10/22/2025
It was one of the most powerful acts of protest ever seen in Washington, D.C. ā and it didnāt involve shouting, fire, or violence. It involved crawling.
On March 12, 1990, dozens of people with disabilities gathered at the foot of the U.S. Capitol to make a statement Congress couldnāt ignore. At the time, there was no accessible entrance, no ramps, and no legal protection guaranteeing equal access or opportunity for millions of Americans.
One by one, activists left their wheelchairs, crutches, and walkers ā and began crawling up all 78 marble steps to the Capitolās entrance. Some pulled themselves by their hands. Some dragged their legs. Children like 8-year-old Jennifer Keelan, who had cerebral palsy, were among them. When asked why she joined, she said simply,
"Iāll take all night if I have to."
The powerful image of people physically struggling to reach the seat of American democracy sent shockwaves through the nation. Within four months, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ā a landmark civil rights law that finally made discrimination based on disability illegal.
The āCapitol Crawlā wasnāt just a protest ā it was a statement of human dignity. Every step, every scrape, every push upward symbolized a demand that accessibility isnāt charity ā itās a right. āæšŖ
