An Unfinished Journey:

Self-advocates Start Fighting for Rights

Self-advocacy began in the United States in 1974. Today, there are hundreds of self-advocacy groups around the country. The groups are organized by Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE). SABE's mission is "[t]o ensure that people with disabilities are treated as equals and that they are given the same decisions, choices, rights, responsibilities, and chances to speak up to empower themselves; opportunities to make new friends, and to learn from their mistakes."

Minnesota created the Self Advocates Minnesota network (SAM) in 2007 with the support of a grassroots disability rights organization called Advocating Change Together (ACT). More than 50 self-advocate groups around Minnesota are now connected and working together.
Individuals with developmental disabilities and self-advocacy groups have served as plaintiffs in federal lawsuits about deinstitutionalization, the right to employment, the ADA, and the right to the most integrated settings. Self-advocates are also active on public policy issues at state and federal levels.

Photo: A group of people using wheelchairs are gathered on a street corner around a sidewalk with no curb cut. Several people are holding signs with text that reads "Cut the Curbs" and "Walk of Shame." One person has a hammer and is breaking up the concrete where a curb cut should be installed. Photo courtesy of Tom Olin.

Photo: A self-advocate wearing glasses, a yellow sweater with a cowl neck, and a pink hat while holding a microphone. Photo courtesy of Sherie Wallace.

Photo: A large group of self-advocates gathered to watch self-advocates carrying different state flags down an aisle. Photo courtesy of Tom Olin.

SAM is part of Advocating Change Together: https://www.selfadvocacy.org/