Ed Roberts Day - another milestone of Independent Living

Ed Roberts, a Berkeley quadriplegic who began the disability rights movement 40 years ago, now has his own California day.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, famous Hollywood actor and US politician signed a bill on Monday creating Ed Roberts Day, encouraging schools and other institutions to educate the public about the disability-rights and Independent Living pioneer every year on his birthday, January 23 each year. The commemoration does not include time off for state employees.
"Ed Roberts was a great example that whatever life hands you, you can be a success," said State Senator Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, a former next-door neighbor of Roberts' on Ward Street in Berkeley. "California should be very proud."
Roberts, who had polio as a teenager and relied on an iron lung, was among the first  student with severe disability to attend UC Berkeley, and went on to found the First Center for Independent Living. He died in 1995.