I'm Ayesha Roscoe.
This is the Sunday Story from Up First.
Let's go back in time to this exact day 36 years ago.
It's when President George H.W. Bush picked up his pen and signed the landmark piece of legislation.
And welcome to every one of you out there in this splendid
scene of hope spread across the South Lawn of the White House.
The legislation was the Americans with Disabilities Act, an immense civil rights law.
Disabled people could no longer be excluded from jobs, public transit, restaurants, stores, and hotels.
As he put his name on the law, President Bush thanked the biggest stakeholders,
who were perhaps the loudest in advocating for the bill, the tens of millions of Americans with disabilities.
And to all of you, I just want to say your triumph
is that your bill will now be law and that this day belongs to you.
And on behalf of our nation, thank you very, very much.
One major act of inclusion the law provided involved independence.
The ADA opened the door to Americans with disabilities to live and receive care in their own homes,
to live within their community rather than in a nursing home or institution.
It's a hard-fought right gained after years of activism.
Today on The Sunday Story, NPR's Joseph Shapiro and Stephanie Wolfe of Colorado
Public Radio are going to share their reporting on this bedrock of disability rights in the U.S.
We'll be right back.