On August 1, 2007 the Road To Freedom bus was greeted by local disability rights advocates and the media at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas. The news conference, exhibit and reception were all hosted by the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center (TILRC). [Photos by Tom Olin]
Members of the local disability community greeted the Road To Freedom bus at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas.
Speakers at the Kansas Road To Freedom bus stop outside the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site: Mike Oxford, TILRC’s executive director and ADA Watch national advisory committee member; Rio Cervantes-Reed, the director of the Topeka Human Relations Commission; ADA Watch's Jim Ward; Dennis Vasquez, Superintendent of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site; and Topeka ADA coordinator Mike McGee.
Advocates talking outside the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site. This bus stop was sponsored and produced by the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center.
Advocates viewing the Road To Freedom traveling exhibit at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas.
The local disability community viewed the exhibit and worked together at the Road To Freedom bus stop at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas. The exhibit was presented in what used to be a classroom in a segregated school now preserved by the National Park System.
Advocates in front of the Road To Freedom bus with the photograph of a "Separate is never Equal" placard held by a disability rights protester. As we pulled up to the historic Monroe Elementary School building, Dennis Vasquez, Superintendent of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, enthusiastically told us that he could think of no better place for the bus to stop.
Referring to the "Separate is never equal" image on the Road To Freedom bus, Dennis Vasquez, Superintendent of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, enthusiastically told us that he could think of no better place for the bus to stop.
Justin Dart's words are a part of the permanent exhibit at the Brown v. Board of Education Historic Site where the Road To Freedom was greeted by advocates and the media on August 1, 2007. "Envision education for all! Envision health care, jobs and communities for all! We are not going to be second-class citizens any more. We will live free and equal in our communities. We envision respect, dignity and life for all! We will fight to the end of time for equal access to the American dream."
Close-up of mural photograph of disability rights protesters and Justin Dart's words at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas.
