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What your article fails to mention, is that thousands of people, including myself, who work in this building but NOT for the AMA were locked inside for hours because the protesters were blocking all the doors. No one could come in or leave; a woman was crying because she could not get past in order to pick her young child up form school. People missed appointments, flights and numerous other important commitments. This was not a "peaceful" protest. Last year, the protesters spit on those who entered and exited the building. I support anyones right to speak their voice, but why involve innocent people and disrupt their lives?

Yeah, but until the protesters showed up, did you have any idea that people with disabilities have no choice about where to live or with whom to live if they use Medicaid for personal attendant supports? Some issues need a dramatic demonstration to gain notice. This is one.

The innocent people in the building were forced to suffer ONE day of being locked-up with out the freedom to come and go as they please, but their are tens of thousands of innocent people with disabilities locked in nursing homes (against their will) without freedom to live in society for the rest of their lives. Now I asked; Who Is really enduring the most inconvenience?

i agree. and when efforts to negotiate do not yield a reciprocal response, what's left but direct action?

I have worked inside the AMA building for a non-AMA company for five years and have seen several demonstrations outside of the AMA put on by disabled organizations. I have never been spit on or engaged by any of the participants by other than to give me information about their cause. There are always a few bad apples in large groups, but I have never witnessed any in this particular crowd. And as for Renee's comment above, she is completely right. I had no idea that our government is trying to dictate where disabled people can use the financial benefits they receive from our government. If we as a society are going to help our disabled people financially then I see no problem with disabled people wanting to use their benefits to receive care in their own homes instead of being locked away inside of some nightmare nursing home. That's what I would want to do and I'm guessing almost anyone else would too. And that's what I want them to be able to do with my tax contributions. Our tax dollars are spent on some very good things, but some is wasted on all kinds of nonsense everyday that doesn't help ease anyone's discomfort. This is not one of those things if you ask me. The AMA receives millions of our tax dollars every year and have spent plenty of our money to lobby our government to limit the malpractice liability of doctors, regardless of if the doctor in question is negligent or not. I think the AMA can use some of our money to lobby for the rights of those who are disabled as well. Finally, ADAPT should be proud in knowing that their May 2007 demonstrations in in Tennessee brought about real changes and awareness, which is another fact I was unaware of before today's demonstration: Tennessee Legislature Takes Quick Action on Protest Bill http://spinalcord.org/news.php?dep=2&page=5&list=992 I would like to see the Chicago Reader will an in-depth article into this issue.

Wow, you guys are real smart, if these disabled people were put in nursing homes "aganist their will" then how did they manage to make it to the protest? just a thought.....

GEEZ Timothy, Some of them may have made the difficult choice that David Jayne did to testify before Congress - you see he gets home and community based serves thru medicare - but leaving for a non-medical reason subjects the person to loss of benefits and necessary care. Whether the person with a disability is in a nursing home or in their own homes, they remain Americans - and should be free to chose - but are not free, but jailed by the system and the system rules. FREE OUR PEOPLE! L W Pres. Californians for Disability Rights, INC.

Maybe your dramatic statement should be against the government who are cutting funding and making it harder for any person, regardless if it is the disabled or elderly, to have affordable and adequate housing and health care. However, regardless of who you are protesting against, it does not give anyone the right to bang on doors and windows, and deface private property. That is not taking a stand. That is crossing the line. I was there, I saw it.

Marsha here. In Chicago...at the ADAPT action. Many of us protesting were incarcerated in nursing homes and other institutional facilities for many years before being assisted by other activists and advocates to get free and move into our own homes in the community. ADAPT allowed all the people in the AMA building to have a tiny window into the reality lived by tens of thousands of people with disabilities...namely being "trapped" in a bed, a small room, a facility, and maybe crying for years because of the pain, humiliation, abuse, lack of privacy and choice...with no way out. These tens of thousands of people would give anything to be late to a community engagement, miss a flight or some other community commitment...because it would mean they were living free lives like the ones some of the commenters may take casually for granted. By the way, ADAPT hasn't been in Chicago in 15 years, so who the alleged spitters are is a mystery to me. Then again, I guess all us crips look alike, maybe? Marsha ADAPT P.S. btw, we worked an agreement with the police to let people with urgent/emergent situations in and/or out on a case by case basis.

Marsha, with all due respect, what right do you, or anyone else to impose this, "reality" on me and all the others in the building who had NOTHING to do with this? I am certain that there is much that needs to be done to rectify the deplorable conditions many of you have endured, but, as I stated earlier, preventing a mother from picking her young child up from school does nothing to prove your cause. This is an issue with the AMA, not me or the thousands of others who simply work in this building.

To those who don't know any better, I suppose you do. As a person who works with people with disabilities, for a member of ADAPT in fact, I'd like to think that I know better. Just because you're in a wheelchair or have a disability, doesn't make you any less of a person or any less deserving of the same rights and freedoms as anyone else.

Kristin K, With all due respect, a couple of comments: The police and the press have referred to *hundreds* rather than *thousands* working in that building. Could it be your numbers might be a bit inflated? Second, as has been pointed out, there was no ADAPT action "last year" - I cannot for the life of me think of any protest when anyone spit at or on anyone else. I'm here in Chicago and don't have a clue what you're referring to here. On another note, did anyone notice that, outside of this blog, none of the Chicago media reported anything relevant to the last two demands? Those are the ones related to "conflict of interest issues" in which private doctors and AMA board members have a financial stake in a nursing home or homes.

Sndrake: There was a protest last year, where people WERE spit on as they left the building. If it was not ADAPT, I apologize. And yes, there are THOUSANDS who work in this building, there are 26 floors. Again, the cause is a righteous one, but this reminded me of the war protesters who swarmed Lake Shore Drive when we invaded Iraq. This also affected numerous innocent people and the point trying to be made was overshadowed.

Look I'm all for protest, freedom of speech and taking a stand when something is wrong. That being said, it is not OK to take away the freedom of my fellow Americans who happen to work in a building that I am protesting in front of. That is what happened. You can poo poo the arguement and say that it was only a few hours and you have to live in deplorable conditions, locked up, etc. I agree with you that is BS but locking me into the building does not help your case. Yes I understand now that you are pissed, but now I hate you. Think about that.

Kristin K; What exactly is an "innocent person"? A person may not be directly involved in the situation or have the authority to make the changes (like the AMA), but they are still involved in society and can vote. In America the freedom to "protest" is to get the message out and, yeah, even civil rights protests have always inconvenienced people who are just in the building, or on a city bus, but have no link to the issue. I'm really sorry about the woman's child, but they were probably being watched over by someone in the school. Just thank God she is not in a nursing home because then she would never have the freedom to go get her child.

I am so sorry, SomeDude, that a single day of your life, no wait, a few *hours* of your life, were mucked up by some wheelchair-spinning protesters, and yes amid selling ads for the Reader I did take a peek out the window and found it pretty spectacular, too. Spot on, Mike. Unfortunately I could blog for too long about this situation, which is so incredibly complicated and began when good old Ronnie Reagan decided to de-institutionalize large hospitals and privatize the care of developmentally disabled and just plain disabled folk of sound mind but not able body. In addition to creating a rise in homelessness, it also gave private agencies, often started by grassroots parents of disabled children who wanted to ensure more freedom and opportunities for their children, lots of money to help establish CILAS (community integrated living arrangements aka "group homes' and assisted living apartments, etc.) This was and still is an amazing thing!! I worked in group homes for a year and a half, and the power and pride and amazing things that a person can do when they are part of a community could wow even an ass like you, SomeDude. So anyway, like all good things, a LOT of people got the shaft in sharing in the goods. If you think a waiting list for a CPS magnet school is bad, try putting your kid on a waiting list for a group home. Years and years and years..... ENTER nursing homes. This is where many disabled end up, even though their minds are as sharp as tacks. Stinky nursing homes smelling of antiseptic over urine with administrators that don't give a crap or are too jaded to care, and Medicaid dollars that flow in to the nursing home coffers. As of a couple years ago the situation for private agencies got worse. Medicaid demanded that agencies give services first, and then get reimbursed, putting counselors in a pinch to spend most of their time filling out paperwork and billing notes rather than providing direct care. The money just isn't there like it used to be, and that is a shame. We NEED more group homes, more CILAS, assisted living apartments, yet warehousing the disabled in nursing homes seems to be the "new" version of the old institutionalization. I dated a guy who was paralyzed, but works in sales and gets around via a wheelchair. He is of sound mind but not body had to live in a nursing home for almost a year. It drove him insane. An apartment with on-site help would have been much better. And SomeDude, if you ever happen to (hopefully not) get paralyzed while playing a sport or in some freak accident I hope that you will understand why a few hours of being inconvenienced is important if the message is a good one, as this obviously was. oh, and if anyone cares, you can see photos and photo-essays of people living in group homes in a book my friend and i put together, called "feel our freedom: communities and connections"-- I had wanted to call it "ALMOST HOME" as people with disabilities living in communities are still not quite at home or quite there yet.... mostly because of attitudes like yours, SomeDude.

What is interesting to notice in this discussion (for me) was that it reinforces the notion that the last socially acceptable form of discrimination is one against disabled people. It is ok to say that someone hates a group of people. It is acceptable.

SomeDude said: "Yes I understand now that you are pissed, but now I hate you." Isn't this hate speech? Isn't it illegal?

Renee says "Isn't this hate speech? Isn't it illegal?" I disagree, it's freedom of speech, just as you all had your little say at the AMA building yesterday. If the ADAPT protestors can walk around wearing "Doctor Death" lab coats, tell people how they don't care, defile a building, and cost thousands (yes, there are thousands that work in and for this building) of dollars! What if you found out one of your fellow members was in court but their lawyer never showed up to help you with your rights(there are lawyer offices in this building), or maybe you were doing a market research survey and were making some much needed money (yup, got them here too, and they pay quite nicely), and a clinical research company that was expecting patients to come to do visits for new drugs for symptoms that some of you may even have. The disruption was unacceptable, and if you have a problem with AMA, then you take that up with AMA. When the head of the protest was told "We're not even part of AMA, we just work in the building" he stated that he didn't care. Those of us outside were told we didn't matter, as opposed to those holding the protest, so isn't THAT a type of hate speech? I sympathize that something needs to be done, but it was ridiculous the way it was done.

What I meant to say was that thousands of dollars were lost due to your little "peaceful" protest. Who do I send my bill for lost time to?

"those of us outside were told we didn't matter, as opposed to those holding the protest." THAT is like a white person saying well, why do the blacks get a whole history month? B/c EVERY day is white person's day. Just like EVERY day is your day at the AMA building. It's not like these protests happen every day. These statements like the one that occurred yesterday are important. It saddens me that some of those working in the AMA building, aka you and SomeDude, did not see it as such. The people at the Reader across the street did, but then again we're just liberals working for a soon to be homeless newspaper so what do we know?

I work in the Thompson Ctr, which has been shut down by ADAPT for going on 4 hours now. I agree that this is a very small inconvenience to me, as compared to what many of the protestors and those they are here to represent must go through every day. However, can someone tell me what anyone at ADAPT thinks low level state employees are in position to do about their situation? I can assure you the the Governor isn't here, you can stop chanting for him. Maybe try someone who is actually in the building, although I know that doesn't look as impressive on camera. Also, you picked a fantastic day to block every exit from a public building. Tactically brilliant.

Way to stage a protest. I, too, work in the Thompson Center and gotta admit, they know how to throw a protest. I mean they pretty much shut the place down. Granted a lot of the vendors in the food court, from the corporate ones (Burger King, etc.) to the little guy that runs the convenience store probably lost a lot of money, but organization-wise, ADAPT did a great job blocking all of the entrances/exits and generaly getting noticed, which I conclude is what a protest is all about.

That's awesome. People with disabilities are so often expected to be Nice, just sit in a corner and be grateful for hand-outs and this scene with a crowd of us getting in people's faces, being an inconvenience restores my faith that maybe someday, we'll have rights, too.

Maybe we should teach in the history books about all of the inconvenienced white people that Rosa Parks prevented from getting home and to work when she wouldn't get off of the bus... We all lose as a society when injustices are prevalent, and we all must sacrifice something to fix them. We have lost that ethic in America. We have become consumers and not citizens. To ignore the problems and go about your life in ignorant bliss is the problem.

Sometimes you have to inconvenience people to make them wake up and pay attention. There is a civil rights movement going on and people don't even realize it. People with disabilities are the most discriminated against people on the planet... and the most invisible. People have to fight just to get a curb cut to cross the friggin street. So you are inconvenienced for a day. Try being inconvenienced for a lifetime like some of these folks. Imagine you are in a car accident and left paralyzed. Your workplace, your home, your favorite restaurant, the bus you take are suddenly inaccessible because you now use a wheelchair. You now have to rely on someone else to help you get dressed, to eat, and to groom. How would you like to be informed that you must leave your old life behind to go rot in some nursing home because the government will not pay someone to care for you in your home though it is a cheaper alternative? People are stripped of everything... especially their dignity. This is the sad reality that is happening all over this country folks. It can happen to anyone. It is unfortunate that people seem unaffected until it happens to them or someone they love. It is sad we live in a throw-away society where it is considered acceptable to toss the elderly, who built this country, and people with disabilities into these horrid places where they wait to die. All they want to do is stay in their homes. ADAPT were advocating for EVERYONE. Every single one of us will be affected by illness or disability at some point in our lifetimes - whether it be ourselves or loved ones. Change needs to happen NOW. Noone is less of a person because he has a disability. EVERYONE deserves the freedom they were promised. Keep fighting my brothers and sisters! Free our people NOW! Free our people!

Dear "peeved in Chicago" People in nursing homes/institutions are only allowed $30 a month to live on. Might I suggest you send "your bill" to the governor, your legislators, and the nursing home lobbyists (i.e. AMA, ASFME) who are lining their pockets while these death sentences are carried out right under their noses? Or better yet, how about seeing the big picture instead of your own agenda? I keep hoping people will do this so the world can be a better place for us all. With the guts to sign my real name, Rachel Rimgale p.s. I'm peeved by small-mindedness.

ab: We didn't "deface private property". We always clean up after ourselves. If you're referring to the paint on the windows, it was washable and we washed it. ADAPT engages in direct action in order to back up all of the other work we do. We've tried talking to the AMA and they refuse to listen. They're now saying that they need time to consider the Community Choice Act. Some version of the Community Choice Act has been around for 10 years. We've waited long enough.

It never fails to amaze me how self-righteously indignant privileged people can be when they are inconvenienced by people who don't have that privilege. Being free of disability means that you are privileged not to be barred from public places and bossed around by people who are making money off your problems. So Somedude hates these people he knows nothing about. Big Woo.

Ok fellas, this is getting way too heated, you guys are being like internet thugs here yelling at each other. etc etc soooo instead of arguing about this, why not go do something about it? again, just thinking out loud.... -Timothy

Timothy, Actually everyone was yelling at you.

I found this discussion *very* interesting - it reminded me of an article I'd written some years ago about being an 'uppity gimp' and how this can spark outrage and even violence in the ableist world. Glad to see so many of my brothers and sisters are getting 'uppity' and sorry to see that so many ableists are still so virulent and violent in their hatred of us. Also unafraid to sign my real name, Carol Cleigh Sutton formerly of Evanston, now in North Carolina