Access Living Youth Center

Direct Action

In the disability rights movement, you might hear some people talk about using direct action to make change. Huh? What is "direct action"?

Direct action is a way of being able to speak for yourself, instead of waiting for others to speak for you. Usually, direct action is tried when all the other "nice" ways of fixing an issue have failed. If you have written letters, made phone calls, tried to set up meetings, and nothing works, then direct action may be for you.

Ways of doing direct action include protests, rallies, marches, arrests, chanting and so on. Direct action is basically when someone without power is able to make someone who has power listen to them and fix an issue. Two famous people who used direct action were Martin Luther King, Jr., and Gandhi.

People in the disability rights movement also have a long history of doing direct action. ADAPT is the most famous group of people who are known for doing direct action to create change. Instead of waiting for politicians to make decisions, ADAPT goes straight to decision makers and sets the agenda.

Direct action is about changing the balance of power so that the people who are in charge have to listen to you. Direct action is about not having to wait on other people to fix things for you. Direct action is about you taking charge.

To learn more about direct action and how the disability community uses it to fight for our rights, contact Amber Smock at (312) 640-2191 or asmock@accessliving.org.

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