March
15, 2001
RE:
ADVOCACY PACKET for the April 17th Leave Out for Equal Justice
To
All Participants, Co-Sponsors, and Allies:
Thank you for your interest in the April
17th nationwide Leave Out for Equal Justice, sponsored by the National Disabled Students Union
(NDSU). With a little over 4 weeks until the protest, preparations are currently
in full swing to ensure a coordinated, organized, and successful action that
will deliver a powerful message to the Supreme Court of the United States that
any elevation of “states’ rights” over civil rights in this country will not
be tolerated.
Phase 1 of the protest preparations involves the
widespread dissemination of the documents in the enclosed Advocacy Packet. This
Advocacy Packet includes:
1.
A targeted flyer
announcing the April 17th Leave Out specifically geared to your
particular constituency.
There are four targeted flyers available: 1)
for students,
2) for parents
of youth with disabilities, 3) for the disability
community in general, and 4) for our natural
allies. If you would like any of these flyers (in addition to the one you
received in this packet), please feel free to ask and we will be more than happy
to send them out right away.
2.
A sheet with ideas for
leave-out organizers
3.
A sheet describing
the
meaning of the NDSU symbol – THE BRAID
4.
A description
of NDSU and our formal Mission
Statement
5.
A copy of the
invitation
to join the NDSU listserv
In approximately a week and a half, we will distribute a
Media Packet that will include step-by-step strategies for working
with the media, sample materials
you can modify as appropriate for your local media outlets,
and other related
materials. This packet will also include a national petition,
as well as a model state petition, for distribution in your particular state.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel
free to contact Sarah Triano at 773-463-4776 (V or Relay) or at mailto:strian1@uic.edu.
In Solidarity,
Members of the NDSU Leadership
Team
Co-Sponsors for this Event
Include:
Access Living of Chicago, IL,
ADA Watch, ADAPT
LA (ADAPT of So. California), ADAPT Montana, Alliance for
Disability and Students of the University of Montana (ADSUM), American
Association of People with Disabilities, American Psychological Association
Graduate Students (APAGS), Chapman University Organization for Disability
Disability Advocacy & Awareness, Chicago ADAPT, Citizens for Legitimate
Government, Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in IL, Disability Advocates
of Minorities Organization, Disabled Students Union at the University of
California, Berkeley (DSU), Disabled Students Union at the University of
Illinois at Chicago (DSU), IMPACT, Inc. of Alton, IL, Justice for All, Kids as
Self-Advocates, Lake County Center for Independent Living, MCS: Health and
Environment, Monroe County Women's Disability Network, National Association of
Protection and Advocacy Systems, National Council on Independent Living,
National Strike One, Not Dead Yet, On A Roll Radio, PACER Center, Progress
Center for Independent Living of Forest Park, IL, Suburban Access Squad, The
Associated Blind, Inc., The Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco,
The PhD Program in Disability Studies at UIC, UIC Circle Greens, UIC College
Democrats, UIC Department of Disability and Human
Development
The
National Disabled Students Union (NDSU)
is a national, cross-disability, student organization. We recognize all disabled people
-- those with traditionally recognized disabilities and those who have often
been left out of the movement -- as our brothers and sisters, and we
recognize all students -- those who work to learn, whether or not they are
at
recognized
schools -- as our colleagues.
The
NDSU was founded on February 21, 2001, in
response to the US Supreme Court decision limiting the enforcement of Title I of
the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (Board of Trustees of the University of
Alabama et al. v. Garrett et al.). Students with disabilities
throughout the United States recognize the far-reaching impact of this
decision, and we oppose the
Supreme Court’s pattern of undercutting civil rights legislation in
America. Although the Garrett
decision still requires the states to treat disabled and nondisabled employees
equally, it makes enforcement more difficult.
The
US Supreme Court has weakened
other civil rights laws besides the
ADA (including the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Violence
Against Women Act), and we are concerned about this trend. We wonder whose rights are next and how
long we will have the guarantee of equality. We are committed to everyone's right
to equal protection under the law and equal rights within society, and we
don't want to wake up a year or a decade from now wishing we'd acted
earlier.
We
recognized the need for a concerted, nation-wide response
that would put the Supreme Court -- and the rest of the American public -- on
notice that students with disabilities in this country will no longer accept
anything less than full participation, full equality, full justice, and the full
dignity and respect that we (and all people) deserve as equal human beings. On Tuesday, April 17, 2001, we will
come together with our allies in a nationwide demonstration of our
opposition to the Court’s actions.
We
will mobilize and organize students with disabilities
throughout the nation in order to continue the legacy of empowerment and
community solidarity that is our heritage. As one of the great leaders of our
movement, Justin Dart, once said,
“We are here, we are united, and we are proud." We will work to ensure that all disabled
students have the opportunities they need to learn, the opportunities they need
to live and work, and the opportunities they need to be full participants in
their communities and full members of American society.
For
more information,
contact Sarah Triano at strian1@uic.edu or
773-463-4776
THE
MEANING OF THE NDSU SYMBOL
Braid
Marlin Thomas
Colors For Unity
Textures For
Diversity
Woven
Into
Our Consciousness
Woven
Into
Our Souls
Woven
Into
Our History
Woven
Into
Our Movement
Woven
Into
Our World
Woven
Into
Existence
Woven
Into
Each Other
Braid
Cal Montgomery
Throughout history, people have
used symbols to identify themselves. Sometimes these are public symbols, to
demonstrate support for a cause to everyone; sometimes they are private symbols,
to allow people to identify themselves to others like them. Think of the marked
doors in the Passover story, of the brightly lit candle in the window in the
history of the Underground Railroad. Think of the obscure symbols on buttons;
think of the school logos on students' ballcaps; think of the familiar ways of
speaking that tell you the stranger in front of you is a friend.
Throughout history, people have
used symbols to identify themselves. We use a braid to demonstrate our
commitment to the way a diverse group of strands can come together to make
something strong and sure. We use a braid to symbolize the many different
fabrics out of which the disability cloth is made. We use a braid to symbolize
the many different threads in our communities that, together, make a thick rope.
Throughout history, there have
been symbols: ours is a braid.
Purple, For Pride. In Ourselves, History, and Disability
Green, For
Grassroots. Growing from Souls to Strong Plants
Orange, For
Perseverance. In the Fight for Our Equal Rights
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend
themselves.
A cord of three strands is
not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:12
Ideas
for Leave-Out Organizers
We are a rich and diverse
community, and we expect a rich and diverse range of demonstrations, in which we
will teach and learn about our community, about our struggles, and about our
allies’ struggles. Every different
person, every different group, every different community will add a thread to
our human braid; and the braid will be stronger than any of us alone. Here are some suggestions:
à
On college campuses
across the country, students will be simultaneously “leaving out” of their
classes and congregating at one central spot. Many local activists will be joining in
the Leave-Outs at nearby schools.
à
An elementary school
activist has decided to organize a petition drive at her school, asking other
students to think seriously about disability rights and to show their
support.
à
Some students whose
campuses will be on Spring Break on April 17 will hold Leave-Outs or Teach-Ins
or petition drives in their communities.
à
CILs, clubhouses, and
other community groups may wish to host Teach-Ins for students and their
families, and for other members of their communities. At these Teach-Ins people can discuss
the Garrett decision and its implications and the disability rights movement,
make braids in support of a strong and diverse movement made of many threads,
and work together to build and strengthen the human braid.
à
Display your own braid
on April 17, in your hair, on your shirt, on your front door, or anywhere, to
symbolize your support and membership in the human braid.
à
Some groups may wish to
hold Teach-Ins where many civil rights issues are discussed, and where people
from many different backgrounds and different movements can teach each other and
learn from each other.
à
Writers can write op-ed
pieces and letters to the editor, and submit them to local newspapers. Groups can work together on
letter-writing campaigns to state legislators, urging that the protections we
have lost nationally be reinstated at the state level. Groups can come together to make music
or art to celebrate our communities and remind people that there is strength in
diversity.
à
Groups may choose to
have marches or rallies.
à
One activist is
organizing a virtual teach-in on the web.
à
Some individuals may
participate in the Leave-Out as individuals, knowing that at the same time,
people all across the nation are doing the same thing.
à
You may have ideas we
haven’t thought about yet – do you?
Whatever
you do, we want to hear about it. We’d
love to know what you’re planning:
we can offer you some help in organizing and in trying to get local
media to cover your event, and if we know of anyone else working on the
Leave-Out in your community, we can help you connect. And we’d love to hear, afterward, how it
went, and see any media coverage that you might have gotten. We will all learn from each other,
and together we will create something
wonderful.
We hold
this truth to be self-evident: that
all of us are created equal.
Patricia Garrett got breast cancer. Then she got fired.
This is a story that’s all
too familiar to people with disabilities.
If you’re disabled, other people assume it’s okay to pass you over, turn
you down, and leave you out. They
assume you’re not quite as equal as everyone else and it’s okay to treat you
that way.
Ten years ago, our activists
fought long and hard to win the right to be treated equally. They got the Americans with
Disabilities Act passed, and they got it signed into law. For the last ten years, our activists
have been fighting to get the law enforced, to get the benefits the law
promises. And now the Supreme Court
has made that fight harder, by ruling that state employees can’t recover damages
when their Title I rights are violated.
LEAVE
OUT
with the
National Disabled Student Union on Tuesday, April 17, 2001
We are students, adults,
professionals, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, and we are People with Disabilities (in bold
strong colors, ringing out in song, beating strong rhythms). The Garrett case is not the beginning
and it is not the end, but it is the
time to show that we will not let anything happen to our rights; we
will fight to make and keep our rights equal. As we know from the past, justice will
not be given to us. We must demand
it because it is simply Our Right To Equality.
On April 16, you will join people across the nation
in paying your share of state taxes.
On April 17, join people with disabilities across the
nation to call for your share of the benefits.
On April 17, 1960, the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded in Raleigh, North
Carolina. SNCC became a major civil
rights force in the United States, but the legacy of SNCC and other civil rights
groups is being eroded by a Supreme Court insistent on weakening our rights in
the name of “states’ rights.” 41
years after the birth of SNCC, students are speaking out for justice again. The National Disabled Student Union asks
you to join with us to call -- again -- for all people to be treated with
justice and fairness as equals.
We're tired of being left
out, and on April 17 we're leaving out.
At 1pm Eastern (noon Central,
11am Mountain, 10am Pacific) on April 17, disabled students and our allies will
"leave out" of our schools, our jobs, and our homes, to remind the
government that when business as usual means discrimination, we want no part of
it.
If you want more information
about participating in the national demonstration or if you want to organize
some other activity in your area to demonstrate your opposition, please contact
Sarah Triano at strian1@uic.edu or 773-463-4776. An Advocacy Packet and a Media
Toolkit are available upon request.
No-One
Should Be Left Out
LEAVE
OUT
with the
National Disabled Student Union on Tuesday, April 17, 2001
In 1990, Congress passed the
Americans with Disabilities Act, which says that disabled people -- who have
historically been left out of schools, jobs, and communities -- have the same
rights as anyone else in this country.
Schools, employers, and places of public accommodation, the ADA says, may
no longer leave us out. The ADA
follows in the tradition of earlier laws like IDEA in demanding that all of us
be able to live and learn and grow and give in our own
communities.
Last year the Supreme Court
weakened the Violence Against Women
Act. Then they went after the
Age Discrimination in Employment
Act. And now, in yet another
decision that weakens the guarantee of full membership in society, the Supreme
Court has decided that even though states have to comply with the ADA, state
employees can't recover money damages when they've been discriminated
against. This will make it easier
for the states to break their promises to people with disabilities and our
families. It will make it easier
for the states to leave people out.
And we have to wonder: who’s next?
We're tired of people being
left out, and on April 17 we're leaving out. At 1pm Eastern (noon Central, 11am
Mountain, 10am Pacific) on April 17, disabled students and our allies will
"leave out" of our schools, our jobs, and our homes, to remind the
government that no-one should be left out.
Our
Families. Our Communities. Our Taxes. Our Government.
On April 17, 1960, the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded in Raleigh, North
Carolina. SNCC became a major civil
rights force in the United States, but the legacy of SNCC and other civil rights
groups is being eroded by a Supreme Court insistent on weakening our rights in
the name of “states’ rights.” 41
years after the birth of SNCC, we ask you to join with us to call -- again --
for all people to be treated with justice and fairness as
equals.
On April 16, everyone will pay taxes. On April 17, join us in proclaiming that
everyone should benefit from the government those taxes support.
If you want more information
about participating in the national demonstration or if you want to organize
some other activity in your area to demonstrate your opposition, please contact
Sarah Triano at strian1@uic.edu or 773-463-4776. An Advocacy Packet and a Media
Toolkit are available upon request.
If
you're tired of being left out
LEAVE
OUT
with the
National Disabled Student Union on Tuesday, April 17, 2001
In 1990, Congress passed the
Americans with Disabilities Act, which says that disabled people -- who have
historically been left out of schools, jobs, and communities -- have the same
rights as anyone else in this country.
Schools, employers, and places of public accommodation, the ADA says, may
no longer leave us out.
But this year the Supreme
Court, in yet another decision that weakens civil rights, has decided that even
though states have to comply with the ADA, state employees can't recover money
damages when they've been discriminated against. This will make it harder for state
employees like Patricia Garrett -- who was fired by the University of Alabama
because she’d had breast cancer -- to fight against discrimination in the
workplace. It will make it easier
for state universities to discriminate against disabled faculty and staff. It will make it easier for state
agencies to discriminate against disabled people looking for jobs. It will make it easier to leave us
out.
On April 17, 1960, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC) was founded in Raleigh, North Carolina. SNCC became a major civil rights force
in the United States, but the legacy of SNCC and other civil rights groups is
being eroded by a Supreme Court insistent on weakening our rights in the name of
“states’ rights.” 41 years after
the birth of SNCC, we ask you to join with us to call -- again -- for all people
to be treated with justice and fairness as equals.
On April 16, 2001, your federal and state taxes are
due. The following day, we ask you
to remind the government that our taxes must not be used to discriminate against
us.
At 1pm Eastern (noon Central, 11am Mountain, 10am
Pacific) on April 17, disabled students and our allies will "leave
out" of our schools, our jobs, and
our homes, to remind the government that when business as usual means
discrimination, then we want no part of it.
We're
tired of being left out, and on April 17 we're leaving out.
If you want more information
about participating in the national demonstration or if you want to organize
some other activity in your area to demonstrate your opposition, please contact
Sarah Triano at strian1@uic.edu or 773-463-4776. An Advocacy Packet and a Media
Toolkit are available upon request.
LEAVE
OUT
with the
National Disabled Student Union on Tuesday, April 17, 2001
In 1990, Congress passed the
Americans with Disabilities Act to protect the civil rights of people with
disabilities. The ADA says that
disabled people -- who have historically been left out of schools, jobs, and
communities -- have the same rights as anyone else in this country. Schools and employers and places of
public accommodation, the ADA says, may no longer leave us out.
Same struggle, different
difference.
But the Supreme Court has
been weakening civil rights laws in the name of protecting “states’
rights.” Last year they went after
the Violence Against Women Act. They went after the Age Discrimination in Employment
Act. Now it’s the ADA. The Supreme Court has decided that even
though states have to comply with the ADA, state employees can't recover money
damages when they've been discriminated against. This will make it harder for state
employees like Patricia Garrett -- who was fired by the University of Alabama
because she’d had breast cancer -- to fight against discrimination in the
workplace. It will make it easier
for state universities to discriminate against disabled faculty and staff. It will make it easier for state
agencies to discriminate against disabled people looking for jobs. It will make it easier to leave us out. And we have to wonder: who’s next?
We will not go back.
The promise of equality, the
dream of justice, that so many people in America have fought so long to realize,
is threatened by these decisions.
But we will not abandon the
promise; we will not give up the
dream. On April 17, 1960, the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded in Raleigh, North
Carolina. SNCC became a major civil
rights force in the United States, but the legacy of SNCC and other civil rights
groups is being eroded by a Supreme Court insistent on weakening our rights in
the name of “states’ rights.” 41
years after the birth of SNCC, students
once again ask you to join with us to call for all people to be treated with
justice and fairness as equals.
On April 16, 2001, we will
all pay federal and state taxes.
The following day, we ask you to remind the government that our taxes
must not be used to discriminate against us. At 1pm Eastern (noon Central, 11am
Mountain, 10am Pacific) on April 17, disabled students and others who call for
equal justice will "leave out" of our schools, our jobs, and our homes, to
remind the government that when business as usual means discrimination, we want
no part of it.
If you want more information
about participating in the national demonstration, if you want to organize some
other activity in your area to demonstrate your opposition, or if you want to
join with NDSU in calling for justice, please contact Sarah Triano at
strian1@uic.edu or 773-463-4776. An Advocacy Packet and a Media Toolkit are
available upon request.
INVITATION
TO JOIN
THE
NATIONAL DISABLED STUDENTS UNION (NDSU) LISTSERV
The National Disabled
Students Union (NDSU) listserv is an e-mail discussion list for students with
disabilities of all ages throughout the United States. The overall purpose of
this cross-disability listserv is to mobilize and organize students with
disabilities throughout the nation in order to continue the legacy of
empowerment and community solidarity that began with our predecessors in the
1970s (which is now being threatened by the Supreme
Court).
TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE NDSU
LIST:
Address your email to:
listserv@listserv.uic.edu
In the body of the message
type:
SUBSCRIBE
NDSU Jane Doe
Replace "Jane Doe" with your first and last
name.
If you have any questions or
concerns about the NDSU list, please feel free to contact Sarah Triano at
strian1@uic.edu or at 773-463-4776.
PLEASE
COME PLAN WITH US
To get in touch with other NDSU organizers and
allies working on the April 17
protest, contact Sarah Triano at
strian1@uic.edu or 773-463-4776.
Whatever you do locally, we want to hear about
it. We’d love to know what you’re
planning and to see whether we can help.
We can offer you some help in organizing and in trying to get local media
to cover your event. If we know of
anyone else working on the Leave-Out in your community, we can help you
connect. And we’d love to hear,
afterward, how it went, and see any media coverage that you might have
gotten.
We’d like to invite you to join our listserv. The National Disabled Students Union (NDSU) listserv
is an e-mail discussion list for students with disabilities of all ages
throughout the United States. The overall purpose of this cross-disability
listserv is to mobilize and organize students with disabilities throughout the
nation in order to continue the legacy of empowerment and community solidarity
that began with our predecessors in the 1970s (which is now being threatened by
the Supreme Court).
TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE NDSU
LIST:
Address your email to:
listserv@listserv.uic.edu
In the body of the message
type:
SUBSCRIBE
NDSU Jane Doe
Replace "Jane Doe" with your first and last
name.
If you have any questions or concerns about the list,
please feel free to contact Sarah Triano at strian1@uic.edu or at
773-463-4776.