Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy didn't march James Meredith around the University of Mississippi. He marched James Meredith into the University of Mississippi. Mental health advocates have for years marched around the NYS Capitol, pursuing health insurance, employment and an end to discrimination. We have all been there, done that, and really do have the T-shirts.
A perceptible change in approach was sparked by the battle over involuntary outpatient commitment, known as Kendra's Law. The threat of being treated like a criminal for refusal to take medication was enough to galvanize an entire community.
Since that time, advocacy has become more vocal and more visible. During this session, advocates "Picketed for Parity" around the state. In Albany, we took our issues into the capitol, doing things never before done. In battling to get mental health parity legislation through the State Senate, advocates from across the state came together in June to support a "motion to amend" -- a fancy name for a procedural effort to get Senators to vote on a bill they're avoiding.
Three attempts later, following maneuvers and counter-maneuvers, the effort to get Senator Libous' parity bill past the Senate was defeated -- with all 23 Republican co-sponsors voting against their own bill.
On Wednesday, June 21st, nearly 100 supporters of the Medicaid Buy-in from across the entire disabilities advocacy community became protesters in front of Governor Pataki's capitol offices. In a well-prepared act of civil disobedience, eight advocates, including NYAPRS Executive Director Harvey Rosenthal, were arrested for refusal to move away from the entrance to the Governor's office. While demonstrators held signs and chanted "Buy-in Now!" -- State Police officers politely handcuffed and removed our friends and colleagues.
Advocates clearly recognize how important the Medicaid Buy-in is. Yet, you cannot fully fathom the depth of the commitment until you watch a physically immobile person in a wheelchair taken away by the police for something he believes in.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Riots do not occur at the point of greatest despair, but at the point of greatest hope." It is in part because we have worked so hard, been offered such promise, and then seen it dashed, that we are willing to travel this route. Today, the air feels different.
Not every advocate is going to agree with these tactics. Actions like this, be it a procedural effort for accountability, or getting arrested for something you believe in, tend to infuriate some of the powerful, humiliate others, or both. Some of our colleagues who are comfortable with the status quo -- the way things have always worked -- will threaten to disassociate if we proceed down this path. This should not give rise to the notion that they fail to support the greater goal.
The battle for civil rights has never been for the weak of heart or stomach. In this battle, there are those who will rise to the occasion, and those who will strive to lock in the progress as it is made. Each has its role.
We must remember that heroes are not born. They are created. In early June, State Senator Tom Duane (no stranger to civil disobedience himself) became a hero of the parity effort as he doggedly pursued 23 legislators, trying to get a vote on their bill. A week later, Harvey Rosenthal, along with NYAPRS' Michael Freedman and Bob Dodge became heroes -- we heard it happen as the handcuffs clicked around their wrists.