With chants of "Say it Loud, We are Disabled and Proud," the fourth annual West Coast Disability Pride Parade and Festival made its way down Mountain Views's Downtown Saturday morning.
"I wanted to represent our disability community and most importantly to show pride," said 20-year-old Veronica Sullivan, a youth advocate volunteer in the Napa chapter of the Disability Legal Center. "It's helpful for us to show that we do have abilities, because sometimes people don't think we have anything to show."
Dozens of people walked and rolled down Castro Street to bring attention to area organizations that assist the disabled community. The parade route ended at Pioneer Park for a festival where vendor booths that help the disabled community. The event has taken place in Mountain View in the last two years, prior to that is was in San Jose.
Mountain View Mayor John Inks congratulated parade participants and shared how much he's already learned from his time there that morning.
"I am proud to be part of a city that celebrates diversity broadly, like how we are celebrating today," said Inks.
Mountain View-based Google stopped by with its driverless car and handed out soft cushions, which some people in wheelchairs quickly placed on their lower backs. Google runs focus groups that test products for disabled persons.
"I participated in a trial for devices for blind people," said Roger Petersen, a commissioner on the Mountain View Human Relations Commission. "We tested a talking web browser."
Story in development.
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