Editor, The Spotlight;
Brad Williams has been advocating for people with disabilities for more than 25 years. But first he had to learn how to advocate for himself. From there, he moved to advocating for people with disabilities. His efforts to champion civil rights have led to national recognition and numerous awards from his peers. Brad recently received the Region II Advocacy Award from the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) – an award he also won in 2003.
As the 25th anniversary of the historic passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act nears, it is important to note that Williams has been at the forefront of the battle for equality for a quarter century – in civil rights, employment, voting access, emergency preparedness, and the future – for the more than 2 million people with disabilities in New York.
Before he was “officially” diagnosed with a disability, Williams knew that he had cognitive and processing issues. “I had difficulty writing a complete sentence. A paragraph was a real challenge. The thought of creating a whole page of text was like scaling the precipice of a mountain,” he notes. In those days, before the Americans with Disabilities Act, he had no support — nor, at that time, was there even recognition of the need for support. Williams was left to find ways to cope as best he could. Using the analogy of how he is also color blind, he set up a coding system for what he believed colors to be. He embarked upon a painstaking exercise of trial and error to adapt with his disability. He admits the process of navigating without support “was exhausting.” Despite the challenges, he adds, “I made it work for me.”
Today, Williams works to help ensure that other New Yorkers with disabilities don’t have to fight for their rights alone. Indeed, in his view, “a cornerstone of independent living encourages a person to build upon self-advocacy skills by working on systems advocacy issues. As a person works with their peers on issues that impact the group, eventually the person reaches an epiphany – we all possess the ability to create change in our lives and the world around us.”
There is still much to be done. The most-pressing issues New Yorkers with disabilities must contend with today include the following:
• Employment gap – Nearly 3 out of 4 unemployed
• Emergency preparedness – Systems are in place to evacuate stray pets but not for New Yorkers with disabilities. Disasters like the 9/11 terrorist attack, Super Storm Sandy, and others raise the urgent need for emergency preparedness for people with disabilities. Currently, Williams and the New York State Independent Living Council work with Albany Law School & the Disability Law Clinic on this life-or-death issue.
• Voter Accessibility – Thousands of New Yorkers with disabilities are discriminated against at polling places and voting machines.
The New York State Independent Living Council is a not-for-profit, non-governmental, consumer controlled organization. The council is composed of 25 appointees from around the state, a majority of whom have disabilities, representing diverse cultures and needs in the state.
— Pauline Barfield
Barfield Public Relations