The Road To Freedom traveling exhibit and awareness campaign is an ongoing, cross-country bus tour produced by ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR). Advance work for the tour is in partnership with the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF). The educational tour promotes an understanding of disability rights history and the "people's movement" that led to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In response to the weakening of the ADA in the courts, a separate advocacy component of the tour promotes disability rights as essential civil rights, engages the disability community in the judicial selection process and calls on Congress to pass the ADA Restoration Act. To read the our blog, go to http://www.roadtofreedom.wordpress.com and for additional information, go to http://www.roadtofreedom.org. SPONSORS OF THE ROAD TO FREEDOM EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDE:The Open Society Institute, IndependenceFirst, AARP, AOL, Ted Leonsis Foundation, Bruce Hornsby, Sweet Honey In The Rock, Dircks & Associates, Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center, Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, Arizona Bridge to Independent Living, National Disability Rights Network, Democracy In Action, Embassy of Croatia, and more. [Photos by Tom Olin]
The event at Access Living took place several days prior to the quarterly meeting of the National Council on Disability on the 17th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Mike Collins, Executive Director of the National Council on Disability, at the Road To Freedom bus stop at Access Living in Chicago.
Banner at Access Chicago event sponsored by the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities. Access Chicago is the Midwest’s largest free exhibition of products and services for people with disabilities.
On July 25th, the day before the 17th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Freedom Bus and crew drove into the cavernous Festival Hall on Chicago’s Navy Pier for Access Chicago, the Midwest’s largest free exhibition of products and services for people with disabilities.
Signing petitions to restore the ADA in front of the Road To Freedom bus at the Access Chicago event on the Navy Pier.
Jake Ward, Karen Tamley, Dominique Tamely and Zach Ward outside of the Road To Freedom bus #2.
Supporters gathered at the Empire Mall in Sioux Falls, SD to welcome the Road To Freedom bus and crew for this news conference and informational event. More than 10 area organizations had resource tents set up at this event organized by the North Central Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the South Dakota Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities.
David Miller of CSD (Formerly Communication Services for the Deaf) speaking in front of the Road To Freedom Bus in Sioux Falls, S.D. Shelly Pfaff and Jim Ward are in the background.
ADA Watch's Jim Ward, ASL interpreter and photographer from the local newspaper in front of the Road To Freedom bus at the Empire Mall in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Speaker at the Disability Capitol Action Day event at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
