PhilosopherCrip

There is so much I could/would want to talk about, but I need to keep this quick.  This morning, I went out, in the pelting rain to try and get some ADAPTers who were across the street lining up for the march, as they were told to do last night.  It was about 615am and still dark, and they hadn’t been told that we were delaying launch because of the hard rain.  The darkness kept me from realizing how deep the water was rushing down the street.  I made it through, but stalled on the sidewalk.  My chair started up again briefly, but is now sitting in my hotel room, unusable.  I’m hoping it starts up again, but am unsure and pissed off.

Since then, I’ve borrowed a manual and been pushed to everything from meals to the storming of the state capitol.  It wasn’t our original target, but we were quite effective there.  I was in the second group in and we made it to the second floor lobby before state troopers started to arrive and block elevator access.  Because it was a holiday, most of the action actually happened outside where we were visible to news crews and passersbye, complete with he drama of the police bodily removing people (both walking and wheeling) from the doors.

Michigan and Chicago ADAPTers chanting in the lobby of the Georgia Capitol

While it was less dramatic, having a few hundred people chanting their asses off in the lobby gave us the negotiation positioning.  People were getting dragged out the front door in cuffs during a business day would have made for better media drama, but we got what we came for.  Talking about chanting, my efforts were rewarded with the use of a bullhorn today!  I chanted my throat raw, but it was good fun.  Our full demand list was not met, but we did get a meeting with the Governor’s chief of staff tomorrow, which is a pretty big deal.  Apparently, no disability controlled  group has ever met with anyone that far up the chain of command, just passed along and over and aside.  It’s hard to brush aside direct action.  That is why we do what we do.  It felt good to descend upon a city that doesn’t see much of disability direct action and have the backs of our brothers and sisters in a very tangible way.