Bob Kafka, an Austin-based activist who pushed for accessibility at the local, state and federal level for more than 40 years, died at his home in Austin on Friday at the age of 79.
The former Army veteran moved to Texas in 1974 after a car crash left him quadriplegic, beginning a decades-long career of advocacy for disability rights. The Bronx native first joined the fight for accessibility in 1984 and became a pillar in the movement that balanced on-the-ground resistance with political know-how. Kafka is survived by his longtime partner and fellow advocate, Stephanie Thomas, who joined him in the long fight to increase access to public transit, Medicaid funding and voting rights for people with disabilities.
For years, the two were known for carrying both a stick and a carrot, employing guerrilla-style protests that blocked city streets and crowded capitol domes with a legislative savvy to lobby for people with disabilities in Texas and across the country.
Dennis Borel, who worked closely with Kafka as head of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities, said he was a good friend, a loving partner and a dedicated organizer who got things done.
"He liked acts of civil disobedience," Borel said. "But ... his command involving public policy with people with disabilities was second to none. He was a combination of a guy in a T-shirt, rabble rousing, and then the guy in the back room incisively looking at legislation and making it better."
Kafka's lobbying raised awareness ahead of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the law that nationally enshrined protections for people with disabilities in 1990. Kafka also pushed for federal and state programs that use Medicaid funds to help people with disabilities live on their own, rather than at state hospitals or in institutions. His campaigning led to the establishment of Money Follows the Person programs after a landmark Supreme Court decision, Olmstead v. LC, which effectively ended segregation and discrimination based on someone's abilities in the United States.
Kafka's advocacy also shaped life for people in Austin. Years before the ADA's passage, Kafka pushed Capital Metro to make public transit available to people with disabilities and lobbied the city of Austin to normalize "curb cuts," divots that allow people using wheelchairs to access sidewalks.
Thor Armbruster, who worked with Kafka as an organizer at ADAPT of Texas, said Kafka celebrated victories small and large, but he always had a mantra: "onward." Armbruster added that Kafka wanted to pass on stories — and strategies — to the next generation of advocates for disability rights.
"You just wanted to follow his lead. He made things happen, and he showed you how to make things happen," Armbruster said. "And we're all better people because of him."
Borel said Kafka and his partner Thomas' work led to a "sea change" for people with disabilities at every level, but he thinks Kafka would say there's more work to be done.
"If he were here with us in this conversation, he would tell you, 'No, it's not enough," Borel said. "'We are falling short of true inclusion. We do need to make our country, our state, our world a better place for people with disabilities. And when we do that — not if, but when we do that — all of society would benefit."
For Armbruster, he can't help but hear Kafka's other mantra, one that served as his email signature: "Don't mourn, organize."
"It's kind of ironic in this situation with him passing, but I'm sure that's what he would want us to do," Armbruster said, "to lead on and to move on and to continue the fight."
