By the early 1980s, the disability rights activists in Berkeley were gearing up for a new frontier of access: stronger federal access compliance guidelines and standards. This poem, composed by disability activist, poet, playwright, and muralist Neil Marcus for Going Where You Wheel on Telegraph Ave, reminds readers that recent strides in accessibility and enhanced mobility should not interfere with larger goals towards improved social inclusion.
“I live in Berkeley. It’s a wild place. When I visited about 18 years ago, it scared me. I came from a small desert town [Ojai]. This place was jumping. There were revolutions going on. The disabled revolution brought me back many years later. It’s not over. It’s just the beginning. You think we have access now, we are visible on a daily basis, we’re part of the scene, we’re on the buses and subways, ramping houses and apartments, going to school, working…this is just the beginning.”
Going Where You Wheel on Telegraph was a nifty booklet published by the CIL. It combined member-submitted poems, oral histories, and reflections with an environmental access survey of the businesses and street life on Telegraph Ave. They even published an accessibility audit of the CIL itself. After the CIL submitted the booklet to city council for review, Berkeley passed an ordinance outlawing board signs on sidewalks.
