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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
First International Disability Pride Parade
Chicago, July 18, 2004
CHICAGO, July 2 /PRNewswire/ -- How do you define "disability?" Some of those
who see it as a natural part of human diversity, will be taking to the streets
of Chicago this summer to drive home their point.
Step off for the first International
Disability Pride Parade is noon, Sunday, July 18. Disabled peoples, their
floats, their cars, their wheelchairs, their service dogs, and their friends
will march, roll, and dance down Solidarity Drive near the Field Museum, turn
onto Museum Drive, and end up at Soldier Field Green for a post-parade rally and
celebration from 1-4.
As messages of support roll in from as far away as Norway and Nepal, Parade
Planning Co-Chair Sarah Triano notes, "It's time we reclaim the definition of
Disability and take control over the naming of our own experience. I define
Disability as a natural and beautiful part of human diversity. I believe the
barrier to be overcome is not my Disability; it is societal oppression and
discrimination based on biological differences . . . All disabled people must go
out into the world with heads held high, dignity and pride intact, and vowing to
take back the definition of Disability with militant self-pride."
Pride Parade Grand Marshal will be Yoshiko Dart, the disability rights activist
who, along with her husband, the late Justin Dart, played a key role in the
passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Scheduled rally speakers and performers include:
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Judy Heumann, co-founder of the
World Institute on Disability and former Assistant Secretary for the
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services , U.S.
Department of Education |
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Grace Lee Boggs, longtime human
rights activist and writer |
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Jesse Spalding High School
Marching Band |
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Violinist Nura Aly |
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Peter Cook, renowned Deaf poet
and creator of The Flying WordsProject |
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Alana Wallace, wheelchair dancer |
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Rap artists DeVoy Boyd and
Unexpected; and others |
Co-sponsors include: Access Living of
Metropolitan Chicago; the American Heart Association; Chicago Public Schools,
Office of Specialized Services; Edmonds Institute; World Institute on
Disability/Proyecto Vision; National Organization for Women, Chicago Chapter;
Progress Center for Independent Living; Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago;
Mouth Magazine; Chicago ADAPT; Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership;
Kids As Self-Advocates, Family Voices; the Illinois Office of Rehabilitation
Services; Gray Panthers of Metro Detroit; National Disabled Students Union; Open
Doors, Inc.; Not Dead Yet; Forest Park Chapter of the Coalition of Citizens with
Disabilities of Illinois; United Cerebral Palsy Detroit; National Conference for
Community and Justice Detroit; American Association of People with Disabilities;
University of Illinois at Chicago Disabled Students Union; and the University of
Florida Union of Students with Disabilities.
For More Information Contact:
Sarah Triano, 773-263-6378
Janice Stockwell, 312-253-7000 ext. 107
jstockwell@accessliving.org
Please visit our website at
http://www.disabledandproud.com
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Some are the melody, some are the rhythm, some are the harmony