cripchick's blog

Really excited about disability justice hearted people coming together in Detroit next week. Below is announcement about a convening we will be having to map out where we are in our individual and collective lives, flesh out what we mean by disability justice, and strategize. There will also be disability justice ongoings at the Allied Media Conference and a few workshops at the US Social Forum. . . check out creatingcollectiveaccess.wordpress.com or see our track info at http://alliedmedia.org/program/tracks. Woo!

So many thoughts in my head about the process to organize these things (have been especially wanting to write about what it means to demedicalize my care and have collective PA routines—something a friend and I have been expertimenting with and will take to the next level in the D.) Have a fancy new phone and will be trying to blog/tweet throughout that week as much as possible. Stay tuned. . .

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Hello!

On June 21st (the purple note and light blue light of the yellow moon) there will be a community-organized day (light) in Detroit. This day (light) is for disabled folks who do disability justice work. We see disability justice as creating a world where people are interdependent and disabled people get to be their whole selves. We want to come together, share, strategize, dream, have fun, and build community.

We want disabled people to join us! Join us: if you are working to create a more whole and deep understanding of disability.* Join us: if you dream about a world that understands disability beyond just access; that understands ableism; where disabled people feel connected to each other; where you can talk about what it means to be a person of color AND queer AND poor AND disabled, instead of choosing just one (light blue). You do not have to be in an organization.

The details: June 21, 2010 (the purple note and light blue light of the yellow moon) from 1pm – 7pm (light blue blob after the middle to black in the dark), on Wayne State University in Detroit, MI.

We will start with lunch and end with a dinner. After dinner, we will have an open mic group time from 7pm -8pm (black blobs after the middle to brown blobs after the middle). Bring stuff (chapbooks, buttons, crafts) you want to sell or share with others!

Let us know if you are interested in joining us! You can let us know by emailing Mia at miamingus@gmail.com or calling Stacey at 910-722-9552. We need to know if you are coming by Wednesday, June 16th (pink, the brown note and yellow light of the yellow moon).

We will be making sure the space is scent-free, flash-free, has vegan food options, wheelchair accessible and sign language interpreted.

Please include your contact info and let us know if you:
1.) need childcare

2.) have food you cannot eat

3.) have an access need that we need to know about. (an example might be needing a person to help you understand what the group is saying or a ride to the space).

We value what all disabled people can bring. This includes people with psychiatric [mental], developmental or cognitive [thinking], chronic illness, and learning disabilities. Just so folks with allergies know, there will be at least one (light blue) assistance dog present. If folks send us their RSVP late, we will try to meet people’s needs as best we can. We will send out location info to people that RSVP.

To find out more, visit creatingcollectiveaccess.wordpress.com

In community,
Stacey, Leroy, Leah, Sebastian, Patty, and Mia

* This may include doing work around disability and race, militarization [war and control], class, environmental justice [land and control], gender, sexuality, incarceration [prison and control], reproductive justice [our bodies and control], citizenship [belonging to one country], violence, care, parenting and family.

oh, janelle. i love the way that this video A.) critiques psychiatric institutions and B.) shows the ways that institutions/society/ableism polices our whole beautiful creative selves because if unleashed, we are powerful/uncontrollable. imagine if other artists (e.g. lady gaga and beyonce and that long ass 10 min video) did that too . . .

what do yall think?

(h/t to quirky black girls crew)

as 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…