The ADA Turns 35. Here’s How Chicago Organizers Are Trying To Protect It

On July 26, 1990, then-President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, into law. This was a turning point for the quality of life for disabled people in the country. But disability rights activism didn’t start when the ADA was introduced into Congress. Reset talks about disability advocacy before and after the ADA. We also dig into recent efforts to weaken it and how the community continues to fight. Our panel: Charles Petrof, senior ADA attorney with Access Living; Mike Ervin, writer and disability rights activist; and T.J. Gordon, co-founder of Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.