Disability Pride Month – Marking 35 Years of the Americans with Disabilities Act
Every July, Disability Pride Month celebrates the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the first comprehensive law protecting the civil rights of people with disabilities. Signed into federal law on July 26, 1990, the ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in regard to employment, state and local government services, public transportation, businesses that are open to the public, telecommunications, and more.
In New York City, the liaison between local government and the disability community is the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD), which works to ensure that City offices, agencies, programs, and policies meet the needs and interests of people with disabilities. On its website, MOPD hosts information on education, emergency preparedness, legal, housing, and other resources for people with disabilities.
To honor the 35th anniversary of the ADA, MOPD created “35 Years Forward: ADA x NYC,” a calendar of NYC accessibility and disability-focused events, including film screenings, job fairs, webinars, workshops, and more.
Recommended disability justice reading list, courtesy of MOPD:
The Anti-Ableist Manifesto by Tiffany Yu
Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to be an Ally by Emily Ladau
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century, edited by Alice Wong
We’ve Got This: Essays by Disabled Parents, edited by Eliza Hull
Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure by Eli Clare
Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation by Eli Clare
Sipping Dom Perignon Through a Straw: Reimagining Success as a Disabled Achiever by Eddie Ndopu
How Ableism Fuels Racism: Dismantling the Hierarchy of Bodies in the Church by Lamar Hardwick
NYCHA resources for applicants and NYCHA public housing and Section 8 residents with disabilities:
NYCHA provides reasonable accommodation for applicants, Section 8 voucher holders, and NYCHA residents with disabilities, including ASL and other auxiliary services. Learn more via the below:
New York City Housing Authority
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Fair Housing, and Access Services
Telephone: (212) 306-4468
Fax: (212) 306-4439
TTY: (212) 306-4845
Featured photo credit: ADA National Network (adata.org) 1-800-949-4232