Roll Call Wheelchair Dance invites one and all to participate in a dance flash mob at the 5th annual NJ Disability Pride Parade in Trenton!
The flash mob will be dancing to the song Happy by Pharrell Williams. Feel free to join the line dance at ANY point in the song!
Let us know why you have what it takes to be the Parade Marshal for #NJDPP 2015! Send us your essay (no more than 100 words) by September 4th and we will choose a Grand Marshal to lead the parade! Please include a picture of yourself with the submission.
You can email your paragraph to NJDisabilityPride@adacil.org with NJDPP Marshal in the subject line or mail a hard copy to ACI. Entries will be chosen by committee.
Five hundred people from throughout NJ and neighboring states attended the 4th annual NEW JERSEY DISABILITY PRIDE PARADE & CELEBRATION on Friday, October 3rd, in Trenton, NJ. The event was once again organized by the Alliance Center for Independence (ACI).
NJDPP featured a variety of entertainers, all of whom have disabilities. These included R&B singer Naquela Wright, singer and Hollywood actress Rachel Handler, vocalist Kaleigh Brendle, comedian Damon Rozier, Joy's Exceptional Dancers, a dance troupe made up of children with autism, Shimmying Lotus an integrated modern belly dance troupe, hip-hop dancer Christina "C-Bunny" Sarni and the Arc Mercer's music and drama programs.
Patrice Jetter, the grand marshal, kicked off the event by leading the parade, which began at the steps of the NJ State House. As part of the parade, the Mercer County Special Services School District's drum line performed while they marched alongside other participants. Ryan Henry, a member of the drum line, sang the national anthem to open the celebration portion of the day.
As a tribute to veterans with disabilities, the Army National Guard, based out of Lawrenceville, displayed flags which represented all the branches of the US Armed Forces.
Joseph Amoroso, director of the NJ Division on Disability Services, and Alice Hunnicutt, director of the NJ Division of Rehabilitation Services, were both honored for their support of the NJDPP and ACI.
22 exhibitors representing various state, for profit and not for profit organizations, gave out literature and resources for the event participants. The NJ Division of Disability Services raffled off emergency "go kits" at their emergency preparedness pavilion.
The purpose of the New Jersey Disability Pride Parade is to bring people, organizations and businesses together to celebrate pride with the disability community and to promote the belief that disability is a natural and beautiful part of human diversity while generating national awareness for the disability community.
NJDPP relies solely on sponsorship, donations and in-kind services. This year's sponsors include Brownstone Diner & Pancake Factory in Jersey City, the NJ Division on Disability Services, Fun Truck'n Mobility, BCB Community Bank of Woodbridge, LifeLong Retirement Corp, Community Access Unlimited, the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities and Easter Seals.
ACI is proud to have organized and hosted NJDPP for the past 4 years. We would like to thank the all of the volunteers, sponsors, donors, performers, participants and the disability community for making this event a continuing success and showing the world what disability pride really is!
See you next year!
The 4th Annual NJ Disability Pride Parade and Celebration is only three weeks away! Help us get the word out to your constituents. We are asking for all organizations and agencies to put the following in your newsletters and social network pages:
The 4th New Jersey Disability Pride Parade and Celebration, sponsored by the Alliance Center for Independence, will take place on Friday, October 3rd from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM in downtown Trenton, NJ. The purpose of the event is to bring people, organizations and businesses together to celebrate pride with the disability community and to promote the belief that disability is a natural and beautiful part of human diversity while generating national awareness for the disability community.
The NJ Disability Pride Parade and Celebration will feature entertainers, singers, dancers, musicians and comics, all with disabilities. The day will also include a parade through downtown Trenton, face painting, t-shirts, exhibitors and giveaways!
For more information, including exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities, please visit njdisabilitypride.com.
If you have any questions, send an email to njdisabilitypride@adacil.org or contact Carole or Luke at ACI.
Carole Tonks, Executive Director of ACI, recently sat down with Nigeria-based newspaper, New Telegraph to discuss the issues on rights, privileges and steps needed to change the way people with disabilities are treated around the world.
......
As a director in an organization that advocates for people with disability in America, why is it that people with disabilities, especially physically challenged persons, are most times looked at differently?
It is unfortunate that many people see the disability first and not the person. As more and more people with physical disabilities are out and living independently in, and contributing to the community, people’s attitudes will change.
The Alliance Center for Independence is said to recognize disability as a natural and beautiful part of human diversity. Can you explain to me the beauty in disability?
One of the beautiful things about the United States is its unique diversity of her people. We take pride in being a melting pot. Disability is a natural and beautiful part of that diversity. We recognize each other’s beauty in our uniqueness. We are more similar than we are different.
Many persons with disability get into the condition through accidents and it becomes difficult to adapt to the status of being a challenged person, how should family members, the public and the society at large help someone overcome the initial trauma of adjusting to such a life?
For this question I went to Nybil Ghanem. He works at ACI as an Information and Referral Specialist; he is also a young man with a disability.
I asked him to respond to this question: “It takes time to adjust to any disability, sometimes longer when it is acquired through an accident or unexpectedly. When this happens, it is most important to stay positive to the fact when faced with hardships in life that the person is going through. For their family and friends it is also a trying time. Being supportive, listening and remaining positive and giving the person time can be helpful. Remember, it takes time to heal both physically and emotionally.”
by Millie Gonzalez, Co-emcee of the NJ Disability Pride Parade
On October 4, I will join hundreds of people with and without disabilities to CELEBRATE disability pride. Together, we will honor and demonstrate that disability is a beautiful and natural part of human DIVERSITY.
For the third year in a row, I will have the HONOR of sharing the stage with my friend and fellow mistress of ceremonies, Maria, as dozens of musicians, dancers, poets, motivational speakers community leaders -- all with different disabilities -- showcase the UNIQUENESS of our humanity through entertainment.
Each year, the number of people who attend the parade has grown significantly, which serves as a testament to our inherent connectedness and DESIRE to come together to share who we are with the greater community. Although it is not a march, it is also a nod of RESPECT toward those who have fought for our freedoms and for those who continue to demand our equal civil rights.
Like
the vast diversity that exists in our COMMUNITY, disability pride
manifests itself in various forms, from community organizing and
demonstrations, to mentorship and advocacy, to integration and public
policy, to simply living LIFE with a disability through work, play,
performance and family.
Although disability is a large part of my IDENTITY, to me, disability pride is a feeling best expressed through real-life experiences -- three of which I will share here:
Shortly after earning my master's degree (focused, in part, on disability studies) in 2007, I attended my first national Spina Bifida Association conference. A lesson in INDEPENDENCE, it was the first time I ever took a flight by myself. When I got to the designated gate, I was thrilled to find a half dozen other wheelchair users, including two young adults, Jen and Maureen (with whom I would spend much time over the course of the next week and with whom I have remained friends). However, it was when I arrived at the host hotel and rolled into the lobby filled with wheelchair users, crutch users and others with unique gaits, that I was overwhelmed with emotion. As my other new friend Jesus described, "I was finally HOME," in a place where no explanations were needed and friendships emerged from a place of common experience as well as unrelated compatibility. I should mention here that I experienced the same feeling and newfound friendships years later when I attended, first as a speaker, then as an associate member, The CP Group regional conferences for professional adults with cerebral palsy.
Nearly
a year ago this October, when my house was destroyed by Superstorm
Sandy, I again found COMFORT through my disabled existence. Within less
than 24 hours of finding out on Facebook that my home had been severely
damaged, a small group of my amazing "cripfam" created an online
crowd-funding page to help with the eventual rebuild, while others
offered to send me medical supplies, that from common experiences, they
knew I needed. Disability-related organizations, including the Alliance
Center for Independence and many others who are sponsoring our event
this year, also offered help. My news feed and inbox were inundated with
messages of support from friends and strangers which continue to
complement my livelihood today - each one a reminder of the HOPE, LOVE
and SOLIDARITY that exists within the disability community of which I am
a part.
Perhaps most fittingly, one of the most PROFOUND experiences of disability pride occurred in 2011 at the inaugural NJ Disability Pride Parade & Celebration. As that momentous day came to a close, Maria and I exchanged a moment that, we later discussed, will live with us for eternity. We made eye contact, wholeheartedly smiled, felt a wave of intense energy and began to cry -- tears of true DISABILITY PRIDE. In that moment, as we looked out to hundreds of people dancing and smiling in the crowd, we realized that all the time and effort put forth by our small steering committee to bring this event to fruition was worth it... and we were blessed to be a part of this incredible initiative.
This, our third consecutive year, is no different except that even more people will come TOGETHER, some in person, others in spirit, to not only represent the beauty that exists in the diversity of disabilities, but to experience what it feels like to be disabled and proud.
The 3rd Annual NJ Disability Pride Parade will be held on Friday, October 4th at 9:00 AM in Trenton, NJ. For more information, please visit NJDisabilityPride.com
