Celebrating a Disability Icon - Margot Imdieke Cross
As we celebrate the Americans with Disabilities Act turning 34 years old on July 26th, we must also celebrate the disability icon in the state of Minnesota: Margot Imdieke Cross.
Margot and I worked together for nearly 30 years in various capacities; From both of us sitting on the Minneapolis Advisory Committee on People with Disabilities to when I first came to the Minnesota Council on Disability (MCD) as a council member and then became the executive director of MCD.
We both focused on accessibility and rights. Margot and I spent so much of our time inspecting venues for accessibility, especially the bathrooms! I bet she reviewed thousands of plans throughout her lifetime. I learned so much from her. We literally would do the good cop/bad cop routine in these meetings and of course, I never got to be the bad cop.
Margot was truly a force to be reckoned with by being the state’s accessibility specialist. She could make grown men who were the building code officials feel really uncomfortable in meetings because she knew building codes that well.
She worked with almost every state agency from the DNR on trails, MnDOT on light rail, the Department of Human Rights, and the Department of Public Safety where she created the blue parking sign that we all know is disability parking, and DEED reviewing employment accommodations. Margot worked with the housing agencies and focused on building code changes, ensuring that developers included accessible units in every building.
Margo also was tough as nails went at the legislature. She was a great testifier and people wanted her on their side Because when you weren’t on her side, you would get blasted by Margo right there testifying against you. She took on many State agencies At The state legislature
Margot was asked to be a part of accessibility committees in many state agencies, where she was both loved for her knowledge, and disliked because of her unwavering forcefulness to comply with ADA requirements.
Here is where her influence will be evident for a very long time. Much of the work she did is embedded in state statutes that require the state agencies to do the work.
Margot formed state-wide committees for ADA celebrations every year! She knew it was important to bring in a speaker who actually had a disability and one who could give a rousing speech to rally the troops!
The ADA never had a sheriff but let me tell you, Margot came pretty darn close to being just that. And many times I would have to say to architects and state agencies, when they complained about having to follow the ADA, “Don’t make me send Margot!” She literally was the ADA!
The father of the ADA was Justin Dart and Margot knew him well. He often talked about rallying the troops as if we were all going off to war. Many of the ADA issues Margot worked on at the beginning of the ADA have been resolved. However, due to these uncertain times, unfunded mandates are at risk of being diminished or repealed totally. So, now it is up to us to move that dial forward and keep the ADA alive and working!
-Joan Willshire