National Council on Disability Opens "Think Tank 2000"

Washington--The National Council on Disability (NCD) opened its civil rights strategy session, NCD Think Tank 2000 on May 19, with an impressive group of civil and human rights leaders, all of whom unanimously expressed support for expanding alliances to achieve equality for people with disabilities from diverse cultures. "We must strive to achieve meaningful equality," said Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. "We are all part of the same broad family."

Congressman Major Owens (D-NY) urged the gathering to become more involved in government affairs. "We have to become part of this cold cruel world of American politics, because the people who understand it best, walk away with all of the resources." Congressional Black Caucus chairman James Clyburn (D-SC) indicated that many disability issues are "invisible" unless you live with them daily. Clyburn said he will work to make disability issues more visible. "You can depend upon the members of the Congressional Black Caucus to be there with you on your issues, because we know them in more ways than one."

Acting assistant attorney general Bill Lann Lee noted that society is generally dismissive of individuals with disabilities. He pointed out that the discrimination and difficulties faced by people from diverse cultural backgrounds are "magnified when that individual has a disability." Milton Little, executive vice president of the National Urban League, announced his organization's partnership with NCD in distributing an information awareness brochure, Guide to Disability Rights Laws. The guide will be distributed to Urban League affiliates throughout the nation.

NCD member Audrey McCrimon underscored the inherent mutual interests of the human rights, disability rights and historic civil rights organizations in the strategy session. She noted that all of them are concerned about "education, health care, fair, safe and accessible housing and a fair justice system. We are all concerned about some of the same things."

Judge Hughey Walker, NCD's second vice chair, stressed that the objective was to develop an action plan to help people from diverse cultures with disabilities, not another study. Walker urged the group to "suspend your own personal agenda and keep your eyes and ears on the big picture."

NCD is an independent federal agency representing all people with disabilities, regardless of severity, from all cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds. NCD makes recommendations to the President and Congress on disability policy. For more information, contact Mark S. Quigley at 202-272-2008 or visit NCD's award-winning Web site (www.ncd.gov).

http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/news/r00-291.html