged with the police in ways that multiply marginalized people at risk. And additionally, any protest that challenges the status quo is understood by the police as a threat to their identity and power, and they will respond accordingly. So we share all of the information today to empower you to make informed choices about how you want to protest and what tactics are accessible to you, not to suggest or discourage any particular ones. Next slide, please. Today, we'll be covering a variety of topics, including preparing for a protest, your rights during a protest, police interactions prior, during, and after arrest. And we'll hopefully have some time at the end for questions and resources. Now, pass it to Jillian to talk about preparing for a protest. JILLIAN: So it's really important to prepare yourself before you go to a protest. So before attending, you can make a plan for participation and for communication with others and pack all of the necessary items that will help to keep you safe. Next slide. So what should you bring to a protest? You can definitely bring a friend or a trusted person. Going to a protest can sometimes be risky, but attending with a friend can help keep you safe. A trusted person can help you communicate with others, can aid you if you are injured or can help you if you are arrested. If you're arrested, your friend can take care of your service animal, take care of your mobility aid if the police will not allow you to bring it with you, or bring your medications to you after you're released from jail. And remember that you may be separated from a friend or trusted person during the protest, so create a communication plan ahead of time to stay in touch and stay safe. Next, it's really important that you bring items to protect you from COVID-19 to protect you and others from COVID-19. So COVID remains a threat to community safety. And this is especially true in large crowd settings that are common at protests. Being in a large crowd can increase the risk of spreading viruses like COVID, especially since protests often involve loud chanting or projecting one's voice. So to protect yourself and others, you should wear a well-fitting N95 mask, sanitize your hands, avoid touching your face, and maintain social distancing when that is possible. Next, it's important to bring water and snacks just to ensure that you're properly hydrated and fueled during a protest. Bringing snacks can be especially important for people with diabetes just to make sure that blood sugar stays at a safe level. You can also bring a first aid kit. As I mentioned, protests can be inherently risky, so having a first aid kit can be helpful in case you or someone else suffers a minor injury during the course of a protest. And some helpful things to include in your first aid kit are things like bandages, gauze, antiseptic, eye washing solution, and burn creams or gels. And next, you can also bring your phone with your location turned off. Lauren will talk a little bit more about bringing and using a phone during protesting in the next couple of slides, but I'll just continue talking about the phone for now. So for people with communication disabilities, a phone can be an accessibility tool that is important to have at a protest or if arrested. So no matter your disability, having your phone with you at a protest, make sure you can communicate with a trusted person in case of any emergencies. You should come up with a communication plan in case you are separated with or separated from your trusted person. Be aware that the police may confiscate your phone if you are arrested and use the information in it as evidence against you. So you should consider securing your phone with a passcode, turning off location tracking, deleting social media apps, using encrypted messaging services and putting your phone on airplane mode while at the demonstration. But yeah, as I mentioned, Lauren will talk a little bit about that in the next couple of slides. And then you should also consider whether you should maybe bring your state ID and your medications. So it might seem counterintuitive to bring something that could identify you if you're trying to be anonymous at a protest, but having an ID on hand can be helpful if you are arrested at a protest because sometimes the police will detain people if they cannot prove their identity. So having an ID can help you be released faster. And there's a chance that an officer may just give you a ticket if they're able to identify you as opposed to detain you. Further, you might consider whether you want to bring your medication. If you need to take your medication during the time of the protest, you should bring it in its original prescription bottle, but only bring as much as you will need. Otherwise, if you lose your medication, you may not have access to the rest until you can get it refilled. So know that the police will not allow you to keep your medication with you if they arrest you and they may not administer it to you on time. But other things that might be helpful to bring include backup batteries or chargers for electronic devices or assistive devices, a portable stool, toileting equipment, sunscreen, an umbrella, a rain jacket, and earplugs and sunglasses if you have sensory sensitivities. Next slide. LAUREN: All right, so talking about digital security and as political activists, how we try to reduce the risks of state and government surveillance of our political activities. And so the slide that is on the screen right now, which we also included a link to our website where you can download it or kind of study it is basically a chart that we have come up with regarding the most secure types of apps that you can use for communications and the least secure. And when we use the word secure, we just mean the ability for the government or other bad people to be able to access your communications or access your documents. And so on the left-hand access, it goes from encrypted applications to trusted and then down on the bottom is untrusted. And we've broken them up into the use categories. Like for instance, if you're looking for a application that allows for co-editing, multiple people collaboratively working on a press release or something like that, a lot of people will use Google Docs, but that is in the completely untrusted category. That is a corporation that just gives your up for free. And so instead we suggest that you use CryptPad.fr which is a movement-oriented open source, secure version of that same thing. Moving across the top. If you're looking for places to store files, the secure options for that would be Keybase.io or CryptPad. Down at the bottom in terms of places that are untrusted would be Google Docs and any Google product. In terms of messaging, we really recommend Signal or Keybase. Don't use Facebook or really any Meta product, which unfortunately does include Twitter/X, Instagram. WhatsApp is a little bit in the middle ground there, but those Meta products are really just kind of giving it up to the government and also selling a lot of your data to marketing companies. And then we also categorize it by like if you have a small group call, a medium call, or a big call, there are different platforms that can accommodate that. But in essence, Signal, I think, is really kind of the go-to for any kind of like chat or phone call communications right now for movement participants. And to my knowledge, in the encrypted, like highly trusted category, which is CryptPad, Keybase, and Signal, my understanding is that there are accessibility adaptations to those apps that are possible. Next slide, please. So this slide specifically is dealing with your cell phone. The courts have ruled that your cell phone is the equivalent of 100,000 filing cabinets full of confidential documents. Oftentimes your cell phone includes photos, and your contacts, and your calendars, not to mention the communications that you have with all of your comrades, friends and family. And there's two main threats to that device. One is the state, whether that's law enforcement, FBI, some investigative entity, but the other is our opposition, whether that is fascists or proud boys or whatever you might be fighting against, having your phone either stolen or taken by what I generally call baddies, whether it's government or our frenemies can be a significant compromise in both your security and the security of your entire community. And so this chart starts off by saying how to secure your phone against confiscation or loss if your phone is lost or taken. And then we break it into three categories. If you know that your phone is gonna be taken for some reason, the safest mode is to completely power it off. Your information in that instance is likely safe. And to ensure its safety, we recommend that you keep a strong passphrase on it. If your phone is locked, like you've got a password on it, but it's powered on, still a fair amount of your data is compromised, particularly if it is taken by the cops and plugged into one of these forensic extraction devices. To limit the available information that could be stolen from your phone, you wanna make sure that you've got a strong passphrase, and you wanna check your notifications. You want to make sure that you've got all your messages and previews turned off. We actually had a case where the cops took somebody's phone and the cop just stood there and watched all the signal messages pop up on the home screen, and they were able to compromise and spy on and arrest a bunch of people because one person didn't have their phone notifications turned on properly. So that to say we are only as strong as our weakest link and anything in writing can potentially be used to confiscate or can be used to compromise things. If you are using a fingerprint lock, you may want to consider deactivating that because the cops or a bad person can force your thumb onto your device and then have access to your phone. And then if your phone is completely unlocked and there's no password, you should assume everything on it is compromised. You are sometimes able to remote wipe your phone or to have a friend or assistant remotely wipe your phone. In that instance, you will need to change all of your account passwords. And if you are a political organizer and activist, if you get that phone back, it basically becomes a very expensive paperweight. It is no longer secure for the purposes of political organizing work. So importantly, always keep your phone locked and power your phone down if possible. That way in the event that some situation arises really quickly, you're in the best position to keep you and your community safe. Next slide. JILLIAN: So what should you leave at home when preparing for a protest? Protesting, as we've said multiple times, can be inherently risky and the level of risk will vary from event to event. But generally, it is a good idea not to bring anything to a protest that you don't want to lose or that you don't want to be seen by the police. So this can include things like valuables or cash, illegal drugs or weapons, alcohol, documents revealing protest plans, or all of your medication. It is good not to wear super bright clothing either because it can make you a target in the crowd. And so the reason that we say all of your medication is because if you were to only bring the medication that you need during the time of the protest, then losing a little bit of your medication may not be as much of a problem as if you were to lose your entire prescription bottle full of your medication. And further, you should consider whether you feel comfortable bringing service animals or expensive mobility aids. Because protests can pose a risk of injury to service animals or a risk of damage to expensive mobility aids, it's important to consider whether you feel comfortable with that risk, but as Anita spoke about earlier, groups like ADAPT regularly hold very effective protests that include the use of mobility aids. So this decision is really something that is up to you. Next slide, please. And next, we'll talk a little bit about common accessibility barriers at protests. Sometimes protests are held in physical spaces that may not be fully accessible. So for example, a protest that is held in a paved, open public square may be more physically accessible than a protest held inside of an older private building that may have inaccessible physical features like stairs or narrow hallways. Further, loud and chaotic environments may not be accessible for people with sensory sensitivities. In addition, if the environment is full of people who have decided that they are not going to mask, that environment may not be accessible for everyone. So on this slide, to illustrate inaccessible spaces as one of the accessibility barriers at protests, we have a photo of kind of an ornate marble staircase. Next, inaccessible activities can be a barrier at protest. So if a protest involves physical activities like standing for a long period of time, marching long distances, running, lifting heavy objects, or staying in one place for a long period of time, some people may not be able to participate in all of the physical aspects of the protest. But again, as Anita illustrated earlier, there are ways to make these protest activities more accessible. For example, ADAPT, usually we'll have the slowest protestors lead marches so that they are not left behind and ADAPT will sometimes have people assisting along the route to help anyone who needs it. So deciding whether to participate in a protest that may involve challenging physical activity or risk is a personal choice. But that being said, disabled activists have a long history of using physical protest tactics to achieve change. And disabled people should not be excluded from protest activities because of their disability. And to kind of illustrate an inaccessible activity, we have a dark image of some tear gas being used on protestors surrounded by police in kind of militarized uniforms. And next, another barrier at protests can be inaccessible modes of communication. So due to the sometimes informal nature of protests or the fact that some protests are organized last minute, there may not always be accessible ways of communicating with people with disabilities. So for example, if protest organizers don't hire an ASL interpreter for deaf or hard-of-hearing people to be able to understand rally speeches, that can be inaccessible stages or elevated platforms that are used by protest speakers that don't have ramps to allow wheelchair users to speak in front of others are inaccessible. So those are some examples of inaccessible modes of communication. And to illustrate that point on the slide, we have a photo of a femme presenting person with a shaved head who is speaking through a megaphone. Next slide, please. So in light of these common accessibility barriers, you might ask, should I request accommodations from protest organizers? And the answer is yes. You can always ask protest organizers for accommodations or for them to provide resources to you that will help you access a protest. That's the short answer. The long answer is actually that in most circumstances, you may not be legally entitled to reasonable accommodations from protest organizers because protest organizers don't necessarily fall into the buckets that are covered by the ADA. So I mentioned reasonable accommodations, which are technically changes to the usual way of doing things to include people with disabilities. And the ADA requires certain entities to give reasonable accommodations to disabled people. The ADA applies to employers under Title I, public entities or state and local governments under Title II, and public accommodations like businesses and places that are open to the public under Title III. But generally, protests are not organized by entities falling under one of these categories, meaning that protest organizers are usually not covered by the ADA. That being said, even if you're not legally entitled to reasonable accommodations, you should certainly let protest organizers know what your access needs are so that they can voluntarily comply with your requests. Next slide, please. In addition, it may be helpful when you contact protest organizers and let them know what your accessibility needs are. It may be helpful to ask organizers questions about the protests so you can evaluate the accessibility of the event and decide whether you'd like to attend. So some questions that might be helpful for you to evaluate the accessibility of the event include things like, where will the protest be held? Is the space accessible for wheelchair users? Are there any stairs along the protest path? Will there be spaces to sit down? Is the protest close to multiple public transit routes? What are the nearest accessible public bathrooms? Will the protest organizers provide interpreters? Are jail support organizers prepared to bring mobility aids if people are arrested without theirs? And is there a plan to help support disabled protestors if there is an encounter with the police? So if possible, it may also be helpful to visit the space where the protest will be held to scope it out ahead of time. Next slide. SINJITA: So now we'll switch gears to talking about your rights during a protest. I will be cognizant of the time, so we'll be sending out an accessible version of these slides after the presentation. So I might skip over some things, but feel free to take a look at it in your own time as well. Next slide, please. Okay, so when you're protesting, there are certain activities that are protected, like your right to assemble and to express your views. And the general rule is that what you say can't be restricted, but the way you say it or express it can be. There are some exceptions, one of which being like if you yelled fire in a crowd, you might face some consequences for that. But generally, it's how you protest that is restricted. So some examples that are listed on the screen that are protected are picketing, chanting, marching on public sidewalks, parks, and plazas, and handing out flyers. And I wanna just note that some local governments will require that certain activities require a permit, like stopping traffic or using amplified sound like a megaphone or speaker, and also blocking access to like streets or traffic. These are all activities that might create police involvement. So just be prepared when you're engaging in activities for that. There's a photo on the screen of a Black non-binary person with a cane and a South Asian person in a wheelchair, blocking a neighborhood street, holding up cardboard signs, and the photo is shot from behind them. Next slide, please. So I wanna talk about some risks and outcomes you should prepare yourself for when protesting. So first, we'll talk about school disciplinary action. So whether you attend a public or a private school makes a difference and how protected your speech is. So when you attend a public school, your school is bound by the First Amendment. So school administrators can't impose unreasonable restrictions on your expression of free speech. They can restrict the time, place, and way you protest. As long as those restrictions are viewpoint neutral, which means they can't discriminate on your view and they have to be reasonable to a court. If you attend a private school or university, the First Amendment does not generally protect your speech. So you would be subject to whatever restrictions are in your school's code of conduct or student handbook. So if you're protesting at school and also as an employee, just make sure you take a look at any handbooks or codes of conduct so you know what consequences you should expect and be prepared to determine what kind of risk you're willing to accept. Next, we'll talk about employment consequences. So when you're a public employee, generally, you're protected by the First Amendment. There is a little asterisk, which is that there's a law called the Hatch Act, which restricts certain public employee's ability to do certain political activities. So just make sure that you look in advance to see if your job is implicated by that. And big asterisk for this section too is that if your employer isn't aware that you're protesting, this does not apply to you. This is only if your employer is aware and takes action. Also, if you're an at-will employee, which means that your employer can fire you at any time for any reason in your contract, that's another situation where you wanna be aware that you wanna be careful of what you're doing, whether your employer knows, and also see if any laws exist in your area that would protect your political activity. Next, we'll talk about police interactions really briefly. We'll talk about this more in the presentation as well, but certain kinds of actions do carry a higher risk of arrest and police interaction. Recently, several cities and states have either enacted or discussed enacting mask bans. These are laws that criminalize wearing a mask in public and more specifically, sometimes at protests. These bans are a response to pro-Palestinian organizing and are attempts to suppress and intimidate protestors. The First Amendment protects anonymous speech. So the constitutionality of these bans are questionable, but the best thing you can do is be prepared. So if your state or city has passed a mask ban, read and understand what the consequences are. So are you going to be required to remove your mask by police? Will you be arrested? Is there a fine, et cetera? And be prepared for that. COVID-19 cases are surging and masks are so important both to prevent spread and also to make it harder for people to doxx protestors. Next slide, please. I won't read out all of these right now. Please do take a look at the accessible presentation when we send it after the fact, but I do wanna focus on a couple of these. One being there are certain kinds of actions, let me back up, certain kinds of actions that are higher risk for police interaction. And I'll also slow down for the interpreters. I'm so sorry. So certain kinds of actions like blocking access to buildings, disrupting counter protests, or being violent with them, inciting an immediate, dangerous, or disruptive disturbance like yelling, loot the store during a protest, threatening someone, slandering someone, these are all things that will often cause the police to become involved. Disturbing the piece, which is code for saying being too loud or being loud without a permit, having a large protest without a permit. I really wanna talk about civil disobedience because civil disobedience often leads in arrests. And it's important to note, especially for undocumented folks, civil disobedience can sometimes result in the cops calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE. Also, folks who are on parole, who have pending charges are higher risk of more extreme charges being added on to their existing criminal profile. It can be riskier to engage in civil disobedience as part of these groups. So be aware of who's organizing with you and how to best protect them. Violence against others is another action that might put you at higher risk for police interaction. And I wanna note that while it's true that you can act in self-defense, if somebody either harms you or you believe they are going to harm you, self-defense does not prevent you from getting arrested in the first place. It only comes into play after the fact. So be aware that when violence is involved, it's more likely that police will also be there. And last, wearing a mask in areas with mask vans. I wanna give all texts for the photo really quickly. A group of protestors blocking a highway in the photo and police cars are in the foreground following behind them. Next slide, please. And if you can also advance one more. Thank you. Other thing I just wanna talk about quickly are doxxing campaigns. So doxxing is a practice where people who disagree with someone's views, publish their personal information online to encourage harassment. Doxxing can be really dangerous to protestors because it encourages strangers to target and harass them, and people have the right to protest anonymously. So protecting yourself from doxxing is one way you can make sure you stay anonymous. Wearing a mask and wearing an additional face covering are ways to prevent that, as well as wearing unidentifiable clothing, not taking photos at protest, and covering and blurring faces if you do. Quickly, I also wanna note that if you're a disabled person that receives benefits from the government, the government cannot retaliate against you and take away your benefits for protesting. If you're in jail, you may have difficulties accessing that, but they can't take away your benefits for protesting. And last, make sure you have exit plan. If you start to feel that the risk is going beyond your tolerance or cops are doing things that are uncomfortable and you can exit, make sure you have a plan. Next slide, please. I wanna talk about how you can manage your access needs during a protest. So as Jillian said earlier, map out the protest location and route before you go. Look for public bathrooms, places that have benches like parks or public transportation stops and potential exit areas. If you need to use the bathroom during a protest, the quick version of this is that private businesses can tell you legally that you're not allowed to use their bathroom. But certain people with disabilities in certain states can use something called Ally's Law to be able to get access to the bathroom. Usually, this requires some sort of documentation from a medical provider, but it is one way to get around that. I also wanna mention sit-lie ordinances. This is something that certain municipalities have put in place to target and make it difficult for unhoused people to exist in public. And if you're protesting in an area with one of these ordinances, sitting or laying down may be something that the cops can use to arrest you or engage with you. So bringing a portable stool or looking for a bench is a good way to make it harder. Wearing a mask, as Jillian said, earplugs, sunglasses, going with a friend or support person, and also telling someone who's not at the protest where you will be. So you can call them if needed to get out and reasonable accommodation requests. Next slide, please. And I touched on this before, but I just wanna distinguish that certain places are more protected than others. So sidewalks, streets, city halls, plazas in front of buildings, and public parks are traditional public spaces. And these are the most protected under the First Amendment. There are some places in the middle like airport terminals, military bases, and post offices. And private property is a place where the First Amendment does not protect you, so you could be asked to leave or arrested. So just be aware when you're approaching a protest or looking at where an action will be held, that you know what the risk will be based on where the protections will protect you. And now I'll pass it over to Lauren. JILLIAN: I think this is actually me, but I'll hop in. And we're running a little low on time so we may have to go quickly through the next few slides. But next, we're gonna talk a little bit about police interactions prior to arrest. And on this slide, we have a question, do I have a right to reasonable accommodations from the police as opposed to protest organizers? And yes, you do have a right to reasonable accommodations from the police. Law enforcement agencies are public entities that must comply with the anti-discrimination provisions of the ADA. And examples of reasonable accommodations or modifications you can request are ASL interpretation services or auxiliary aids, reading written instructions out loud or having instructions written out for verbal commands, speaking clearly and more slowly for lip reading, providing a more accessible exit route from a protest, extra time to disperse if the police are issuing a dispersal order, not using flashing lights if you have sensory sensitivities or epilepsy, and also help with exiting the protest area. As we mentioned previously, just because you have a right to these accommodations does not mean that they will always be provided. Next slide. And what can the police do at protest encampments? Unfortunately, I'll have to go kind of quickly through this slide, but when clearing a campus solidarity encampment, the police are required to give a clear dispersal order with reasonable time to leave and an accessible path, although they don't always do this. And really gatherings like protest encampments can only be broken up if there is an immediate threat to safety. So often the police will use things like interference with traffic, direct threat, or clear and present danger of riot to kind of argue that there is a threat to safety. And on the slide, there is a photo of a tent on a green lawn with some police standing nearby. Next slide, please. SINJITA: Sorry. We wanna quickly just talk about some common police tactics and some practical information on how to best protect yourself if you engage or encounter them. So the first one here is kettling, which basically is when the police form a barricade to contain a crowd of protestors in one small area without allowing them to leave. Some ways to deter that or help yourself are keeping lots of distance between you and other protestors, being prepared to be stuck with supplies like water, portable chargers, first aid, and communicating with others to stay safe, and avoid areas where police have begun to kettle protestors. Rubber bullets are another example, which are actually metal bullets that are covered in rubber and can create injury. Goggles are useful to protect your eyes. And if you're injured, it's a good idea to search for street medics, which are people who carry first aid items and are usually parts of protests. Chemical weapons like tear gas are a common tactic. Something that can help protect you are goggles, water bottles with spray caps, and eye washing solutions as Jillian mentioned earlier. And last, if you're someone who is uncomfortable with lying, be aware that police can legally lie to you. They can say that they have evidence that you committed a crime or tell you that if you confess you have a shorter sentence when they don't have anything. So just know the best protection is not to talk to cops and to only speak to a lawyer. If you're at a protest and concerned about how to best protect yourself, try to approach a protest organizer, which is usually someone in a brightly colored security vest and have a support person and an exit plan. And I'll pass it off to Lauren for real this time. LAUREN: Thanks. So we're gonna talk about dealing with cops. And whenever you're interacting with cops, whether it's at a protest or in a car or something like that, there are three different levels of engagement with cops. Mere conversation, detention, and arrest. And when I use the word cop, I mean anybody with a badge or the potential of a badge. You could be local cops, campus police, FBI, you name it. So the first level is called conversation. A cop can go anywhere the public can go and a cop can walk up to you and ask who's the leader of your protest. And the magic words that you should respond is, am I being detained? This basically means, am I free to leave? If the cop is like, "Well no, you're not being detained," that means you are at the conversation stage. And at the conversation stage, you don't have to give your name, you don't have to remain at that location. You can simply walk away. And we generally suggest that you put some distance between you and the cop. But if you say, "Am I being detained?" and the cop says yes, this means that the cop has a reasonable suspicion that you have committed a crime or are about to commit a crime. That means they've got more than a hunch, they'd like to put you in the backseat of a cop car. And so if you say, "Am I being detained?" and the cop says yes, the next thing you should say is, "Why am I being detained? What is the reasonable suspicion and what crime do you think I have committed?" At the stage of detention, you are not free to walk away. And there are different rules that pertain to this depending on what state you are in. Like here on the West coast where I am, we are not required to carry ID unless we are driving a car. And so out here on the west coast, if we're being detained, we have to provide our name, address, or date of birth. And if we don't do that, if we assert our Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, they can bring us to the jail and run our fingerprints in order to identify us. So normally, we suggest at that stage of the game, that you may wanna give name, address, date of birth. Other states, you are required to show a photo ID. So you'll have to figure this out for your specific locale. The next thing that you wanna say after asking why am I being detained is, "I'm going to remain silent, and I do not consent to any searches." Because cops claim that they're afraid of us and they act violently toward us, we will often suggest that you say, "I'm not going to resist, but I don't consent to any searches." At the detention stage, they may be allowed to give you a what's called a pat down search, which is just supposed to be like looking for weapons that you could use to injure a cop. But you still wanna say, "I don't consent. I'm not gonna resist you, but I don't consent." Because if it turns out that they actually didn't have a reason to detain you, then the search that they conduct will also be unlawful and could be a basis to get your charges dismissed. And finally at the arrest stage, a cop has to have probable cause to believe that you have committed a crime or they have to have an arrest warrant for you. At that stage of the game, you wanna say those three different magic words. Number one, I am not gonna resist you, but I don't consent to any searches. Number two, I want a lawyer. And then number three, I want to remain silent. And you really actually have to remain silent at that point. If you voluntarily start talking in the backseat of a cop car, you've just popped your Fifth Amendment bubble and now you need to repeat that phrase in order to put that protection back around you. Next slide. So when you are interacting with cops after you have basically been arrested, as other folks mentioned, you do have a right to accommodations. You generally do have the right to record cops, but if you are the one that's literally being handcuffed, you don't have the right to also use your phone in order to record the cops. You have the right to refuse to consent to any searches, and we strongly suggest that you at least say those words so that your lawyer has some stuff to fight about in court if your case ends up there. And then if you meet the eligibility requirements, you may have a right to a court appointed attorney. Even if you don't even know how to spell the word attorney, you don't have one in your phone, you still wanna say I want a lawyer and I want to remain silent. That is part of your Fifth Amendment right?. None of those constitutional rights that we just went over could ever be used against you to prove that you were guilty of a crime. It can't be used as evidence that you did something wrong simply because you are exercising your right to remain silent or your Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. And we've got a lot more detail about that type of stuff on the CLDC website. We're just kind of pulling through things pretty quickly. Next slide. In terms of what charges you can have thrown at you at a protest, what I will say is like this varies wildly depending on where you're at, what issue you're protesting, et cetera, et cetera. Just because a cop charges you with something doesn't mean that that will actually become the official charges that you will face in court. That's up to a prosecutor. And just because a prosecutor charges you with X, Y, Z does not mean that you'll actually end up convicted or punished of those things. But common things that we see are things like disorderly conduct for blocking a roadway, or disturbing the peace, resisting arrest. Basically, if you do anything to prevent them from being able to handcuff you and put you in the backseat of a cop car, it could be potentially resisting arrest. Riot and unlawful assembly have become very popular tools in cop tool books. Riot basically is three or more or five or more people that engage in violent and tumultuous conduct, which that is in the eye of the beholder and does not have a very standard definition. Generally speaking, part of getting ready for a protest is to be able to articulate what the risks are to the people that are participating in it. So organizers should be telling you, what are the local charges that you might face? Are there any local ordinances like anti -masking or anti-residential picketing laws that exist? All of that information should be provided to anybody that is participating in a protest. And don't forget, most activists these days will basically be breaking things down into color code, which is like red zone means I wanna get arrested, green zone means I'm gonna try every which way to not get arrested, and then yellow and orange zone are kind of in the middle , like maybe I'll get arrested, but if I can avoid it, I will try. Next slide. So after you are arrested, once they placed you under arrest, this is the one time where they are allowed to physically move you from where they found you. Otherwise, you can stay right where you are when a cop is detaining you. But once you're arrested, chances are, you're gonna have handcuffs put on you. These days, cops really won't handcuff people in front of their bodies. They will more likely put two sets of handcuffs on you if you do have mobility issues. But again, this is one of those things that sometimes can be negotiated as well. As was already mentioned, you may be separated from service animals, mobility aids, et cetera, et cetera. This is one of the risks of risking arrest and you definitely wanna be prepared for it in all the ways that we've already talked about. You have the right to medical care. You have the right to basically be given basic accommodations. But as already has been talked about, jail is notoriously messed up when it comes to providing medical care. And it might be important to let the jail support people know or anybody that's doing arrest support that you're gonna have issues and accommodations 'cause sometimes phone zaps and having lawyers call into the jail might expedite getting you what you need. And then finally, make sure that you are documenting any injuries, any misconduct that you endured because maybe there will be a lawsuit to be brought in order to maybe help protect others down the road. If you can get names and badge numbers, that's always helpful. Yeah, I think that should be that. Next slide. Great. Aviance, take it away. AVIANCE: Thank you. So just a couple quick things to keep in mind. For folks who are organizing protests, it is imperative that we are ensuring that protests are accessible. Next slide, please. So one in four adults in the US identifies as disabled, whether that is a parent or not. So it is imperative to assume that somebody that is attending your event is disabled and take the necessary steps to ensure that it is accessible. Be sure, like Anita expressed earlier, to include the voices of disabled people during that initial planning phase. And so there's no kind of pertinent things that you're missing out on if you're being inclusive from the beginning. Communicate if something won't be accessible, right? We know that despite best effort, sometimes things fall through. It's better for folks to know and for you to be honest about that so that people can decide for themselves if they will participate. The last one here on this slide in consideration before the protest is something that Adele spoke of earlier, considering how disabled people can participate in supporting the overall goals of the protest, even if they cannot physically participate in the event. And so, yeah, again, from Adele and Anita, one of the examples that Anita gave is for a friend who was bedridden, right? They provided support even though they cannot physically attend the actual march and protest event, they still played a pivotal role. And so these are some things that should be considered for folks who are organizing. Next slide, please. Designate an access team. And if your team isn't big enough, an access person who will coordinate accessibility issues from the beginning to the end of the event and ensure that they're easily identifiable through some type of marker or some type of vest or necklace or something of that sort. In addition to that, give verbal descriptions of the march route well in advance, including the distance and the destination so that people can plan ahead. Consider some of the public transportation options. Are the nearest stops accessible? How far are they from the start of the route? These are things that you should be kind of percolating through your mind as you're planning these events and actually physically going out to the space to assess whether your event is accessible. Next slide. Consider offering wheelchair accessible shuttles. Think about whether the parking is available and if there are spots for disabled protestors. As you go out to the physical location to assess, consider whether there are walking surfaces that are even and smooth. Are there ramps if necessary? Are there accessible all gender bathrooms nearby? Many of the things that our friends at DREDF spoke about earlier for protestors, these are also things that organizers should be considering. Check proceeding and consider providing seating at your events. Next slide. And during those protest events, ensure that all speakers, including those in the audience, are using microphones or other amplification devices, checking in advance to see whether there's some permitting issues around that. But it's important for folks to be able to hear and participate in chanting and to be able to gather as much information as possible. Let disabled people lead if they're willing to. This ensures, kind of like what Anita said earlier, that no one is being left behind. Know that it is appropriate to offer respectful suggestions, but do not hurry folks along and definitely do not touch anyone on anyone or their mobility devices without their consent. And then the last one is to look out for one another, being mindful of those who will likely be targeted by law enforcement, as we heard a little bit earlier from Anita and Adele. I think the biggest takeaway from this is communication, communication, communication. Think and plan and be proactive as much as you can and communicate what options are there for folks. And keeping folks that are disabled at the forefront from the planning phase to the very end and being inclusive in the way that you plan events is just so, so important. And I see here folks that we are out of time. I'm so sorry that we were not able to get to questions today, but all of our information is available and be sure to check out the guides. We're still so thankful for you all joining us today. And if there's any questions that you have, feel free to email us. Again, thank you so, so much everybody for your attendance today and enjoy the rest of your evening.
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