"Disability Rights Hero, Justin Dart, Jr.,
Completes His Mission"

In an uncharacteristically quiet moment, Justin Dart, Jr., died on Saturday, June 22 with his wife and partner, Yoshiko Dart, at his side. Best known as the father of the Americans with Disabilities Act and often called the Martin Luther King of the disability civil rights movement, he thought of himself in much more humble terms - simply as a soldier of justice. After nearly 50 years of advocacy for the civil rights of oppressed people in America and around the world, Mr. Dart spent his final days at home completing his manifesto. His tenacious impatience and unwavering voice of empowerment will continue in the hearts and minds of all who fight for justice.

"Death is not a tragedy," wrote Mr. Dart before he died. "It is not an evil from which we must escape. Death is as natural as birth. Like childbirth, death is often a time of fear and pain, but also of profound beauty, of celebration of the mystery and majesty which is life pushing its horizons toward oneness with the truth of Mother Universe. The days of dying carry a special responsibility. There is a great potential to communicate values in a uniquely powerful way - the person who dies demonstrating for civil rights.

"I call for solidarity among all who love justice, all who love life, to create a revolution that will empower every single human being to govern his or her life, to govern the society and to be fully productive of life quality for self and for all."

Justin Dart, Jr., August 29, 1930 - June 22, 2002