2005 Disability Pride Parade in Chicago, July 23 Honors Organizers of Not Dead Yet
A few thousand people with disabilities, their allies and friend will march in the 2005 Disability Pride Parade, which will kick off at noon on Saturday, July 23, from Randolph and Halsted. Musical, variety and dramatic entertainment will be at the end of the parade in Union Park (1501 W. Randolph).
(PRWEB) July 18, 2005 -- Disability activists have been making headlines in
recent months. It seems like everybody's talking about the Terri Schiavo case,
proposed cuts in Social Security, and the protests against the movie “Million
Dollar Baby.”
The disability community, in particular, is talking loudly
about their rights, power and pride as a community.
They are driving
home their point by taking it to the streets again this year with the 2005
Disability Pride Parade, “Unity Builds Community,” Saturday, July 23, in
Chicago's West Loop neighborhood.
The event, led by Grand Marshal Steven
Brown, Ph.D., co-founder, Institute on Disability Culture, not only will
celebrate disability as a natural and beautiful part of human diversity but also
will recognize Not Dead Yet for that organization’s work in opposing
physician-assisted suicide.
“It takes a lot for people with disabilities,
particularly non-apparent disabilities, to get to a place where they openly and
proudly identify themselves as disabled,” says Disability Pride Parade Planning
Committee Co-Chair Janice Stashwick. “Just as in other social/human rights
movements, power is first cultivated through promoting internalized feelings of
pride.
The parade steps off from Randolph and Halsted streets at noon and
proceeds west on Randolph Street to Union Park (1501 west). A post-parade
program, including musical, dramatic and variety entertainers with disabilities
and organizational and vendor tents, will be from 1-3 p.m. in the
park.
Entertainers include singer and activist Joe Reilly, Essayist Mike
Ervin, Blues musician Willie Williams, the Chicago Spirit Brigade, AbleImages,
and others.
Disability Activist Brown, who also is an assistant professor
and disabilities scholar at the Center on Disability Studies at the University
of Hawaii, acclaimed author and poet, will speak at the post-parade program. His
publications include Movie Stars and Sensuous Scars: Essays on the Journey from
Disability Shame to Disability Pride.
Not Dead Yet's Founder Diane
Coleman and Research Analyst Steve Drake will be honored for their visible
efforts in opposing the ruling on the Terry Schiavo case and the message of
Clint Eastwood’s movie, “Million Dollar Baby.”
Grassroots volunteers
from a variety of disability rights organizations make up the 2005 Disability
Pride Parade Planning Committee. “We’re building on the momentum of last year's
inaugural parade and hope to make it an annual event,” says Gary Arnold,
planning committee co-chair. “Last year we hoped to have 500 participants and
ended up with more than 1,5000,” continues Arnold. “And this year we also mark
the 15th anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA)
legislation.”
Everyone who believes that Disability is a natural part of
human diversity and supports Disability Pride is invited to be a part of the
parade.
“I believe the barrier to be overcome is not my Disability,”
says 2004 Disability Pride Parade Co-Chair Sarah Triano, “it is societal
oppression and discrimination based on biological differences Disability Pride
Parade such as disability, sex, race, age or sexuality. It's time that we
reclaim the definition of Disability and name our own experience. We must go out
into the world with our heads held high, with our dignity and pride
intact.”
For more information, visit our website:
disabledandproud.com/parade.htm or call Janice or Gary at 312-253-7000.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/7/prweb262634.htm