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For media
inquiries, contact:
Janice Stashwick
312-253-7000, ext. 195 (v)
312-253-7002 (TTY)
jstockwell@accessliving.org
2005 Disability Pride Parade in Chicago, July 23
"Unity Builds Community"
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.
Grand Marshal and Honorees
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.
Parade route through West Loop
The parade steps off from Randolph and Halsted
streets at noon and proceeds west on Randolph Street to Union Park (1500
west). A post-parade program, including performers with disabilities and
organizational and vendor tents, will be from 1-3 p.m. in the park.
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."
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."
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 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."
Online registration new this year
New this year is online registration. Participants, co-sponsors and donors
are encouraged to visit the parade web site at disabledandproud.com/parade.htm
to register and/or make donations online. The planning committee continues
to raise money to cover all the expenses of the parade, which include
sound systems, stages, chairs and tents for the post-parade program in
Union Park.
The web site also offers travel, housing and resource information as well
as links to the parade's co-sponsors.
Organizations can still co-sponsor
Organizations can still co-sponsor the parade and be listed in all parade
materials, if they act by Monday, July 5. Contact Laura Obara at lalaot@yahoo.com
or call 711 and give the relay operator this phone number: 847-545-1807
(TTY).
Checks should be made payable to Progress Center for Independent Living. Write 'Disability Pride Parade' in the memo section and mail to Progress Center, c/o Laura Obara, 7521 Madison Street, Forest Park, IL 60130.
For more information
Check out the parade's web site for more information: disabledandproud.com/parade.htm
