Trailer | Extended Audio Description | CHANGE, NOT CHARITY: THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

Summary

The transcript details the grassroots disability rights movement leading to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), highlighting activists' persistent protests and civil disobedience to challenge systemic discrimination and architectural barriers. Key figures and moments include Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins crawling up the Capitol steps, protesters chanting "ADA now!", and powerful testimonies from disability rights advocates who emphasized that civil rights must be fought for and won. The movement ultimately succeeded in transforming societal perceptions of disability from "out of sight, out of mind" to recognizing people with disabilities as a political force deserving equal opportunity and dignity, culminating in President George H.W. Bush signing the ADA and symbolically declaring an end to exclusion.