Events were held across the country Monday to mark the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. At a ceremony at the White House, speakers included disability rights activist Marca Bristo. She is the president of Access Living, a nonresidential Center for Independent Living for people with disabilities in Chicago.

Marca Bristo: “The changes that this law called for — lifts on buses; accessible facilities, streets and public services; accessible ATMs, telecommunication; access to the workplace; and many others — could not and would not have happened without us. Civil rights laws do not self-enforce. They only come to life when enlightened citizens, people who say no to the outdated policies of segregation, dependence and paternalism, seize their rights and push the envelope of reform.”