cheers to you and you to everybody to
everybody and you a myself thank you and
that includes you great thank you
hello I'm Susie Barrett and today we're
talking about the section 504 seven I'll
sit in for this I'll sit in with you
okay Act one Scene one a backdrop
appears slowly in front of the
audience's eyes what's on this backdrop
the 50s and the 60s we got people with
disabilities being treated not as normal
citizens if you're in a wheelchair you
can't just like walk into a bank and
apply for a job there's no access there
like you use a wheelchair or like you
can't see and therefore yeah dude
a disability is disability basically put
that in your pipe I will and I'll smoke
that well I like this book okay so here
comes 1973 Richard Nixon signs this
thing called the Rehabilitation Act and
section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is
the section that says you can't a
federal institution can't like you know
discriminate against people with a
disability so sections 504 needs to be
signed so so so Joseph Califano the head
of the Department of Health Education
and Welfare hew was like wow this sounds
like a lot of work so like what do we
have to do to our buildings
what's Braille I mean
this is that and that is what and what
this is what we're talking about and so
it's just there for four years and he
doesn't sign it so the American
coalition of citizens with disabilities
headed by dr. Frank bow they're like
what the fing make us equal we have
rights we are citizens sign this by
April fifth or else and else is that a
frozen character else in disability
surprise I feel way drunker than I
should be good okay
so the deadline April 5th comes and it
goes and at the Federal Building in San
Francisco this woman Judy Heumann rolls
up and Dorman's like oh I'm sorry ma'am
do you need some help would you like
some punch or maybe a cookie or and
she's like me me and my 150 friends
would actually like to roll over your
ass
we're about to make a change
this started the first protest for the
disability movement all over the nation
collies federal building protests erupt
people with disabilities are like yeah
we're gonna camp out in your hallways
we're gonna sit on your
desk but none of these protests across
the country lasted more than 28 hours
except for San Francisco where the day's
start dragging on and people have needs
like oh my god I don't have my
ventilator I can't get and breathe I
don't even know why I'm speaking right
now I'm wasting oxygen and like the news
is covering this and people start really
feeling for what's happening here and
the floodgates open you got people
bringing in medicine coming in with food
the Black Panthers show up everyone's
sitting in not just people with
disabilities its allies of people with
disabilities
it's veterans coming home from Vietnam
and being like man we got you
Jefferson Airplane shows up like we're
Jefferson Airplane get it you know get
your on we love you
if Woodstock was in an office building
and filled with wheelchairs and medical
supplies this is Woodstock and all these
people are finding a community that they
hadn't had in person until now and
finally they get the attention of
Washington so they're like ok ok let's
let's make a little hearing and we'll
hear your little disability complaints
when people start noticing that they're
being dicks then they start trying to
fix their dick my favorite dr. Seuss
cook
and so dumb hey oh hey sue okay this is
surreal and is that too much no okay
so Judy Heumann gets 20 of her friends
from her activist group in San Francisco
and they all asked to Washington boom
were in Washington DC and she's like if
you are going to claim to be a country
of the land of the free then you have to
include us in it otherwise
yikes do we have a weird revolution
that's about to happen
so here's senator Alan Cranston you know
he's nodding his head yeah oh my gosh
yeah I'm so feeling it Judy humans not
having any of it she's like I'd
appreciate if you wouldn't act like you
understand what I'm saying because you
don't understand we're going through
this you a party's over
peace out sign this crowd goes wild
everyone's cheering for Judy love it
then Frank Bowe steps up and he's like
we're not even second
were third-class citizens
and here come the tears how do you not
cry after that you know why would you
want to be on the side of history that
categorizes people rather than the side
of history that's like liberating and
like let's be the pinata break it and
that everyone come up yeah that's me
let's make candy Califano it's like a
funny thing uh fine I'll sign it
jubilation 504 was signed and this
opened the floodgates for the American
Disabilities Act for ramps for Braille
for everything that we know today that
is for disability access so Judy humans
people have been in the Federal Building
in San Francisco for 26 days and these
protesters are coming out so happy fist
raised in victory and and they're loving
it because they're having a voice in
their place in history
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cheers Cheers to everybody
to literally everything
[Music]
you