July 24th Disability Pride Celebration

Independent Perspective 1705 with Mike Benzin about the July 24th Disability Pride Celebration

Host:  Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL). Our guest today is Mike Benzin, Chief Community Engagement Officer of WNYIL and I'm your host Ernie Churchwell. Welcome to the program Mike.

Guest:  Thank you, Ernie. Great to be here.

Host:  It's our pleasure. And you’re here because you have news of one of the biggest celebrations in the entire year for the disability community. That is the Disability Pride Celebration. And that's all thanks to one particular piece of legislation which has been a real game changer for the entire disability community. What can you tell us about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990?

Guest:  I can tell you that the act celebrates its 32nd birthday this year in July, and while we've accomplished a lot since President Bush signed that act, we’ve still got a lot of work to do. But we really want to focus on celebrating all the accomplishments we've made, how accessibility has become much more mainstream and people are designing buildings and planning transit and things like that. So, we've had this Disability Pride Celebration in Western New York for many years and obviously the last few years, because of COVID it's been restricted to online. This year, we're going back to being in person. And while we used to have a parade, we're not going have a parade this year. We thought we'd keep it simple. So, we are having a big celebration, down on Canalside on Sunday, July 24, from 11:00 until 2:00 in the afternoon, and it'll be right on the Pierce Lawn, which is right there, down near the Naval Park, and the Boardwalk. So, there's a lot of great things to do at Canalside already, but on top of that, we're going to be having hot dogs and pizza and beverages. There'll be superheroes there from the Superhero Alliance of Western New York for selfies and all kinds of fun and high jinx. I haven't seen this yet, but the Ghostbusters will be there. So that'll be kind of fun. The Erie County Stage will be on site and we have all kinds of entertainment lined up from music to poetry. And we'll have a huge tent with about 30 different organizations that work with people with disabilities across Western New York, sharing information, sharing resources, answering questions, all that kind of stuff. The NFTA’s paratransit van will be there and representatives from the NFTA will be answering all kinds of questions that people might have and giving out information on how to schedule a paratransit and all that and then as usual Western New York Adaptive Watersports will be there. And folks will have an opportunity to go out on the water and have some fun and I'm hoping it's still three weeks away so we're hoping the weather's going be very nice for that.

Host:  It sounds like you've really pulled out all the stops to get exciting activities on hand for the affair. And if I could just mention a few of the key points of ADA that it bars discrimination from employment by state and local agencies, by places of public accommodation. It encoded the need for translation capabilities for people with hearing impairments. And there are a few other aspects such as transportation. So that's really a good reason to celebrate. If you could remind people once more of when and where it is.

Guest:  Okay, well, it's Sunday, July 24, at Canalside, which is right down by Key Center, and the Naval Park. It runs from 11:00 in the morning to 2:00 in the afternoon. And if folks want to keep up to date with the latest breaking news, and I promise that over the next two, three weeks, there will be new additions, they can go to our Facebook page, facebook.com/DisabilityPrideWNY, and we're doing our best to keep up with all the latest additions and everything on that page.

Host:  Sounds exciting. Thanks for being with us, Mike.

Guest:  Thank you, Ernie.

Host:  You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest today was Mike Benzin, Chief Community Engagement Officer of WNYIL and I'm in your host Ernie Churchwell.