Nearly twenty years ago Justin Dart - father of the disability rights movement - toured the country with his wife Yoshiko to raise support for a groundbreaking piece of legislation to protect the rights of people with disabilities - the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

This historic legislation secured rights for more than 50 million Americans with some kind of physical, cognitive, or other disability. Today Jim Ward of the National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR) honors those efforts with another cross-country tour - The Road to Freedom (RTF) - that began in Washington, DC on November 15, 2006. As part of the tour Ward, his wife and children will be making four stops in Tennessee to raise awareness about the ADA Restoration Act of 2007. The stops will take place in Memphis (Oct. 29), Jackson (Oct. 30), Nashville (Oct. 31) and Knoxville (Nov. 1), more stops than any other state. The mission of Road to Freedom Bus Tour is to alert Americans to the need for Congress to keep the promise of the ADA by restoring the protections that have been eroded over the years.

On November 1st the Tennessee Disability Coalition, along with the City of Knoxville, the University Of Tennessee Office Of Disability Services, the disAbility Resource Center, and the Tennessee Human Rights Commission will be bringing the tour to Knoxville from 9am-2pm at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Admission is free to the exhibit, and there will be free refreshments and door prizes.There will be a press conference at 2pm in front of the museum to honor local leaders and lawmakers who have championed the ADA in Tennessee and within their local community. Press is encouraged to attend. For questions please contact the Tennessee Disability Coalition at 615-383-9442.