All for One, One for All: SHOWAbility celebrates 34th anniversary of the ADA

The SHOWAbility INCLUSIVE CHORUS took the stage inside Friendship Baptist Church and followed a brief introduction from the event’s MC, Dr. Yvette Pegues, PhD. , a well-known advocate for Americans with disabilities, author, and public speaker, started singing “This is Me,” the popular lead track from “The Showman” soundtrack. The chorus is made up of adults with and without disabilities. The inclusivity that SHOWAbility , a metro Atlanta-based organization that highlights performing arts talents of people with disabilities, works to showcase was on full display that morning.

SHOWAbility founder Myrna Clayton ran around the church working with performers, sound guys, guests, and families. The venue filled quickly and was full of applause when the curtains opened for the opening performance and for the performances that followed.

The 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) , which was signed into law on July 26, 1990, was commemorated with a celebration of the human spirit on Friday in Atlanta. SHOWAbility held a ADA anniversary celebration at Friendship Baptist Church, which was attended by dozens of supporters and people with disabilities, both young and old, Black and white, male and female. Inclusivity at its purest and most simplest form.

“Awareness, understanding, and change,” Pegues, who wore a sequined dress for the occasion, explained when asked why rallies and celebrations like the one that took place on Friday were important. “If you don’t have awareness and understanding you can’t change. My hope and prayer is that our next generations won’t have this fight.”

July is Disability Pride Month and sponsors like the Bobby Dodd Institute and Amazon were involved in helping ShowAbility put on a show and information session that included a panel and tables from inclusive businesses like MARTA and many others.

“We need as many allies as we do adults with disabilities focussing on the fight,” Pegues said.

One of the information tables in the lobby of the church was from Fulton Votes , which was there to both register voters and help people with and without disabilities check their voter status in Georgia’s largest county. Pamphlets with key voting dates were available as well as a sample voting machine for people to practice on if they were unfamiliar.

One of those people excited about punching her first presidential ticket is SHOWAbility Board Chair Norma Stanley. A native of Antigua, Stanley has lived and worked in the United States for decades, but recently filed for and received her citizenship. Not only her but her daughter Sierra, who was born with cerebral palsy 34 years ago, will be voting for the first time this fall. Stanley admitted that she did not know that her daughter, an American citizen, was able to vote, but she does now.

“I had to do it for both of us,” Stanley said of registering to vote. “There couldn’t be a better time than now.”

At the rally, Stanley, who spoke to the crowd at the beginning of the festivities and who also suffers from what can be described as an invisible disability, adult onset epilepsy, said she was happy that it was taking place at Friendship Baptist Church again for a consecutive year. “It’s important because people with disabilities had to fight to get this act passed,” Stanley said. “This is a celebration.”

Georgia State Rep. Kim Schofield (District 63), who suffers from Lupus, another invisible disability that affects millions of Black American women. One in 250 Black women will develop the disease, according to data provided by the Lupus Foundation of America . “It’s about you today, it’s about the celebration today,” Schofield said.

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