cripchick's blog

everyday people brush us off  ’cause we talk a little differently, think a little differently, move a little differently or because we are from group homes, in the foster care system, etc. they just don’t know. i love how creative you are.  give you thirty minutes, markers, poster paper, and you come up with hot shit like this:

we get painted as consumers, objectives of charity and service. when we’re quiet, they think we don’t have something to say. i love your activist heart and how fiercely it beats when we come together.

while debates around language are storming around us, here you are unashamed and carrying disability pride posters, naming our tables the “disabled and proud team”, and wearing hot crip gear. i love how subversive i feel when were populating the room with resistant bodies!

the other night when we were doing check-in, you all said you were doing great because you loved being with each other. i wasn’t sure if you were just telling me what i wanted to hear. it’s easy to get sucked up into the non-profit industrial complex and even easier for this to be just another disability conference on the calendar. i love how much this means to you. i love that, like me, you were so excited about seeing each other this week you couldn’t sleep. i love that you drove 3 hours to get here. i love that even though we were in the middle of this spontaneous, unorganized group meeting, you said we were more organized than everyone else because we had tshirts. : )

i love the way that every time there was a time to speak, it was our crew picking up the mic! (how did this even happen?)

i love the way that you are leaders. it’s funny to me, we moved away from a “youth leadership model” into one of community building and ironically, we have more leaders than before.

i love the way you are not afraid to speak your mind. you know how to kick it with legislators, other disabled people, allies, the cop coming to check our permit—everyone!

i love the way you look out for each other. i love the way we know each other’s access needs and the interdependence that happens when we are together.

i love the way you create safe space for each other.

i love the way you know how to party.

i love the potential we have. i love how beautiful you are!

total Disabled Young People’s Collective fangirl here. isn’t my crew amazing, yall??