Happy Disability Pride Month!

Disability Pride Flag

The Disability Pride Flag, created in 2019 by Anne Magill, represents people with disabilities, their struggles, and the disability pride movement. The flag's colors and diagonal stripes have specific meanings:

• Colors: Each color represents a different type of disability or impairment:

  • Red: Physical disabilities

  • Gold: Neurodivergence

  • White: Invisible disabilities and disabilities that are not yet diagnosed

  • Blue: Emotional and psychiatric disabilities

  • Green: Sensory disabilities, including those of the deaf, blind, and deaf-blind communities

  • Black: Mourning and rage over eugenics and neglect faced by disabled people

• Stripes: The diagonal stripes represent cutting through barriers and solidarity among the various sub-communities of disabled people

• Background: The faded black background represents mourning and rage

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signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Disability Pride is celebrated every July commemorating the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) being signed into law. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in many areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and many public and private places that are open to the general public. The purpose of the law is to ensure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. While we celebrate the passing of the ADA and the progress that has been made, we also remember those activists who crawled up the capitol steps and never stopped fighting. We must continue that fight until we live in a society that is equal for all.

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NJ Disability Pride Parade

In 2011, following in Chicago’s steps, ACI organized and hosted the first New Jersey Disability Pride Parade and Celebration (NJDPP) in Trenton. The event brought out 800 participants to celebrate ourselves, our community, our differences and our similarities, with music, vendors and fun. After hosting 7 parades, we went on hiatus when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. We are currently in the process of finding a new location for NJDPP and look forward to seeing you all in 2025! Keep an eye on our website for updates.

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ACI wishes you all a Happy Disability Pride month! We will keep you posted on any events surrounding the ADA.

We Need Your Input About #NJDPP 2023!

It has been a few years since the Alliance Center for Independence held the NJ Disability Pride Parade (now called NJ Disability Pride in the Park). Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, things were placed on hold for everyone's safety. We are looking into the possibility of NJDPP in the Fall of 2023 and want your input! Please take our survey at the link below.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR SURVEY

NJDPP 2023 Survey

NJ Disability Pride Parade is now...NJ Disability Pride in the Park!

COME AS YOU ARE: New Jersey Disability Pride in the Park (formerly NJ Disability Pride Parade) has a new look and a new venue! Come and celebrate with us at this first-time festival that will take place at the Alvin P. Williams Park in Sewaren Peninsula, Woodbridge Township (Middlesex County), New Jersey on Friday, May 29th from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

The 2020 NJDPP, a grassroots effort hosted by the Alliance Center for Independence (ACI), will also commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) in a beautiful new and expanded venue, a 36-acre accessible park in the heart of Middlesex County that features an amphitheater, picnic areas, paved paths, gardens and playgrounds along the waterfront of the Arthur Kill, with plenty of parking for festival attendees!

ACI has proudly hosted and organized the New Jersey Disability Pride Parade and Celebration since 2011. NJDPP is the one event in New Jersey where the disability community comes together for a day to celebrate pride in each other and to appreciate our differences and similarities!

For more information, or if you would like to participate as a sponsor or entertainer, please visit adacil.org/njdpp

ACI Hosts NJ Disability Pride Parade for the 8th Year!

The 8th annual NJ Disability Pride Parade and Celebration took place in Trenton on October 5th. The event included great entertainers, 40 exhibitors, terrific speakers, and tons of giveaways. "Thank you to everyone who made this event possible.” said Carole Tonks, ACI Executive Director and chief organizer of the event. "ACI is proud to host such an event that brings our community together." See you next year!

Vote for the NJDPP 2018 Grand Marshal!

UPDATE (9/21/2018): The poll is now closed. We will announce the winner on the NJDPP Facebook page soon. Thank to you everyone who voted!

1) AnnRose Rubright
As an unapologetically proud woman with Down Syndrome, AnnaRose is a role model in the community learning to embrace our voices and celebrate our disabled identities. AnnaRose is currently a student at Rider with dreams of becoming a filmmaker. Despite her young age, AnnaRose is already making waves in the disability community. She has worked for NDSS and has become a leader in many of their advocacy efforts on capital hill, including their employment campaign #EndLawSyndrome. In 2016, AnnaRose was the face of World Down Syndrome day. She is also the president and co-founder of her own by-and-for organization the Anna Foundation. AnnaRose considers Down Syndrome an important part of who she is and has dedicated so much of her young life to spreading the ideals of disability pride. She has already become a powerful force in our community and will only continue to grow and make waves.

2) Patrice Jetter
Patrice “the Artiste” Jetter is an avid artist who paints, draws, and sews her own costumes! She received a scholarship to attend The Yard School of Art In Montclair and the Art Institute of Philadelphia. She used to do modeling in the early ‘90s and was a dancer on MTV’s The Grind, and she starred in her own cable show on Montclair’s Public Access Channel 34, The Trish Show. Today, she makes her own short films and puts them on YouTube. She has done acting and musical theater in New Jersey for 20 years, and played an angel named “Patty” in Through Our Eyes, a musical about people with disabilities written and produced by her dad, Alan Rosen. She also made costumes for her niece and her band, The Moldy Peaches, who did the soundtrack for the movie, Juno. She has won lots of gold medals in Special Olympics in gymnastics and alpine skiing.

Patrice works as a personal care assistant for her companion and volunteers at the Arc of Mercer doing art, drama and music, and models her own designs in Alllies, Inc’s Fashion Show. She was also a member of DIAL, Inc’s Advisory Council and Board of Trustees and a graduate of Project Take Charge Class of 2000, and a graduate of Partners in Policymaking Class of 2001. She currently is a member of PCIL as well as NJSILC.

Patrice was the Grand Marshal for NJDPP 2014 and we loved the energy and style that she brought to the parade!

3) Chris Miller
Chris Miller is known as a tireless advocate for people with disabilities. Chris is a former member of the NJ Council on Developmental Disabilities and is currently on the staff of Disability Rights NJ. Chris works includes fighting for the rights of people with disabilities to vote. He is on the planning committee for REV UP NJ, which focuses on increasing the participation of people with disabilities in the election process. He has spoken at a few of REV UP NJ's events and was instrumental in obtaining several of other speakers. Chris is a natural advocate, and a future leader within NJ disability community. Chris embodies the spirit of the NJDPP.