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thinking beyond strategic shortcuts
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January 31st, 2010activism, disability justiceas someone who is a disability community builder (think potlucks, youth training programs, etc) a good chunk of my time is spent creating space and relationships where people are working through their disability identity for the first time. much of this is done by talking about our social positioning and the ways our lives are similarly shaped by ableism. pretty soon, it is easy enough to connect shared values, experiences, and history and point out that we share a culture of disability. i love the word disability culture because it describes the indescribable & recognizes that which is supposed to be left unspoken: the commonality you can only find among other outsiders, the sigh of relief that comes with realizing you don’t have to “pass” or make yourself least disabled as possible here, letting ourselves be loud, clanky, take up space, etc.
last night i had a 2 hour skype conversation with someone who not only has the same politic i do, but also has a similar disability to mine. in my disability organizing, it has somehow become common for me to be the only wheelchair user in a space and i forgot how goooooood it feels to be with someone that deals with the exact. same. shit. i. do. my body is going through a lot of change right now and i am starting to recognize that my visually impaired, autistic, or Deaf guy friends will never be able to help me understand my changing body in that same way that a (queer) woman (of color) with a mobility impairment can. a little surprised that this is something i have let myself forget… it is the reason i believe in community and why i work so hard to find ways for other disabled people to have “OMG you have that experience too??” moments
i’m also realizing that not allowing space in cross-disability work to recognize that our experiences are *not* the same has been a great disservice to us all. i know when i am using the term “people of color”, i have to recognize that my experience as mixed asian woman is vastly different from that of a black or latino brother so it is strange to me that this understanding doesn’t transfer into my disability work. my friends and i have spent so much energy this year fighting/crying/being let down around accommodations and access that i am seeing the way that maybe this is connected to our inability to hold a space that says our experiences with disability are different and that what it takes for us to participate in a space is different.
it seems like with everything else about disability, this space is a balance, an art. i do not believe in coalition-based thinking (over community-based thinking) because i’ve seen the way that it has meant disabled people only caring about their individual disability issues and fighting for their piece of the pie instead of working for us all getting free. at the same time, i have to be able to recognize that our experiences are different and that multiple kind of spaces are necessary…
3 responses to “thinking beyond strategic shortcuts” 
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You are a wise woman. First of all I love the phrase disability community organizer. Secondly, your observations about the tendency to divide ourselves by diagnosis AND noticing that not connecting with others who do have our diagnosis (or interest, lifestyle or whatever) is not enough is right on the mark.
The trick, I think, is to choose both sometimes. I was part of a general moms group and a couple moms left for a disability-related moms group, one left for a single-moms group… I actually got benefit from being in the disability-related AND the general one. Needed both and my presence in both (and a church and a book club) created this sort of Venn diagram that brought about interesting possibilities.
Now it is possible to overdo this (I read your last post too!) But it is worth building in some ‘both’ when you can, I think.
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cripchick January 31st, 2010 at 15:41
i love the idea of venn diagrams to map out our community & support systems!! have been thinking a lot about what my support system looks like lately (involved in a project that works with young ppl to reenvision our support systems in a way that centers reciprocity and promotes self determination) and definitely think you are on point w/ the multiplicity piece…
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I love developing cross-identity activist coalitions! I find it especially important when certain disabilities can be so socially isolating. As someone who’s been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, dealing with the fatigue associated with getting out of the house has definitely been a challenge.
My college-campus queer group was not always supportive/understanding of my physical difficulties. (Only two people took the time to drive out to visit me.)
At the same time, not all disabled people are allies to the queer community.
But then, that’s the issue with all multiple identities, isn’t it?
I think real institutional change comes from building coalitions around common issues. Identity politics screws everyone over.
I don’t know if you’re familiar with either of these, but a really good organization that deals with prejudice reduction and coalition building is the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI http://ncbi.org/). There’s also a really awesome documentary made by black gay men with HIV/AIDS about reclaiming their identities, bodies, and spaces. It’s called Tongues Untied (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongues_Untied).
Also, I wrote a blog post that’s modeled after “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” that you might be interested in. It has to do with ableism (http://healinglesstraveled.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/abilitys-invisible-knapsack/).
I’m interested in exploring more of your blog!
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Fourteenth Carnival of Feminists: Social Justice Organizing | Change Happens: The SAFER Blog February 17th, 2010 at 15:14
[...] Cripchick’s blog, “thinking beyond strategic shortcuts” reflects on how community-builders—who organize folks who identify as part of one [...]
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cripchick
Cripchick is a queer disabled corean-american living and loving in North Carolina. Cripchick is a 22 year old youth organizer who has been working in the youth arm of the Disability Rights Movement since high school. She is most interested in using poetry, community organizing and media as a way to cut through isolation that marginalized people often face. Cripchick is a radical woman of color feminist and believes in the power of people coming together.
you can say hi by clicking on the post titled and leaving a comment, emailing her at consciouslycrip[at]gmail
[dot]com, or on twitter.
A Few Projects Cripchick Is Involved With
Cripchick is facilitating a satellite campus in her local community for School of Our Lorde. School of Our Lorde is an effort to bring people together to study the poetics, pedagogy, politics and publishing of feminist warrior poet Audre Lorde. You can join an existing campus, participate by distance learning or start your own campus! To find out more, visit: http://summerofourlorde.wordpress.com/
Disability Justice Track at the Allied Media Conference
The Allied Media Conference is an annual gathering where artists, media makers and activists come together to talk media strategies for community building. Cripchick is working with other disabled people to create the first ever Disability Justice track--- a space where we people will dissect a disability justice analysis and have time to talk about the way disability shapes our work as cultural activists, media makers and activists. You can find out more at http://alliedmediaconference.org
Disabled Young People's Collective's first ever Activism, Community, Empowerment Summit
Cripchick is an active member with the Disabled Young People's Collective, a crew of disabled youth working to get free in NC. DYP is organizing a 6 day event in August for disabled youth between the ages 16-24 to come together and learn about disability justice, organizing, and community building. To get an application or find out more, visit http://thedypcollective.org
Terri January 31st, 2010 at 15:06