Grateful but not Complacent: Reflections on Growing Up in Generation ADA

July 26, 1990 was my grandfather’s 66th birthday, it was also the day that would dramatically alter the course of my life three months before I was even born. On that day 25 years ago,  the Americans With Disabilities Act was signed into law, changing the game for disabled Americans. I was born on October 31st of that same year, which means I have lived the entirety of my life in a world where the ADA exists. This is something for which I am eternally grateful. I’m grateful every time I go down a  curb cut in one of the many cities I have visited, or even lived in. I am grateful every time I see ramp into a restaurant, concert hall,  hotel,  or movie theater just to name a few. The ADA gives me so many things to be grateful for every day that I very seldom stop and think about. Most of all, the ADA makes me grateful to count myself among a legacy of amazing people who weren’t afraid to fight for their rights.

I have to admit, I spent most of my life blissfully unaware of the history of the landmark legislation that affected the way I lived day to day. I mean I knew what the ADA was, and I knew I was protected by it, but I didn’t know how it got here.I didn’t know how hard people had to fight. I was 15 years old before I ever heard the name Ed Roberts, and 22 before I’d ever heard of the Capitol steps crawl. Every time I learn a new piece of disability history I feel proud. I feel proud that this is my history and my legacy to carry on. Every time I learn a new piece of disability history I also feel slightly disappointed. I feel disappointed that my history teachers never uttered the name Justin Dart or Judy Heumann. I feel disappointed that the only disabled people I ever learned about in history class were often framed as people who bravely "overcame" their disability , or people who succeeded by hiding it from the world.

When I think about the history that proceeds me I feel grateful and honored, but not satisfied. I feel grateful for those who came before me and fought so hard so that I could have everything I do today, and I feel honored to call myself a part of their legacy, but I cannot be satisfied when there’s still so much work left to be done, and I know I cannot be complacent.  I cannot be satisfied when finding accessible housing is still impossible to find for so many people. I cannot be satisfied with disabled people are still unemployed and a much higher rate than their non-disabled counterparts. I cannot be satisfied with equal access to transportation, and things like accessible taxis is  still a  dream left unrealized. I cannot be satisfied when disabled people still do not experience marriage equality. I cannot be satisfied when disabled parents are losing their children simply on the basis of disability. I cannot be satisfied when there are still people living, and dying in institutions 25 years after the ADA and 16 years after Olmsted. The truth is I can’t be satisfied when there’s still so much work left to be done, and I cannot be complacent.  I have to be willing to be a part of these future changes. Sometimes it frustrates me and I get tired. Tired of still often feeling like a second-class citizen in my own country. Sometimes, I’ll be honest it all feels so daunting when I think about going out on my own and figuring out life in this still far from equal world.

A  quarter of a century after the passage of the ADA I am so grateful to be part of  generation ADA, but I am not yet satisfied. Instead, I am ready I am ready to follow the legacy of the great leaders who inspire me so much And fight for my rights.  I’m ready to fight for equal access to transportation,  housing,  and even marriage.  I am grateful because I know how far we have come, but I’m also ready to fight because I know how far we have left to go. I hope one day that our country will live up to its promise of treating all people equally, and we can just be grateful, instead of grateful and frustrated, but we’re not there yet, and I will not be satisfied until I truly am treated equally to my non-disabled brother and sister.

So today, on this momentous occasion,  I am ready to celebrate, but I am also ready to fight.  As the ADA comes of age, so does a new generation of leaders who I hope, like me, are grateful but not complacent,  and choose to lead on!