I was there . . .
Stephanie Thomas
San Antonio, 1985
Stephanie Thomas reads her narrative.
San Antonio was my first action and ADAPT’s first hit on a regional APTA (the
American Public Transit Association) conference. We stayed in a convent and our
rough ways were not too pleasing for the nuns. The place had a kitchen, meeting
rooms and little bunk bed sleeping rooms. The doors of many rooms were too
narrow to get in; nothing was really accessible -- but we made it work.
Mark Ball and a group of others came out when I arrived. He walked, and he had a
portable vent thing with him at all times. They immediately started in with a
lecture on the politics of oppression. They were so tough, so ready to cut
through the crap. My heart opened and I thought, "hmmmmm this group is something
real."
Back then we had group meals for dinner – we were much smaller in numbers, about
40 people – but it felt like an army. When I went inside everyone was in a big
meeting discussing targets and tactics for the next day. Everyone was talking.
The dishes from dinner were in the sink. I went in to wash them – it was clear
the folks who cooked were listening intently to the discussion and they were
going to do attendant work when it was done. Dishes were the least I could do.
The discussion and debate went on for hours, as the group thought through the
strategy and tactics for the upcoming days.
All the Texans slept in this sitting room together. I was the only woman in the
group and they insisted I take the couch. It was so quaint and gentlemanly.
The next day Wade bought everyone straw cowboy hats to wear. We loaded into vans
and drove downtown. We had lots of vans and packed in tight! Some of the local
disability community joined us as we marched around the Alamo with signs calling
for lifts on buses. We went over to the lobby of the hotel where APTA was
meeting and took over the lobby. With its open atrium, our chants echoed through
all the floors. Finally Jack Gilstrap, the Executive Director of APTA, came down
and met with us, but he refused to budge. He would not support lifts on buses.
We took off in pairs and trios, as planned, fanning out across the downtown. Our
demand was a meeting with Mayor Henry Cisneros. There were no cell phones or
radios, yet we simultaneously started blocking buses all over downtown. It was
my first time and I was with Mel Conrardy and George Florum. They told me it was
easy: two in front and one behind, making sure to stick out so the driver would
see you in the rear view mirror. Mel looked so mellow it was hard to believe he
was doing what he was doing. George had the biker look down to a “T”. We waited
for the bus to stop for a red light and boom -- we were rolling off the curb cut
and were in front, then behind, the bus. My heart was pounding through my rib
cage.
We had about 20 pairs, but in the end, the only ones arrested were two people
who couldn’t find an unblocked bus, got frustrated, and blocked a car instead.
Cisneros quickly agreed to meet with us on Wednesday.
The next day I had to go back to work, but the group took over the VIA Transit
office. I came back to tales of ringing a giant bell in their lobby for hours on
end, of sticking crutches through double swinging doors and wheelchairs
everywhere in the office. The Transit director, Wayne “lifts on San Antonio
buses over my dead body” Cook, sounded wild.
Day three, we met with Cisneros in the Convention Center. He seemed truly
interested and promised to make changes, which he actually followed through on
later. The media, though they covered our issues and us, was also full of happy
locals riding VIAtrans paratransit. Some locals had bravely marched with us and
spoke out to the media in support of our goals, risking retaliation from the
notoriously oppressive VIAtrans.
A local cartoonist, Leo Garza, did a series of Nacho Guarache cartoons on our
issues with the transit pros! After Cisneros, we went back out to ride the
trolleys. They were not accessible, so a couple of others and I crawled on
different trolleys. Once up in my seat, I could not remember a more beautiful
and peaceful tour of San Antonio – like a completely different city. The
experience underlined for me “how the other half lives” and why we needed to do
what we were doing.