Media Coverage
A major goal of the Road To Freedom bus tour is to increase public awareness of disability as a civil rights and social justice issue. Below are some samples of the media attention that the Road To Freedom has attracted:
Video: THTV in Little Rock, Arkansas - Road To Freedom Tour at Clinton Presidential Library
Bangor: Adaptive Fair aims to engage people with disabilities
Bangor Daily News, ME - Sep 21, 2007
The Road to Freedom is planning to bring its 37-foot bus to the event to raise awareness about the Americans with Disabilities Act...
Group Seeks to Redefine Act
Troy Record, NY – Aug 21, 2007
A red, white and blue bus carrying a group of advocates in favor of redefining the meaning of the word "disabled" rolled into downtown Wednesday afternoon for a press conference. "We're calling on Americans to pass the ADA Restoration Act of 2007," said Jim Ward, founder and president of ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR) based in Washington, D.C…
Event Highlights Rights of People with Disabilities
Albany Times Union, NY – Sept 4, 2007
A yearlong bus tour promoting rights for people with disabilities will make a stop in Troy on Wednesday. The event, Road to Freedom, will feature a multimedia display and history exhibit highlighting the disability rights struggle and the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act…
Mobile Unit Displays Struggles of the People with Disabilities
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, NY – Sept 4, 2007
A mobile display chronicling the struggles of disabled people and the Americans with Disabilities Act rolled into Rochester today. Visitors to the Center for Disability Rights on State Street were also encouraged to sign a petition to have Congress pass the ADA Restoration Act, which would include more people for ADA coverage…
ND tops US for working disabled
In-Forum, ND – Aug 21, 2007
Ward came to Bismarck on Monday with his “Road to Freedom Bus Tour” as part of the state consortium’s conference. “Ultimately, it’s not about disability...
Advocacy group marks patients' graves
Mankato Free Press - Mankato, MN, USA – Aug 19, 2007
Remembering with Dignity, together with the Americans with Disabilities Act Road to Freedom tour, held a ceremony Saturday to honor the placement of...
Senator Tom Harkin Calls for ADA Restoration on the Road To Freedom National Bus Tour
Earthtimes.org - USA
I am working to restore Congress' original intent, and, once again, to ensure that all Americans with disabilities are protected from discrimination...
National ADA tour hits UP
Marquette Mining Journal, MI - Aug 15, 2007
A national bus tour promoting the Americans with Disabilities Act got plenty of support Tuesday when it...
ADA bus tour keeps focus on disability rights
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, IA - Aug 11, 2007
Jim Ward has been touring the country in a red, white and blue recreational vehicle with his wife and two...
Tour touts Americans With Disabilities Act
Radio Iowa, IA - Aug 10, 2007
A nationwide bus tour touting the "Americans With Disabilities Act" is visiting Iowa. During a stop in downtown Des Moines, Jim Ward...
National Council on Disability Monthly Bulletin for August, 2007
TechWeb - Aug 10, 2007
After Mr. Quinn's presentation, Ms. Bristo introduced Jim Ward of ADA Watch, who discussed their national ADA bus tour, Road To Freedom: Keeping the Promise...
Freedom Bus and Reggy to highlight ADA Night at the Stadium
OurSports Central, WI - Aug 8, 2007
The Americans with Disabilities Act will be celebrating its 17th anniversary in conjunction with the Road to Freedom National Bus Tour. ...
Tour emphasizes value of ADA to make stop at University of Wisconsin-Superior
Ironwood Daily Globe, MI - Aug 6, 2007
Frank Boyle, D-Superior, joining Jim Ward, founder and president of ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights based in Washington…
Stop by Road to Freedom bus likens disability, civil rights
Topeka Capital Journal, KS - Aug 2, 2007
Jim Ward, president of Americans with Disabilities Act Watch, talks about disability rights Wednesday at the Brown historic site...
Tour Tells Story of Disability Rights Movement, Seeks To Restore ADA
The Greeley Tribune, CO – June 11, 2007
Vicki Baker, who was left a paraplegic after a car crash five years ago, couldn't imagine life without the services that were spurred by the Americans with Disabilities Act…
Disability Rights Tour Hits Fresno
Fresno Bee, CA – April 14, 2007
In the mid-1990s, Jim Ward hit bottom when he was diagnosed with a psychiatric disability…
Head of Disability Rights Group Says Courts Threaten ADA
WMC-TV, TN – February 13, 2007
The head of a disability rights group said today that he was concerned about courts weakening the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed into law 17 years ago.
Road To Freedom Tour at Clinton Presidential Library
THV-TV, AK – February 12, 2007
A disability rights group, concerned about courts weakening the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), brought their cross-country tour to Little Rock Monday…
Disability Rights Bus Travels Across Nation
Epoch Times – February 12, 2007
Advocates for Americans with disabilities plan to visit 80 cities this year. "The Road to Freedom" bus tour, which has already traveled…
On the Bus for Disability Rights
Diversity, Inc. – February 8, 2007
After being appointed by former President Reagan to be the vice chair of the National Council on Disability, Justin Dart Jr. took his wife along with him on a cross-country adventure in the name of equal rights. Buses continue to roll across state lines in an effort to speak to America about the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the disability-rights movement. Known as the Road To Freedom, the national awareness campaign, is a year-long tour from Washington, D.C., mobilizing Americans to keep the ADA's protections and rights…
Podcast: The Road To Freedom Bus Tour
Disability Nation – February 4, 2007
DN22 features an interview with Jim Ward of ADA Watch. Jim and others are on a year-long, nationwide tour called The Road to Freedom. The Road To Freedom is a national awareness campaign inspired by the historic journey of Justin and Yoshiko Dart to mobilize support for passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)…
Photo Gallery: Road To Freedom Exhibit
Montgomery Advertiser, AL – January 9, 2007
Jim Harris, assistant commissioner of the Department of Rehabilitation Services, left, and Scott Renner, executive director of the Montgomery Center for Independent Living, look at The Road to Freedom exhibit…
Road To Freedom Begins its Journey to Disability Rights
SpinalCord.org – February, 2007
The Road to Freedom is a national awareness campaign inspired by the historic journey of Justin and Yoshiko Dart to mobilize support for passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)…
Activist Wants ADA Protections Restored
Celebration of Law Held at Cedar Rapids Stadium
By Adam Belz
The Gazette
CEDAR RAPIDS — Courts have interpreted the Americans with Disabilities Act too narrowly and the law needs to be clarified, Jim Ward, president of ADA Watch, said outside Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday.
The annual celebration of the act, signed into law July 26, 1990, was delayed for a couple of weeks so it would coincide with Ward’s visit to Cedar Rapids.
He’s touring the country in a charter bus, plugging amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act, trying to raise awareness and getting people to sign a petition to back a new law.
On Thursday, his Road to Freedom tour was in Des Moines, where he met with Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who introduced the original Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 and a Restoration Act of 2007 on July 26.
The amendment to the act was read twice on the anniversary of the original act. It was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Ward said it won’t be seriously considered until the spring, but he supports the bill. He argues that people with epilepsy, diabetes, mental health problems and cancer are disabled, too, and should be covered under the law.
Ward left his home in Maryland in November and will return there in November. He’s been in 32 states, at 45 events, he said.
Cherie Clark, coordinator for the Linn County Office of the Conner Center for Independent Living, said she expected about 300 people at the Cedar Rapids celebration. Early in the afternoon, the visitors were given a tour of Veterans Stadium, 950 Rockford Rd. SW. Then they had a picnic and watched the Kernels play the South Bend Silver Hawks.
Clark said the events are about raising awareness.
‘‘ People with disabilities are here — we’re in the community,’’ she said.
A large display explaining the history of disabilities and the problems with current laws was set up in the concessions area behind home plate.
• Contact the writer: (319) 398-8273 or adam.belz@gazettecommunications.com
Mobile Unit Displays Struggles of the People with Disabilities
By Greg Livadas, Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York)
(September 4, 2007) - A mobile display chronicling the struggles of disabled people and the Americans with Disabilities Act rolled into Rochester today.
Visitors to the Center for Disability Rights on State Street were also encouraged to sign a petition to have Congress pass the ADA Restoration Act, which would include more people for ADA coverage.
“The ADA is a living, breathing grass roots movement,” said Jim Ward with the Road to Freedom bus tour. “This tour isn’t about disability. It’s about humanity and how the world’s wealthiest nation doesn’t deal with its own humanity.”
CDR’s Executive Director Bruce Darling said critical issues for equal access are education, transportation, housing and employment. Unemployment among the disabled is 70 percent, he said.
“We have a lot of work to do,” he said. “Even now, the right to vote privately and independently are things we struggle for.”
Local dignitaries attended a press conference at the center.
For more information, visit: www.roadtofreedom.org.
