#kitty cone

April 5th, 1977: The 504 Sit-In

The 504 Sit-In was a major disability rights protest that began on April 5th and lasted until the 28th. The disability community occupied federal buildings in the United States because of the government's failure to enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Before the passage of the ADA in 1990, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was the primary legislation for the protection of disabled people.

Conceived by Frank Bowe and organized by the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities, the sit-in protested the lack of a clear definition of 'disability' and the lack of enforcement or implementation timeline.

Activists around the country marched on federal buildings, including 300 people who demonstrated inside the Unites States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) building in Washington, D.C., and the long, contracted pressure in San Francisco organized by Judy Heumann and Kitty Cone, who worked with student activists.

In addition to student support, the disability movement had relationships with groups like the Black Panther Party, the Gray Panthers, the Gay Men's Butterfly Brigade, and the United Farm Workers.

The top images are in CYMK instead of RGB so they’re a bit wonky to look at. I took screenshots of the images of how they are meant to look (the bottom two are in RGB).

Regardless, the patterns are very cute on redbubble’s items!

The bags are actually my favorites :)

I’m happy to announce that these cute stickers are available in my shop. The idea for the design came from merging two of my favorite things, cats and ice cream. I call them Kitty Cones! I have them available in 3 flavors, vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. These were so fun to draw and make, I will definitely be making more animal/food combinations.

The 504 Sit-in

This needs to be turned into a major motion picture ASAP.

This is an incredible piece of history I never knew about until recently. Ever had a ‘504 plan’ in school? This is where it came from.

The longest sit-in at a U.S. federal building to date was carried out by disabled people. This should be in history books.

The fact that I could only find this one 18-minute documentary is a testament to how often disability civil rights are overlooked.

The San Francisco protest was primarily organized by three disabled women (one of whom was openly a lesbian). The protesters were also quite racially diverse compared to other movements of the time period. People with every sort of disability showed up and occupied this building for 28 days with limited access to medication, accessible bathrooms, food, and places to sleep. 

And I’ve only mentioned a fraction of the details on this very interesting and important event. In summary, I NEED THIS AS A MOVIE WITH A DISABLED DIRECTOR AND CAST PLEASE.

On 5 April 1977 a group of roughly 150 disability rights activists took over the 4th floor of a federal building in San Francisco and refused to leave until Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (which had been signed into law in September 1973 by President Richard Nixon) was implemented, protecting the rights of people with disabilities.

While Section 504 stated, “No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States shall solely on the basis of his handicap, be excluded from the participation, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance,” it had not been implemented under Nixon or President Gerald Ford. President Jimmy Carter’s Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), Joseph Califano, assembled a task force to review the regulations, which prompted the 25-day sit in, as protesters demanded the law be implemented without delay and without changes.

According to organizer Judith Heumann, "Blind people, deaf people, wheelchair users, disabled veterans, people with developmental and psychiatric disabilities and many others, all came together." The experience created a strong sense of solidarity. "We overcame years of parochialism."

The demonstrators received support from outside groups, such as the Black Panther Party, which provided them with food throughout the sit-in.

It’s been a long time since I’ve made anything new. But now I am happy to present a one hundred percent Raynn’s Crafting original, the Kitty Cone! A cute little keychain made of felt. It’s cotton candy flavored with rainbow sprinkle whiskers and chocolate fudge on top! I wanted to make something cute and I took the challenge to Paint. I’ve recently started up my Etsy shop, Raynn’s Crafting, so that I can continue to make these cute projects and eventually make this a full time job! Is this something that you’d like to be able to purchase and customize as your favorite kitty flavor? Let me know! I’d love to know what you think of this tasty treat!