Advocate and activist Bob Kafka, a longtime organizer with the disability civil rights protest group, ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today), died Dec. 26 at his home in Austin, Texas.
Kafka was also the founder of AAPD’s REV UP campaign and a co-lead of REV UP Texas. A fierce advocate for accessibility, Kafka was arrested more than 30 times as part of his many fights to pass landmark pieces of legislation and to protect and establish critical programs, according to the American Association of People with Disabilities. (AAPD)
The legislative causes for which he fought for were often eventually successful, resulting in lifts on buses and increased funding and incentives for home-and community-based services, said Alexia Kemerling, Director of Accessible Democracy in a statement.
News reports said he was 79.
“Bob was driven by the conviction that disabled people deserve freedom, choice, dignity, and power. His ideals were not just dreams; they were a mandate, a directive that guided how he lived his life. He carried his conviction with a steady, patient, laid-back confidence. He believed there was always work to be done, but he also believed in making time for banter and jokes, time to educate and mentor people new to the movement,” Kemerling said.
Kafka attended his first ADAPT training in 1984 and remained a student of advocacy until the end of his life, according to AAPD. He interviewed hundreds of disabled leaders on his KSFR 101.1 Santa Fe radio show, Barrier Free Futures.
“Bob was brilliant. There was no disability policy issue I couldn’t ask him about. Part of that was that he read a lot, but part of it was he made it a point to get to know people, ask them questions, and listen to them,” Lydia Nuñez Landry, a leader of REV UP Texas, who advocated alongside Bob, said in a statement.
The National Council on Independent Living issued a statement as well recognizing Kafka for his work as “a powerful advocate and movement leader whose life and work helped shape the fight for independent living, disability justice, and community inclusion.”
Kafka believed deeply that disabled people belong in their homes, their communities, and at decision-making tables, the group said.
“His work reflected the core values of the Independent Living movement: dignity, access, self-determination, and collective power,” read a statement from the group.
His leadership was widely recognized, including his receipt of NCIL’s Max Starkloff Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the movement’s highest honors.
“With the recent loss of other prominent disabled leaders and voices in our movement, Bob’s passing leaves another giant void, one felt deeply not only within the disability community, but across society as a whole,” said NCIL Executive Director Theo W. Braddy in a statement. “Leaders like Bob remind us how much progress has been driven by disabled leaders who refused to be silent and who demanded better, not just for themselves, but for generations to come. His absence will be felt, and his legacy will continue to guide us.”