Margot Imdieke Cross recalls what life was like before the ADA when she would ride a bus or needed to use a restroom, and how we need to safeguard the right to access.
Transcript
Margot Imdieke Cross: I understand what life was like before the ADA. If you needed to take a public bus, I literally had to crawl up the steps, if I couldn’t get somebody to pull me up the steps in my wheelchair.
Host: This is Keep Moving Forward.
George H.W. Bush: Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.
Host: Exploring the legacy and promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Margot Imdieke Cross: Margot Imdieke Cross is my name. I'm an accessibility specialist, which means that I work with a lot of contractors, a lot of designers, a lot of people with disabilities on access issues.
The vast majority of bathrooms out there weren't even remotely accessible. So you’d learn how to look for secluded areas, privacy, so that you could take a quick potty break.
Life was so different. And so many of us experienced such injustice in just trying to live our lives. We have to safeguard our rights.
Host: Keep Moving Forward is supported by The Minnesota Council on Disability, The Minnesota Humanities Center and the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, online at Ampers.org.