Disability rights advocate Bob Kafka dead at 79 : NPR
Bob Kafka, a disabled Vietnam veteran, chats with an Austin police officer as he and others try to enter a hotel.
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Bob Kafka, a renowned disability rights advocate, died Friday at his home in Austin, Texas. He was 79 years old.
Kafka was an organizer for ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today), a group that advocates for policy change to support people with disabilities.
Mark Johnson, co-founder of ADAPT and a longtime friend of Kafka who confirmed his death, told NPR that Kafka’s advocacy was as much about changing laws as it was about changing lives.
“Maybe it was helping someone tie their shoes and the next moment maybe helping feed them, or maybe raising money through a fun run, or maybe negotiating with federal officials,” Johnson said.
Kafka was born in New York, but spent most of his life in Texas. He was an Army veteran and fought in the Vietnam War.
Since being paralyzed following a car accident in 1973, Kafka, alongside his wife, Stephanie Thomas, has prioritized finding dignity for people with disabilities and helping others adjust to their new lives. Kafka could be seen at disability rights protests, sporting a halo of white curls and an unruly beard.
“It’s very, very rare to find people who can do what needs to be done and not brag about it,” Johnson said.
He also recalled the altruistic nature of the community favored by Kafka, including the fact that Thomas’s first instinct was to ask him how he felt about losing a friend.
“I say, ‘Wait a minute, I’m calling to ask how you’re doing,'” Johnson said.
Johnson remembered Kafka as a policy enthusiast who was as interested in the workings of the federal bureaucracy as in popular organizing. He said he hoped his friend would be honored for his work to influence change at all levels.
“If you talk about disability to an average crowd, they’re going to think of something negative. Bob and others can help people make that change,” Johnson said.
“They say that claiming your identity – your full identity – can be very powerful, very liberating. And I think Bob was one of those people who has been doing that for 50 years.”
