The Roving Activist’s Blog

Power can do some crazy things to your mind…

Just ask Louise Slaughter!

Last year, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) was a co-sponsor of the Medicaid Community-based Attendant Services and Supports Act (MiCASSA), which gives people with disabilities and seniors living in, or at risk of nursing home or institutional placement, the choice to live at home with the services and supports that they need.

Now, things have changed…

MiCASSA is now the Community Choice Act (CCA). It has been tweaked to make it easier to understand, and has been correctly scored to reflect that the cost of implementing the legislation is only a fraction of the original cost cited by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). You would think that with these positive changes, Rep. Slaughter would have co-sponsored CCA, but…

With Power comes “responsibility”

Congresswoman Slaughter is now the Chair of the very powerful House Rules Committee. One task of the Rules Committee is to bring legislation (bills) to the floor for action. Now that she has some power, Rep. Slaughter must “be careful”, and “rethink” whom and what she supports, and this includes the Community Choice Act. Now, instead of being a co-sponsor, she will “keep your views in mind should this bill be brought to the House floor for a vote.”

Why the flip-flop?

It’s odd that when Rep. Slaughter didn’t have much power, she was supportive of the right of people with disabilities and seniors to live in the community with the services and supports that they need. Now that she has some power, she’ll simply keep our views in mind. Why the change? Who is Rep. Slaughter beholden to, now that she is powerful? Inquiring minds want to know! Congresswoman Slaughter, don’t flip-flop! Don’t turn your back on people with disabilities now that you have power. Do the right thing, and co-sponsor the Community Choice Act today!

RA’s note: Soory about the late post, but my home computer passed away, and I have to blog elsewhere…

Wednesday, we were back in line and ready to go. The media had leaked misinformation saying that were were going to visit HUD, so we kept up the charade. Chanting, “affordable, accessible, integrated housing”, we marched single file, in a line over six blocks long!

Just when the cops thought hat we were, indeed, going to HUD, we made a quick turn, and did a mad dash for the building that houses the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). I was one of the first in, and just as we made it to the elevators, the security guard at the front desk ran and shut them down, screaming into her walkie talkie, “the wheelchair people are here!” A couple of us who did manage to make it into the elevators were stuck for a while until it was decided to let them go up to the AFSCME offices.

Since ADAPT and AFSCME have never seen eye to eye, it goes without saying that the negotiations went sour rather quickly. AFSCME is one of the unions that feels that institutionalization is necesary for people with disabilities. ADAPT, of course, wants AFSCME to support the Community Choice Act, but the top brass had not even bothered to read the legislation.

We chanted loud and strong for several hours. I couldn’t figure out who was louder — those of us inside, or those of us outside. We managed to find a phone number for AFSCME, and began calling them, demanding that they support CCA. After a while, they simply shut down their phone lines to keep from taking our calls.

Finally, AFSCME officials came down with a letter that they wanted ADAPT to sign on to. They wanted us to say that nursing homes and institutions were necesary for the most severely disabled. You’d better believe that ADAPT WAS NOT going to sign off on that, and we were mighty mad, to boot! The arrests began, and when the dust cleared, over 120 of us were arrested. I am proud to say that I was one of the folks who were arrested! The Chicago Police, as on Monday, made quick work of the arrests, and we were done in less than 30 minutes. All in all, our week was very successful. We stood up to the AMA and AFSCME, and got the Governor to commit to never reopen the Lincoln Developmental Center, to meet wit ADAPT befor October 17th, and to have ADAPT at the table, and participating in implementing the Illinois Money Follows the Person Project. We Rock!!

Here are some links to the stories about the Chicago Actions:

Frum Rudy, a guy who was blocked by us at the Jim Thompson Building. Read his cool story. Thanks Rudy, for your support!

http://lagerbeerriot.blogspot.com/2007/09/my-comrades-and-i-are-drinking.html

Check out the ADAPT Action Report

http://www.adapt.org/freeourpeople/aar/chicago/

See the videos on You Tube

http://www.youtube.com/ADAPTvideo

Check out Not Dead Yet’s site. They have links to all kinds of commentary about our action

http://notdeadyetnewscommentary.blogspot.com/search/label/ADAPT

I’ll be back tomorrow with the stories about the last days protest.

Today started a tad different. I was one of the folks doing some covert ops, so I covered up my ADAPT gear, doffed my red flag, and took off a few minutes earlier with David, from Texas. We took the scenic route around, but wound up running into a couple of cops, who kept advising us to join the protest. We told the cops that we were doing the tourist thing today, and hoped that they believed us, which I doubted. We met Mike, from Kansas behind the Staples, and off we went on a route out of Hades, dodging cops. we got to the State of Illinois Building, also called the Jim Thompson Building, a bit early. Being a native Chicagoan, I have vivid memories of watching this building go up, and those memories are joined by memories of the last time that ADAPT was here back in 1992.

David and I go buy a sandwich and a drick at the sandwich shop, then, I wander into the Sweet Shop to get some gourmet jelly beans, then, we both wander into Wolf Camera, where David quizzes the lady behind the counter about camera film and batteries. The lady knows her stuff. As it happens, Wolf Camera is right by the doors, and we slowly sidle near them, waiting for the signal.

Suddenly, a whistle blows, and all hell breaks loose. David and I immediately catch a door, and block it open so that everyone can get in. The ADAPT Bum rush on the building happens so fast that within a couple of minutes, everyone is in, blocking escalators, doors, elevators, even the CTA train station gates! A couple of Chicago folks do make it to the 14th floor, where the governor’s office is, and we settle down for what we know will be a long day.

Wanting to be flexible in my movements, I move form place to place, wherever I am needed. At first, I’m at an escalator, then, I find myself at one of the CTA El stop stations. I pass out flyers, and explaint to people who we are, and why were are here. I ask people to call the Governor, and ask that he not open any more institutions. Governor Blagojevich seems bent on opening the Lincoln Developmental Center, a state “school” (read institution) for people with developmental delays. Shamefully, Illinois ranks 45 out of 50 in home health and community-based services for people with disabilities. All of the people that I speak to are very supportive. I only encounter one person with a bad attitude so far.

I feel a sense of deja vu as once again, I run into someone out of my past. The last time, it was an old boyfriend from back in the days when I was trying to please my family, not knowing that they already guessed that I was a Lesbian, and had no problems with it. Alonzo was my last boyfriend, and when I left Chicago, I thought I’d seen the last of him. Imagine my surprise when, during the action in this very building, on this very floor back in 1992, I heard someone call my name, and ask me to let him get upstairs so that he could get his state ID. I recognized Alonzo, then, took mass pleasure in telling him NO, and directing him to get a flyer and read it. He couldn’t believe that I was with ADAPT! He told me that he was proud of me, then, soon left.

This time, while handing out flyers, I heard a voice behind me say, “I have firsthand knowledge of this because my mother is in a nursing home.” The guy came up and began talking. I recognized his voice, and his blur, and asked him his name. He said, “Harry.” It was none other than my old colleague, Harry Brooks, with whom I worked with at CTA back in the days when we were both Transit Information Agents. I was a young thing of 19, then, and working my way through college, since the scholarship that I’d gotten was nowhere near enough to pay the bills. We shared some memories, I gave Harry a flyer, and he was on his way.

After passing out flyers, I go around chanting and singing, trying to keep folks pumped up. Johnny sings some songs, some of which are new. There is ADAPT police tape and cut-outs of the governor, and Abe Lincoln everywhere. Time is getting on, so we bump it up. We take over both CTA gates. At first, the police and transit cops try to stop us, but we are relentless. I did the ADAPT fling out of my chair, joining others on the floor to help block the gates so that no one could come or go. We explain to folks that though they may be inconvenienced for a few hours, people were dying in nursing homes and other institutions. One lady starts freaking, and trying to push her way through. I end up being stepped on by her, and a transit cop. That lady was the last person to get through our line. When the transit cops and others knew that they couldn’t outlast or outmanuver us, they gave it up, shut down the station, and left. When by 5:00 we still had not heard anything, we bumped it up some more, and got through the abandoned gates, and blocked the last door to the CTA station, as well as the stairs and escalators beyond the gates. Now, no one truely was going nowhere!

Once the CTA station was truely shut down, and the action began to affect CTA, itself, it seemed that those slowpoke governor’s folks began to realize that ADAPT meant business, they came around quickly, and we got three great victories:

1. The Governor’s office committed to close Lincoln Developmental Center PERMANENTLY!

2. Rahnee Patrick and other Chicago ADAPT members would be at the table when the state sets up the Illinois Money Follows The Person Project, and will help in its direction.

3. Governor Blagojevich will meet with ADAPT before October 17, 2007.

Here is a link to the article in the Chicago Tribune:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0911adapt_websep12,1,7988613.story

Monday morning found ADAPT members downstairs ready and pumped up for the day. I found myself comparing this action to the last. One big change that I noticed was in the attitude of the police. Of course, there were skads of them all around our hotel, and probably in it, too, for all that I know. However, the vast majority of them were very cordial and polite! I couldn’t believe it! Was this not the same police department known for busting heads and asses? Wow, what a change! They were almost aggressive in keeping passersby from walking through our line, and were right on target with their explainations to people about who we were, and what we wanted.

We marched to our target, the American Medical Association. We were trying to get them to support the Community Choice Act. Our line was six blocks long! We chanted loud and proud, “FREE OUR PEOPLE!!!” “Our homes, not nursing homes!” “Raising our voice for Community Choice!”

I was assigned to hold a door when we got to our spot, so I was really pumped! I remembered the last time we were here. I was with a new guy from Philadelphia, who was very excited, and very spastic. while trying to block off a cop car on the street, he accidentally kicked a police officer. Not just any police officer — one of the guys in the white shirts, a Captain, or something. The cop was extremely angry, but decided that since the new guy, Tom, was nonverbal, he was going to arrest me, instead. I was charged with assault on an officer, a felony, but thank goodness, Wade got things straightened out, and I did not have to go back to Chicago. As I mentioned earlier, only four people were arrested — Arthur Campbell, from Kentucky, Mike Auberger, from Denver, Rona Schnall, who at that time, was from Philadelphia, and me. I was living in Denver at the time. Odd. I am the only one still around who was arrested on that action.

When we were in sight of the AMA building, we rushed to the doors, but found that they were already locked. We shut the place down, anyway, including a parking lot. We wanted to meet with the CEO of AMA, but he sent down a lackey, who, of course, could do nothing. The Mayor’s Commission on people with disabilities sent someone down to try and negotiate, but that went nowhere. Incidentally, the Commissioner is an old ADAPTer named Karen Tamley. I worked with her back when she was in Denver. On Sunday, Karen came to our hotel to read a proclaimation from Mayor Daley. Anyway, neither the Mayor’s folks, nor the cops could negotiate with the AMA to meet with us, so things got ugly, and when the dust cleared, 55 folks were arrested. The good thing about these arrests were that nobody had to go to 26th and California, or to Belmont and Western, where the detention and holding centers are. The last time, we were taken to jail, and put into real, live, cells, where we sat for hours. This time, the whole process took literally, a couple of minutes. This, too, was due in part, to Rochester’s own Bruce Darling, one of the Day leaders, our “Arrest Concierge”, whose motto was, “we make your arrest Better!” Thanks, Bruce!

Sunday began early for me. I went to the new people’s meeting for a bit, then, went to the Color leader’s meeting, which I helped to facilitate. We then got ready for the ADAPT Housing Forum, hosted by Chicago ADAPT members, Beto, and Darryl, as well as Eleanor Smith, from Atlanta. She started Concrete Change, a sister organization that focuses on Visitability and accessble housing. Cassie James, from Philadelphia, also hosted the event.

About 30 of us presented testimony about being institutionalized due to a lack of affordable, accessible, integrated housing. I testified on behalf of Steve Menz, one of our ADAPT members from Rochester, and told the story of Tim Lucas, who was unceremoniously dumped out of a nursing home with nowhere to go, and placed on an emergency basis in housing that was not only inaccessible, but unsafe. he was forced to return to the nursing home until safe, accessible housing could be found. I also read testimony from Anthony Griggs, who languished in a nursing home for almost three years until he could find affordable, accessible housing.

We were directing our testimony to Kim Kendrick, Assistant Secretary of Fair Housing, at HUD, and Paula Blunt. Of course, they told us that “we feel your pain”, and “you’re preaching to the choir”, but they didn’t step up to the plate to give us the numbers of lost Housing Choice vouchers that were set aside for people with disabilities coming out of institutions. Frankly, I’m getting rather tired of it all. I think that HUD has forgotten our power. Perhaps, they need to be reminded.

RA’s Note: I’m playing catch-up here, as my home computer died on me…

We made it in to Chicago late Saturday afternoon. Actually, it was early evening. I couldn’t wait to get off of the bus and see all of my friends. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long for me to get my keys and get to my room. I found that I was rooming with Cindy, which was great!

I got my colored flag, as I was a Red Color leader for this action. Color leaders make sure that everyone gets from point A to point B safely, and we keep folks pumped up, and informed about what is going on. Thankfully, I got my ADAPT T-shirt, as well as one for Terrie and her mom, as they’d given me some money to get their shirts. Thank goodness, I did get them on Saturday, because by the end of the evening, they were out!

I hung out with folks, absorbing the vibes, and getting pumped up for the next day. It was 15 years ago that ADAPT had come to Chicago, and the memories of that action were flooding through me. There were only 4 arrests that entire week, and wouldn’t you know it, I was one of them! It felt interesting, yet, somehow, weird to be back home in the city of my birth. Growing up in Chicago helped to shape, indeed, mold me into the person that I am today. It is where I discovered ADAPT, and cut my teeth on disability rights issues. I go to bed with these, and other thoughts swirling in my head…

We have made it to Chicago!

We just passed through Michigan City, Indiana, and should be in Chicago in one and a half hours.

We’ve stopped in Fermont, Ohio for lunch. Hopefully, we’ll be off soon, and we’ll be in Chicago in 5 hours.