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/

Update: Working Schedule “Beyond ADA 25”

Update: Working Schedule “Beyond ADA 25”

Only 2 weeks one day and 5 minutes* to Independence Day for People with Disabilities on July 26, 2015. It has been a rousing year with the ADA Legacy Tour. And Tom Olin and the Road to Freedom Bus will keep rolling beyond ADA 25. (* see www.ADALegacy.com for the countdown to July 26.)

But what is Beyond ADA 25? What are the key issues on which our community should focus?  We have been talking about economic justice and the Community Integration Act.  Let us know your thoughts.

Another key purpose of the tour is to support local, state, and regional efforts for systems change advocacy and other endeavors.  We found this example in our mail box recently.

Hi Janine,

Congratulations on 25 years and working on such a worthy cause. I am Emily Pambianchi of the Prospector Theater. Please check us out as we exist due to ADA!

Quick clip about us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErlzyTF54PM

Thank you,  Emily

As you think about inviting the Road To Freedom Bus to your community, consider enough planning to secure media coverage.  We can help with that, too.

July 30 - 31 -- Portlight / FEMA conference, Arlington, VA         

                        http://www.portlight.org/page.html

Aug 24 – Sep 14 -- Everybody Counts, around Gary, Indiana   

                        http://www.everybodycounts.org/

                

Sep 17 – Disability Network Southwest Michigan, Lansing, MI

                        http://www.dnmichigan.org/

Sep 21  -  Towson University, Baltimore, MD                    

                        http://www.towson.edu/

Sep 24 – Maryland Disability Law Center, Baltimore, MD

                        http://www.mdlclaw.org/

Oct 3  -  Starkloff Disability Institute, St. Louis, MO                               

                        http://starkloff.org/s/

Oct 8-9 – DARS, Richmond, VA

                        http://www.vadars.org/

Oct 15-18 – APRIL, Virginia Beach, VA

                        http://www.april-rural.org/index.php/2014-april-conference

Nov – working on stops in Georgia/Florida

Dec – working its way west

Rough outline for 2016

Jan/Feb –  California

Mar -  New Mexico / Arizona

Apr/May/June – Oregon/Washington

July – TBD

Aug – TBD

Sept – TBD

Oct – NJ Pride Parade, Trenton, NJ

            Million Gimp March, Washington, DC

As of July 11, 2015

Janine Bertram Kemp and David Fulton join the ADA 25 Bus Tour caravan. Like all of Disability Nation we are excited to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of ADA with our NCIL and Washington, DC communities.

If you are interested in having Tom Olin and the Road To Freedom Bus Tour come to your neck of the woods, please contact Janine Bertram (janinebk@mac.com).  We are very interested in having a west coast swing in 2016 and have some “irons in the fire”, but will need more Tour stops to make it feasible.  

Beyond ADA 25: The Road to Freedom Tour

The Disability Rights Center (DRC) joined the ADA Legacy Project (TALP) in defining and promoting the goals of preserve, celebrate, and educate. DRC endorses the continuation of this focus.

In 2015 and 2016 The Road to Freedom Tour will work with regions, states, and local disability rights and justice groups.  We are now developing the route for Tom Olin and the Road to Freedom bus. We are booking tour stops from August 2015 and beyond. This blog post is for potential hosts.

The next segment of the tour begins in August of 2015 with a 3 week stop in Indiana. We are encouraging stops similar to Indiana in these aspects but all aspects are not required.  

• Involve several community organizations and civic groups or involves a region or several towns in a state…all organizing together and the Road to Freedom "Beyond ADA 25" tour can support your issues;
•   Provide fiscal and in kind support for the bus and tour (fiscal $2000-10,000);
• Hosts have a focus on support for youth organizing;
•  Inclusion of cross disability and diversity;
•  Longer stops: from 1-3 weeks (though we will still have ‘pit stops” along the route ).

Tom Olin and the Road to Freedom Bus Tour include but is not limited to:

• Displays of disability rights history
• Quilts made by cultural worker Corbett O'Toole
• Photos from the Olin Collection

Read about The ADA 25 Tour at The ADA Legacy Project website -  http://www.adalegacy.com/ada25/ada-legacy-tour  

Photo of Johnny Crescendo at ADAPT Rally in Washington DC. Also Janine Bertram (Kemp) and Bob Kafka. Photo byTom Olin

Photo of Road to Freedom bus in New Mexico, October 2015. Tom Olin, Dave Fulton, Janine Bertram (Kemp).