66 Search results for "disability"

Associating disability with weakness made it impossible to embrace my autism
By Latonya Pennington I first learned about autistic people through the teen fiction book Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde. Focusing on a group of friends at a pop culture convention, the book is seen through the eyes of an autistic, fat, straight white girl named Taylor, and a Chinese Australian bisexual girl named Charlie. […]
The Onus of Belonging: On Disability, Disney Princesses, and Finding My Tribe
By: Sarah Jama There comes a time in any healthy, developing friendship when a shift from acquaintance, to friend, to close friend—and if luck is at hand—to sibling or family occurs. The concluding shift, in my opinion, can only occur once one is made to feel thoroughly seen, thoroughly visible— flaws and all—by the counterpart […]
Student denied participation in graduation due to disability
Tariq Bashir earned his degree in front of loved ones this year. But not the way that many people expect. Due to Bashir’s disability, he was denied his moment to accept his college diploma on stage like the rest of the students.
Print Never Left: Black Writers on Archiving and Self-Published Print Media
by Dr. Ravynn K. Stringfield Social media is currently flooded with messages from people encouraging others online to “get into print media” or “go analog,” while simultaneously bemoaning the loss of politically aware print media that centered marginalized voices—RIP Bitch Media—and a dearth of media that represent our experiences. However, for Black artists, writers and […]
Why Black pain will never disarm white supremacy
A nursing book was recalled in 2017 because of the racist way that it discussed pain; how it is felt, how it is interpreted, and how it should be understood by physicians, and therefore, how it should ultimately be treated. This entry, entitled “Cultural Differences in Response to Pain,” included sections on “Arabs/Muslims,” “Asians,” “Blacks,” […]
We can’t ignore Marrianne Williamson’s fatphobia and ableism just because she supports reparations for slavery
Marianne Williamson makes me physically ill, and seeing people support her compounds my nausea. The Democratic candidate made waves last week when she delivered an impressive answer about reparations to Don Lemon post-debate: “[T]here were 250 years of slavery followed by another 100 years of domestic terrorism… given that there were 4 to 5 million […]
For Black women and girls who aren’t “autistic enough”
by Jo (Foderingham) Brown I remember sitting in the cafeteria in kindergarten when something made me feel anxious. When I was around this age, if I felt that way, I would physically ground myself: I’d clench my fists really hard or get up and move around. This particular day while my empty lunch box was […]
Guns too often become tools of intra-communal violence at the hands of cis het Black men
Trigger warning: domestic violence, gun violence, mention of suicide by Donnie Moreland On April 3rd, 1964 and at the Cory Methodist Church, Malcolm X would give one of his most quotable speeches. The speech was titled, The Ballot or the The Bullet. He began with these words, “The question tonight, as I understand it, is […]
We are no good to the dead, and yet we believe the grieving owe us their tears
In my family, we have a tradition of cooking and sitting with the grieving, especially when they have no words. Especially when the tears have been ripped out and the well to produce more has disappeared. We honor the lives of the folks who’ve been lost, beaten, and violently shredded from this world by sitting […]
The world is still inaccessible for us
by Jo (Foderingham) Brown The COVID-19 pandemic has forced non-disabled people to socialize almost exclusively via an internet connection. Suddenly, the IRL — “in real life” — world became inaccessible for people who have never experienced inaccessibility. But the world is still inaccessible for disabled and chronically ill folks. For the last three months in […]
Our calls to action against anti-Black state violence cannot be ableist
by Tahirah Alexander Green Since the global COVID-19 health crisis began, my post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms have intensified. With non-stop discussions of hospitals and medical care in the news, in our homes, at our jobs, my memory keeps reaching back towards every violent hospitalization I’ve ever experienced or witnessed. While my chronic illnesses are […]
The siblings of disabled youth are committed to building more accessible worlds
by C. Imani Williams Findings from The National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs reports 1 in 5 children between the ages of 12-17 have special needs. For Black children, however, that number increases as they are more likely to be identified as persons with disabilities. On top of this stark disparity, Black […]