July 24, 2025
Yesterday, hundreds came together in downtown Boston to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
REquipment, Inc. joined as a co-sponsor and provided free t-shirts, hats, bags, and, best of all, manual wheelchairs.
In fact, Reggie Clark came by and left with a new-to-him Drive manual wheelchair.
An hour later, Reggie was at the microphone under the flagpole, speaking clearly for disability rights.
“Tell your congressman, your city council, your town, anybody, make sure you tell them you have rights!,” Reggie told the crowd from that REquipment, Inc. chair (swelling us with pride).
After the ADA 35 flag went up the pole, the crowd turned to roll and walk between City Hall Plaza and the Embrace sculpture, full of determination for inclusion and accessibility and a resolve to keep rolling forward despite current-day threats to laws long fought for.
The march was powered by pride, community, and some tangible results of 35 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act: curb cuts that allow mobility equipment to move unobstructed, accessible public transportation so more residents could attend and demand further improvements to a state that must no longer hide people away.
That’s a fear Reggie Clark understands very well. At City Hall Plaza, he told the crowd he’d spent many years locked away at the Fernald Development Center in Waltham. (He’s lived independently since 1983. Learn more about Reggie Clark and Fernald.)
His friend, the disability rights historian Alex Green, also spoke, “This is a moment where we need transformational change, and transformational change cannot be segregated.”
Alex called on state leaders to fulfill their promises and prove their allyship, and for advocates to hold them accountable.
At the Embrace sculpture, dozens of demonstrators took photos with this art installation that commemorates Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King.
The words accompanying the sculpture resonated beautifully:
“Love is such a powerful force. It’s there for everyone to embrace — that kind of unconditional love for all of humankind. That is the kind of love that impels people to go into the community and try to change conditions for others, to take risks for what they believe in.”
The ADA 35 Boston slogan was “Rights to Fight For.” Adriana designed REquipment, Inc.’s ADA t-shirt using that slogan … which turns out was written by Alex Green.
Needless to say, Alex was delighted to have our t-shirt.
And REquipment could not be more honored to play a special part in Reggie Clark and Alex Green’s day spent celebrating the ADA. Both serve as powerful reminders to never give up.
Interested in Massachusetts’s disability history? Check out Alex Green’s new book A Perfect Turmoil: Walter E. Fernald and the Struggle to Care for America’s Disabled.
Interested in acquiring your own Rights to Fight For t-shirt? Check out REquipment’s ADA 35 merch.
