L Sits

 

L sits and left

Beyond his shoulder

Is the Fair Folks'

Treasure holder 

As with all movements, we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us (“Beyond his shoulder”). The history of the Disability Rights Movement unsurprisingly starts with Abraham Lincoln. In 1864, President Lincoln signed a bill into law that allowed the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf, Dumb and Blind in Washington D.C. to confer college degrees (now known as Gallaudet College). The words “L sits,” though, has another meaning relating directly to the 504 Sit-in.  

L= Lomax 

Within a couple days, all of the sit-ins across the country began to fail. The participants stayed as long as they could, but food and specific care requirements began to force them to go home, except in San Francisco. And this was due primarily to one man, Bradley Lomax.

Bradley Lomax (1950-1984), a Civil Rights leader and disability rights activist, successfully united these two movements in the fight for equality. The following is as stated by The Center for Learner Equity:

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his teens, Lomax founded the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and organized the first African Liberation Day demonstration in 1972. A move to Oakland, California, where Lomax was unable to access public buses without being physically lifted onto them, launched his participation in the disability rights movement.

In 1975, Lomax worked with Ed Roberts, the founder of the Center for Independent Living (CIL) in Berkeley, to open another CIL site in East Oakland with support from the BPP. His activism led to increased awareness within the BPP of the disability rights movement, making him the cornerstone of a partnership built on solidarity. 

When, in 1977, disability rights activists staged a sit-in in San Francisco’s federal office building to urge the government to implement Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, Lomax was there. Alongside his fellow activists, he camped out in the building for three weeks despite the government’s decision to shut off the building’s water supply and phone lines. 

When Lomax urged the local BPP to help, they quickly mobilized, delivering food and essential supplies to the protesters throughout the sit-in. According to other protesters, the sit-in would have quickly fizzled out without this assistance.

The Black Panthers [publicized] the events extensively, drawing further attention to the cause—and they covered Lomax’s costs to travel to Washington, D.C. to put further pressure on the government. Their efforts succeeded, and Section 504 was signed into law on April 28, 1977.

You could say that the folks participating in the protest in San Francisco became a fixture in that building! It is worth noting that members of Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco also brought food, clean clothes, and tended to the special needs of the protesters.

Though this is not part of the puzzle, it’s worth mentioning that after years of hard work, in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed, ensuring equal treatment and equal access for people with disabilities regarding employment opportunities and public accommodations. This brought the rights of the disabled to the private sector and disabled persons into mainstream society. If you want to learn more about the Disability Rights Movement, there’s a stellar Netflix documentary called Crip Camp that will put things in perspective. 

On the surface, it may seem crazy to hide a puzzle within a puzzle that has no tangible reward. But at the time I’m writing this, I’m laid up recovering from knee surgery, so it makes perfect sense to me. This is a way for someone who is unable to visit a dig site to participate, a means of making the most difficult part of these puzzles accessible to everyone.