Deidre Davis Butler

Deidre Davis Butler (September 26, 1955 – August 7, 2020), born Deidre Ann Davis, was an American disability rights activist and federal official.

Deidre Davis Butler
A young African-American woman, seated and smiling, wearing a print dress and holding a pamphlet in her lap.
Deidre Ann Davis, from a 1997 publication of the United States Department of State.
Born
Deidre Ann Davis

(1955-09-26)September 26, 1955
Elizabeth, New Jersey
DiedAugust 7, 2020(2020-08-07) (aged 64)
Rogers, Arkansas
Occupation(s)Lawyer, disability rights activist, federal official

Early life

Davis was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and raised in nearby Linden,[1] the daughter of Hilton Davis and Bernice Jones Davis.[2] Her mother was a teacher and her father was a lawyer. In childhood, a spinal tumor and the surgeries to treat it affected her ability to walk; she used leg braces and canes as a girl, and a wheelchair later in life.[3] She attended Brandeis University as an undergraduate, and Howard University School of Law, completing her Juris Doctor degree in 1980.[4] She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.[2]

Career

Davis worked in state and national disability programs as a young lawyer, beginning at Rehabilitation International in New York in 1980.[2] In 1987, she worked at the United States Department of Education. She was involved in drafting the Air Carrier Access Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), among other important legislation for accessibility and disability rights.[5] "I was one of the very few people of color in the inner layers of helping to draft the ADA, implement it, enforce it from all different perspectives," she told NPR's Michel Martin in 2010.[6]

Davis served in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel from 1995 to 2001, and was head of the ADA Technical Assistance Division at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.[7] She traveled extensively, overseeing civil rights compliance at American embassies overseas. In 2005, she became director of ADA services for Walmart.[4] She retired from Walmart in 2012.[5]

Butler was founder of DYSability Dynamics, LLC, a disability law consulting firm.[2] She served on the boards of the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), the Howard University Center on Minorities with Disabilities, and the National Black Disability Coalition.[1] She was awarded NCIL's Max Starkloff Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020, just before she died.[8] The day before she died, she was listed as a featured panelist in an online event sponsored by the State of New Jersey, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the ADA.[9]

Personal life

Deidre Davis married Juan K. Butler in 2015. She died August 7, 2020, in Rogers, Arkansas.[4] Her grave is in the Fayetteville National Cemetery.[2]

References
  1. "Obituary: Deidre Davis, Disability Advocate". National Black Disability Coalition. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  2. "Deidre "Dee" Ann Davis Butler, Esq., September 26, 1955~August 7, 2020". Beard's Funeral Chapel. August 19, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  3. Davis, Deidre Ann (October 15, 2010). "Ability & Possibility: A Personal Chronicle of the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act". DiversityInc. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  4. Genzlinger, Neil (August 21, 2020). "Deidre Davis Butler, Who Fought for Disability Rights, Dies at 64". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  5. "NCIL Mourns the Loss of Deidre Davis Butler". Advocacy Monitor. August 11, 2020. Archived from the original on August 30, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  6. "Low-Income Minorities With Disabilities See Services Disparity". NPR's Tell Me More. August 2, 2010. Archived from the original on August 8, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  7. "EEOC CELEBRATES DECADE OF ENFORCING TITLE I OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT". U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  8. "SOURCES Board Member Recognized for Lifetime Achievement". Sources. May 21, 2020. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  9. "Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the ADA Striving for Equity and Inclusion" Panel Discussion (August 6, 2020).
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