Disability Advocate to Local Leaders: "Roll With Me"

Mark Raymond, a disability advocate in New Orleans. (Source: Instagram/@markraymondjr.)

In a split second, Mark Raymond’s life changed forever. Six years ago, Raymond took a dive off the back end of a boat. He didn’t realize the tide had moved, and broke his neck in a foot and a half of water. Since then, he’s had to adjust to living with a motorized wheelchair as he’s been paralyzed from his chest down. It’s been a tragic and difficult adjustment.

“When the responsibility of my care was placed on my family, and it was just us, that's when the true weight of it really hit,” said Raymond.

Aspects of life that were once normal, such as getting in a car and traveling, were suddenly out of reach for Raymond.

“There was a huge lack of accessible transportation for me,” he said. “So for most of that first year, I was isolated unless my mother would do a manual transfer for me into a car and bring me somewhere.”

For a long time, Raymond was deeply troubled by his new isolating circumstance. But as time passed, he began to see how sharing his experience could be a force for change within his community.

“It was really trying, especially that first year dealing with the guilt and grief and constantly looking backward and thinking about the ‘what ifs,’” said Raymond. “It took me quite a while to change my perspective to have forward thinking again and look forward to living this life.”

Through Raymond’s experience, he’s discovered where people with disabilities struggle the most in his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. He decided that the best thing to do was address those struggles and work to make life better for himself and the broader community.

“I think that big things have little beginnings,” said Raymond. “Things start small scale. Just like humans. Just like a seed. So, like a seed, it’s about how much you water it. How much sunlight do you give it? How much energy and effort are you putting into it? That makes it amazing.”

Over time, with lots of small movements forward, Raymond was able to create an inclusive gym for people with disabilities. Called Split Second Fitness, it’s become a place where people can go to continue their physical therapy, and it’s become a tight-knit community.

Now, he’s addressing the difficulties of independent transportation options for disabled people by advocating for safer and more inclusive street design. 

“Moving forward, navigating the healthcare system [and the transit system], it really felt like being reborn in a way,” said Raymond. “Having to learn all of these new things and learning how to live a disabled life; it was a lot for a 27-year-old who was independent and used to doing anything he wanted whenever he wanted.”

One in four people in the U.S. are disabled. And yet, inclusive transportation throughout the U.S. is limited. Taxi and rideshare services aren’t always required to accommodate people using wheelchairs, not all buses are wheelchair accessible, and splintered sidewalks cause frustrations and hesitations in going out alone.

Raymond points out that creating a more robust transit system won’t only make independent life more possible for people with disabilities, but it will also boost a city's economic prosperity.

“We’re beginning to address these issues as a city because it has an economic impact on the visitors that come here,” said Raymond. “One in four Americans can’t get around. That’s a fourth of potential engagement with the city lost. I wonder how many conventions we don’t get, even, because transit simply isn’t accessible.”

Raymond hopes to increase public awareness of the gaps in transportation by inviting local officials and people in the community to go on a “Roll With Me.” Through these efforts, Raymond has personally shown multiple members of his community where people with disabilities struggle to move about the city. Things like stepping up into a bus, something most people take for granted, became a serious challenge in a wheelchair. Raymond also explains to those who roll with him that “There are times in operation that transit services stop. Certain bus routes aren't 24 hours a day. So people can literally get stuck out and not have a way to get home.” So far, he said that each person he’s taken on a “roll” has immediately come to understand that “we need to do better.”

“They got a first-hand experience of what this what this life is like,” said Raymond. “Within the first few minutes, they get it. They think ‘Okay, well how do I do this? Well, how do I get there? How does this work?’ And they face all these disparities they maybe didn’t realize were there.” 

In many cities throughout North America, transportation falls short of being truly accessible for people using wheelchairs. Even in Philadelphia, a city that promotes its walkability, frustrating barriers persist. Amanda Parezo, who was paralyzed when a stray bullet hit her spine, demonstrates this on her daily commute to work:

“Transportation is the catalyst for society, and transportation equity is important,” said Raymond. “But in old cities like New Orleans, it’s largely not been on the forefront of people's minds.” Now, leading a charge for better transportation in his city, Raymond is getting his local officials to ask questions he’s wondered, such as: “Why don't we have more than one wheelchair-accessible cab? Why don't we have any wheelchair-accessible ride shares? Why is the public transportation system still not 100% accessible?”

“Disability is not gender specific,” said Raymond. “It doesn't care about race, creed, religion. It can happen to anybody at any time, anywhere. Life can change.”

By taking local people on rolls throughout the city, Raymond thinks this small action will start to bring about ideas and permanent changes through their transportation system. In 2022, Raymond was appointed to the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority. Now acting as Chair of the Board of Commissioners, Raymond hopes he can bring even more awareness and change to the transit system.

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