# ‘We want to ride’: the 1978 protest that sparked the disability rights movement Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/up-first-from-npr-7816123/we-want-to-ride-the-1978-protest-that-sparked-the-disability-rights-movement Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/up-first-from-npr-7816123/we-want-to-ride-the-1978-protest-that-sparked-the-disability-rights-movement.md Podcast: [Up First from NPR](https://stenobird.com/podcast/up-first-from-npr-7816123) Published: 2026-07-26T07:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/we-want-to-ride-the-1978-protest-that-sparked-the-disability-rights-movement--73174798 Audio file: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73174798/default.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/up-first-from-npr-7816123/episodes/we-want-to-ride-the-1978-protest-that-sparked-the-disability-rights-movement Duration seconds: 1613 ## Resource Thirty-six years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law, guaranteeing civil rights for millions of Americans. But the movement that made that day possible began years earlier. One pivotal victory was won by a small, often-forgotten group of activists in Denver known as the "Gang of 19." On The Sunday Story, NPR’s Joseph Shapiro and Colorado Public Radio’s Stephanie Wolf trace the history of the disability rights movement—from the protests that secured accessible public transit to the modern-day fight to protect the hard-won right to live independently. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy 🔗 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: 📩 Get the full transcript and daily news alerts: 👉 https://goo.su/rXoU5U8 👈 📌 Support the show by visiting our sponsors and partners. 🎧 New episodes every morning at 6 AM ET. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/up-first-from-npr-7816123/episodes/we-want-to-ride-the-1978-protest-that-sparked-the-disability-rights-movement/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/up-first-from-npr-7816123/we-want-to-ride-the-1978-protest-that-sparked-the-disability-rights-movement.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.