Today, January 23, is reserved to honor the life of Ed Roberts, who is often referred to as the father of the Independent Living Movement. If you’re not familiar with Roberts’ work, a very brief compendium of resources is available below. If you are familiar with his work, then you know that January 23 is a day of celebration for our community. Ed Roberts’ vision of an organized community of people with disabilities, banded together for social, economic, and political equality changed the world and his legacy lives on today in Centers for Independent Living large and small in every corner of this nation.
What can you do to honor the memory of the man who took a diaspora of individual lived experience and created an army of advocates ready to protect our civil rights? Is there someone in your community who has never even considered their ability to radically change the world forever? Can you give them what Ed Roberts gave each of us?
His story is our story. His fight is our fight. Today is the day!
Resources:
- Ed Roberts: Free Wheeling (YouTube)
- Ed Roberts (Wikipedia)
- Ed Roberts: The Father of Independent Living (ilusa.com)