Johnny Crescendo (aka Alan Holdsworth, National Organizer for DAN)
Over 150 disabled people took part in 3 days of demonstrations in London England campaigning for Civil Rights and Accessible Public Transport. The actions began with the occupation of the National Offices of the Bus industry at the Confederation of Passenger Transport and blocked buses on Kingsway and the Strand. An undercover team of Danners managed to ellude security and handcuffed themselves to an Underground train for over an hour directly under the Head Quarters of London transport.
Friday DAN staged the biggest decoy of its illustrious carreer by sending two thirds of the activists to protest directly outside Buckingham Palace whilst the police followed them. Once they were gone, with police in two, the other third got out of bed and went directly to the Head Quarters of London Transport where they closed down both the station and office. Then the crowd that had been at Buckingham Palace all day came over and joined in surrounding St James Park Station and the Headquarters until 9pm. that evening.
On Saturday DAN took its message to both the Labour and Conservative Party headquarters. The police were out in force at the Conservatives and DANNERS blocked the entrance for 2 hours. Meanwhile over at Labour HQ. 15 DANNERS got in and occupied the main office. DANNERS from the Conservative Party HQ. joined forces with DANNERS outside the Labour Party HQ. and blocked the whole of Millbank (a key London road) for 3 hours ending in a triumphant march along Millbank to the Houses of Parliament.
Since DAN raised the issue of accessible public transport over 3 years ago the government and the industry have moved from a position of "no way" to a position that all new buses will be accessible from Jan.1st 2000 and a date between 2010 and 2015 when all buses must be accessible.
We sent powerful messages to transport operators and politicans that they will have to deal with DAN, that disabled people are powerful. We have shown that we will no longer be pushed aside, patronized, patted on the head and cast to the margins of public life.