A guest post by disability advocate Nikki Villavicencio.

This Disability Pride Month, we celebrate the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), one of the most important civil rights laws in our nation’s history. The ADA changed our country. It opened doors that had been closed for generations and affirmed something disabled people have always known: We belong.

But the ADA was never meant to be the finish line.

It was the foundation. As I reflect on this Disability Pride Month, I keep coming back to one simple truth:

The world is better because disabled people are here.

Our lived experiences make our communities more creative, more compassionate, and better at solving problems. When disabled people are included from the beginning, and when we’re trusted to lead, everyone benefits.

That’s also why I believe disability is diversity. There has never been a diverse community without disabled people. Disability exists in every race, culture, faith, generation, and neighborhood. We aren’t an afterthought to diversity. We’ve always been part of it.

This year has reminded me that progress doesn’t happen on its own. Rights have to be protected. Accessibility has to be built. Inclusion has to be intentional. And justice requires all of us.

For too long, too much of this work has fallen to a small number of advocates speaking into the wind. It’s time for that wind to become a chorus, a movement led by disabled people and strengthened by allies who are ready to build communities where everyone belongs.

This ADA anniversary, let’s celebrate how far we’ve come and recommit ourselves to the work ahead. Because accessibility is good for everyone. Because disability is diversity. And because the world is better because disabled people are here.

Happy anniversary to the ADA and happy Disability Pride Month!