Road to Freedom Bus Tour: Beyond ADA 25 launches in Indiana

The Road to Freedom Bus Tour: Beyond ADA 25 with Tom Olin is in Indiana for a multi-week launch of the 2015-2016 tour.  

Exhibit Hall Schedule

The celebration, which includes Tom Olin's photo exhibit, is sponsored by Everybody Counts, The Great Lakes ADA Center and the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority.

On the way to Indiana, Tom and the Road to Freedom Bus stopped to visit long time disability activists Carol Gill and Larry Voss.  Tom always calls Carol the mother of disability culture. One of the founders of Society for Disability Studies, Carol is a full professor and Larry continues with grassroots organizing.

Garol Gill and Larry Voss

ADA Bus Tour Quilts (2014-15)

Dave Fulton of the Disability Rights Center (DRC) went down to Sacramento, CA., to check on the Road To Freedom Bus in early 2014.  The previous owners (Jim Ward and Deborah Fletter) indicated that DRC would be able to get the Bus for storage fees.  DRC acquired the Bus and got it towed for service.  One of the containers left on the Bus was full of T-Shirts.  These T-shirts represented the historic Road To Freedom Tour from 2006-07.  Many in the disability community remember this tour.

Close to the same time, Corbett O’Toole was visiting Janine Bertram at her home near Mt. Hood.  The issue of what to do with the T-shirts came up.  She said she would volunteer to make a quilt.  By July 2014 the project turned into two quilts.  They were given to Janine Bertram with the understanding that these quilts would travel the country and be signed at the tour stops.

The larger quilt of the two.

The 2nd quilt is slightly smaller.

Lawrence Carter-Long adding his signature

These two quilts started on the recently concluded ADA25 Legacy Bus Project Tour in Houston, TX. July 2014.  For the 12 months leading up to the 25^th Anniversary of the signing of the ADA, these quilts have been traveling along.  So the quilts have also made all the miles and all the stops that the ADA25 Bus made.

So along the way, at all these stops, the quilts were displayed and signed by folks active in the disability rights community.  So we have many hundreds of signatures.  These quilts will be on display at stops on The Road To Freedom Bus Tour until we find a permanent home.

Voter Registration Initiative

 Tom Olin and the Disability Rights Center are supporting the effort of national and local organizations to increase the number of eligible voters within the disability community.

This voter registration drive seeks to register to vote those who are eligible but not registered. Also this drive is non-partisan and targeted across the full disability community regardless of the voter’s party affiliation.

We strongly encourage each tour host to work with related organizations and local government agencies to achieve this goal.  Only local disability organizations understand the nuances in each district or region.

Aug 9, 2015

PS 1 - A good write up in more detail on how to do a voter registration drive is provided by The League of Women Voters at http://lwv.org/content/tips-successful-voter-registration-drives

PS 2 - Online voter registration sites are also available:  You can also register to vote using online tools available at the following websites:

1.     Rock the Vote

2.     League of Women Voters

3.     Declare Yourself

4.     Voting as a Student 

Source:  http://www.democracymatters.org/organizing-tools/voter-registration-campaign/

PS 3 – Organizations may seek RTF Tour to come at important times during this elections cycle.  The debate schedule has been posted on Politico at http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/2016-presidential-debate-schedule-dates-times-moderators-and-topics-by-120909.html   and the primary schedule is posted at http://www.uspresidentialelectionnews.com/2016-presidential-primary-schedule-calendar/