Friday, July 26 marked the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To celebrate, the disability community gathered for the annual Disability Pride festival at Canalside in Downtown Buffalo.
This year Buffalo's Disability Pride Festival grew in size significantly, adding a children's area, more tents, new vendors and activities, and a long line up of artists. WBFO’s Freelance Disabilities Beat Reporter Mason Ald visited the festival and took a closer look into the expectations the disability community has for the future of the festival.
Several artists, attendees, vendors and organizers tell Ald accessibility will need to improve, but also most importantly, they need more non-disabled people to feel empowered to show up and learn from the community.
PLAIN LANGUAGE DESCRIPTION: Members of the disability community discuss the growth of the Disability Pride Festival with WBFO’s Freelance Disabilities Beat Reporter Mason Ald. They highlight the positives of the increase in the festival’s size, including new features. Future changes the community hopes to see range from accessibility improvements to more engagement from non-disabled people. Members of the community say that now is the time to put the words written on the ADA into concrete action.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript provided by a contractor and may be updated over time to be more accurate.
Emyle Watkins: Hi. I'm Emyle Watkins and this is the WBFO Disabilities Beat. This week we have a special report on the end of Disability Pride Month from Disabilities Beat freelance reporter Mason Ald.
Mason Ald: On Friday, July 26, which marked the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA], the disability community gathered for a festival at Canalside. This year's festival stood out because it grew significantly. Because of the increase in the festival's popularity, new vendors and activities, including a new children's area, were brought to life. Spoken poet, writer, and editor, J.B. Stone, noted the dramatic change in everything ranging from accessibility features to the number of onstage performers.
J.B. Stone: Absolutely can see that it's grown. The stage, when I first did this, was maybe no bigger than my two feet planted on the ground. It was very small, very inaccessible. I don't even know if it had a ramp. I know the only person I remember who also did it aside from me who performed was DJ Pastor Rock and Legendary.
Mason Ald: To Stone and other disabled attendees, this growth welcomes a new challenge. As an autistic person, Stone hopes to see not only more people attend, but a change in who attends in future festivals. He says more non-disabled people should be engaged with the disability community, especially during Disability Pride Month.
J.B. Stone: There is a good attendance. It could have been a lot more people to be honest, and I think a lot of that isn't on WNYL [Western New York Independent Living]. It's not on the sponsors. It's not on disability pride. A lot of it's on you, the neurotypical folks, the folks who don't share the same disability marginalization, to do your part and show the hell up to these types of events.
Mason Ald: Spoken word artist, Tyrone Houston, who is also known by his alias Legendary, also challenges those who are non-disabled to do their part. Houston, who has cerebral palsy, points out that advocacy cannot only be the disability community's responsibility.
Tyrone Houston: I've still learned that as far as we've come with the ADA, we still have so much work left to do, and the biggest advocates of people with disabilities are the people with the disabilities, and I think we need to improve that a little bit.
Mason Ald: Houston recalls that his mother would tell him to "say what you mean and to mean what you say." He hopes in the future to see those who aren't disabled themselves put the words written on the ADA into action.
Tyrone Houston: I challenge everyone who's "able" to do their part. You know? I think it's a silly question to ask me what I'm going to do to raise awareness. I'm already doing the hard part by living with the disability. You need to speak up and you need to call out what's not fair and what's unreasonable.
Mason Ald: Like Houston and Stone, musician and disability activist Reverend Chris Wylie, who uses the stage name DJ Pastor Rock, hopes to see more engagement from those who aren't disabled.
Rev. Chris Wylie: I want it to keep going and keep growing. You know, I look around and see how big it is now, as you mentioned, compared to what it has been, and I want it to keep going. I want non-disabled people to see the work that we're doing and recognize the work that we're doing and embrace the work that we're doing so that they become allies, or better allies in some cases, and keep pushing for inclusion.
Mason Ald: But growth also means new responsibility for the organizers. A larger festival means accessibility features will have to continue to change and be adjusted. Holly Nidell, who is a part of the festival's planning committee...
Holly Nidell: Sometimes at the Canalside, the lawn when it's super dry, it's pretty good to roll over if it's a person in a wheelchair. However, if the lawn is wet or it rained the night before, rolling across it is not conducive for a person in a wheelchair.
Mason Ald: Music therapist Sarah Crates says she was standing by her vendor table when she overheard someone talking about the grass as an accessibility concern.
Sarah Crates: Sure. So I actually heard there was a gentleman in a wheelchair and he made the comment about the grass, how he's like, "oh man, grass again," and it's just hard for him to get around, and so maybe something a little smoother and easier to get around for that kind of accessibility standpoint.
Mason Ald: Some ways festivals like Disability Pride can improve are also less visible than the ground you walk or roll on. Larger crowds can create accessibility concerns for some people with sensory disabilities. As someone with ADHD and anxiety, Crates says that while working in the tent, the volume of people was loud and distracting.
Sarah Crates: My coworker actually, she also has ADHD and autism, so we were kind of talking like, "whoa, this is a lot." We're happy to be here. But it's also a lot to kind of be engaged and stay in those conversations without, you know, having to regulate yourself.
Mason Ald: While festivals by nature can be unpredictable, Crates suggests ways attendees with sensory disabilities can prepare for attending future Disability Pride festivals
Sarah Crates: Definitely, like, [bring] sunglasses. Maybe just having that comfortable outfit that you don't have to kind of fidget [with] so you feel comfortable and ready to kind of focus. And just maybe knowing the situation of like, hey, it's going to be a little crowded, like prepare yourself. But I'd say too, what helps me is a lot of just deep breathing, that somatic feeling of like where am I feeling [these feelings] and just kind of take those deep breaths.
Mason Ald: Stone also suggests the festival could integrate different sensory-friendly activities.
J.B. Stone: I don't want to talk about dividing people, but if it's for someone's own sensory space needs, have maybe like a silent disco or have in a corner somewhere where there's a big black light tent or something. You know?
Mason Ald: Stone points out that this could bring even more attendance and acceptance. For Stone and other disability advocates, helping people develop empathy and understanding for less visible disabilities is hugely important.
J.B. Stone: I can't speak for other people in the community, but as someone who used to have their sensory up to all the way here, and it's now down to here where I can go to concerts and feel more alive than less, I know what it was like to grow up with those sensory [concerns]. So for me, I think that's important, but I think attendance and platform awareness is super important.
Mason Ald: Houston also feels non-disabled people need to not just be aware of the disability community, but to come to events like Disability Pride to show their support and learn more.
Tyrone Houston: But again, I want to see the caretakers. I want to see the parents. I want to see the teachers, everyone that's so proud. I mean, because myself personally, when I tell my story of cerebral palsy, one of the main responses I get is, "oh, I know someone that has it." So, they feel they know what I'm going through because they've observed someone else living with it. Well, if you're so proud of the observation, why are you not here?
Mason Ald: Houston also challenges non-disabled people to feel empowered to lift up and stand with the disability community.
Tyrone Houston: I'm challenging you to fight the battle alongside me and not just suck up the glory for helping me. Be a part of the fight. That's what I would like to see, is, you know, you come out here. Mean what you say. I'm challenging you to stand on what you say.
Mason Ald: At Disability Pride, I'm Mason Ald for WBFO News.
Emyle Watkins: You can listen to the Disabilities Beat on demand, view a transcript, and plain language description for every episode on our website at WBFO.org. I'm Emyle Watkins. Thanks for listening and happy Disability Pride.
