Press Releases

Parade to Celebrate 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Marchers, Drummers, Speakers, Dancers Gather in Downtown Atlanta to Honor ADA Legacy

MEDIA ADVISORY: June 13, 2015

WHO:
• Claudia Gordon, the first known deaf African-American female lawyer and current Chief-of-Staff for the U. S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
• Simi Linton, one of America's foremost experts on disability and the arts, reading from her book Claiming Disability: Knowledge & Identity
• Full Radius Dance, a fully-integrated, professional dance company featuring dancers with and without disabilities.
• ADA25 Georgia Legacy Coalition - Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Concrete Change, disABILITY Link, Georgia Disability History Alliance, Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, Georgia State University Center for Leadership in Disability, One Billion Rising, the Shepherd Center, Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia and University of Georgia Institute on Human Development and Disability.
• Sponsoring Organizations - Center for Civil and Human Rights, Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, Georgia State Finance & Investment Commission State ADA Coordinator's Office, and Society for Disability Studies, in partnership with Diversified Enterprises, Easter Seals of Southern Georgia, Georgia Advocacy Office and Georgia Municipal Association

WHAT: The Georgia ADA25 Legacy parade and program, celebrating the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) 25th anniversary.
• Community organizations and disability advocates march in Downtown Atlanta to commemorate landmark civil rights act
• Shiloh High School Drum Corps of Snellville, GA
• Program including national speakers and musical dance performance
• City of Atlanta Proclamation from Council District 2, Councilman Kwanza Hall
• Exhibits - Disability Rights Museum on Wheels; ADA25 photo exhibit at the Center for Civil and Human Rights; ADA25 Road to Freedom tour bus.

WHEN: Saturday, June 13, 2015 1:30 – 4:30 PM
• 1:30 PM Parade assembly
• 2:00 – 3:30PM Kick-off and parade
• 3:30 PM – 4:30 Parade program
• 4:30 – 6:00 PM Exhibits

WHERE: Downtown Atlanta
• Parade assembly - Hardy Ivy Park across from the SunTrust Bank Building & the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Peachtree Street
• Parade route - Baker Street, turn into Centennial Park and conclude at the Southern Company Amphitheatre.
• Parade program: Southern Company Amphitheatre

WHY: The ADA historic civil rights legislation, passed by Congress in 1990, is the nation’s first comprehensive civil rights law addressing the needs of people with disabilities, prohibiting discrimination in employment, public services, public accommodations, and telecommunications.
• The ADA25 Georgia Legacy Parade in concert with the national ADA Legacy Project, seeks to celebrate the progress and promise of the ADA; honor the contributions of people with disabilities and their allies; and create a legacy in which every citizen is accepted for who they are.
• More than 57 million Americans, and 1-in-5 Georgians, have some type of disability as an occurrence of birth, injury or longevity.

About the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD):
GCDD, a federally funded independent state agency, works to bring about social and policy changes that promote opportunities for persons with developmental disabilities and their families to live, learn, work, play and worship in Georgia communities. Visit www.gcdd.org.

CONTACT:
Valerie Meadows Suber, Public Information Director
Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities
404-657-2122 (office) 404-801-7873 (mobile)

www.gcdd.org