Disabled. Loud. Proud
When I first began my career in disability advocacy as a professional, I was bright-eyed, believing that I would be working with the most vocal supporters of DEI and who rallied behind diversity as an answer to the first Trump Administration. When I was invited to go lobbying on the Hill for disability policies, I [ ]
I don’t want to leave the platform and I feel like I am mourning it in real time.
March 13, 2020, it was evening. I was sitting in my apartment holding my phone in my hand debating calling off a commitment to speak at a Philadelphia university that evening. On the one hand, I wanted to be safe. Early reports told the public that elderly and disabled people were going to be the [ ]
Throughout it all, I felt like I couldn’t trust my own judgement about the CDC’s remarks. I felt like I had during those years when doctors gaslit me about what my body was experiencing.
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"So I ask you as a community: is your allegiance and proximity to white supremacy and privilege more important than our lives? Because whiteness has created the emergency and there are disabled BIPOC in the building scrambling towards safety."
"I knew people were comfortable watching disabled and elderly people die, but I was wholly unprepared with the joy with which people would leap into harm’s way under the belief that only the vulnerable would die."
When I was about 7 or eight years old, I wanted to be a ballerina and actress. Bad. I would spin around our living room on my hands and knees and was constantly writing storylines and plays. I was hungry for it. I constantly begged to be enrolled in a neighborhood dance class that many [ ]
Fret not, dear friends, the celebration of the Americans with Disabilities Act is here. Sure, it is occurring during a pandemic that began with major publications disseminating eugenicist theories and articles like “I think 72, is a long enough life, don’t you?” and “Why are you all running scared? It’s only those with ‘underlying conditions’ [ ]
This past week, I watched Crip Camp on my birthday in self-isolation. I had spent the morning crying on and off as I mourned the plans I had canceled and the current state of the country. It felt like none of it had mattered—none of the activism or advocacy had helped—because now, as the nondisabled [ ]
"COVID19 is disastrous and devastating, but has never read up on the Me Too movement, has no opinion on colonization and doesn’t know Johnson."
TW: All of them You. Do you think you’re special? Early on they told you that it would be the vulnerable, the sick and elderly—people like me—who were most at risk of dying. You nodded your head with the required public empathy, but you didn’t really care. People saw your Facebook fundraiser for the Special [ ]
As the world grapples with quarantines, self-isolation, and COVID-19, it is also dealing with something people have been loath to recognize: ableism. Throughout the last few weeks, those concerned about their health have been gaslit by seemingly “healthy” nondisabled people who don’t want their lives to be inconvenienced by quarantine and public health policies. Within [ ]
On any given day ending in “y,” traverse to the comments section of any black disabled person post speaking their existence, and you’ll find a white disabled person “all lives matter”-ing themselves into a tizzy. Take my word for it. While the rest of society seems to have at least open the floodgates to conversations [ ]
Check out @JoeBiden on #inclusive #education. Thanks for sharing this video with us, Samuel. Let us know if other candidates are talking about these critical issues. #CripTheVote #PwDsVote #RevUp #VoteDisability #RespectAbility #NHPolitics pic.twitter.com/iKjRvunSWU Disability Rights Center New Hampshire (@DRCNH) January 31, 2020 A video has gone viral across disability Twitter. At a campaign…
It’s 2020 and the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. We were supposed to have flying cars by now, but I’ll settle for less ableism. 2019 saw the greater inclusion of people with disabilities in all areas. Still, industries seemed to be confronted with the existence of disabled people like it was a [ ]
In this episode, Imani talks with her boyfriend, Tito Quevedo, about going into a relationship knowing marriage wasn t an option because of healthcare needs. For a full transcript of this episode, click here.
For a Transcript of this episode, click here: Transcript of Crutches and Spice Podcast Episode 2 To support this episode, click here: https://www.patreon.com/ImaniBarbarin
In the inaugural episode of the Crutches And Spice Podcast, Imani talks about Internalized ableism and ways to combat it. Find a transcript of this episode here: And, make sure to support this podcast here:S1E1 Transcript Internalized Ableism www.patreon.com/ImaniBarbarin
I’m sitting on the edge of my bed in my bathing suit. I have decided to wear it all day in the hopes I would gather the nerve to go to the pool in it. I’m dealing with a particularly rough concoction of thoughts fueling my anxiety today. I want to swim. I have always [ ]
“You will too be disabled one day.” This is the dirty phrase in the disability advocates circle. Many of us, with good reason, don’t like to use it. Abled people should be invested in the independence and dignity of disabled people regardless of the possibility they may be at the mercy of the same physicality, [ ]
It’s 2004, and I’m locked in my room. I’m trying to stifle the sound of me crying. Everyone is at home. They’re all back. I dragged myself back up the staircase as soon as I heard the garage door move. I miss the space. I miss the extra room for my anger and sadness. This [ ]
Now that the two Democratic Debates have concluded, the evaluation begins. But, much to the disappointment of disabled voters, there will only be straws to grasp at (see what I did there). While the candidate pool is more diverse than ever, and many marginalized groups were addressed, there were no specific mentions of the disability [ ]
Contrary to popular belief, disabled people actually like to be thought of and invited out with friends. But, as time goes on, those invites dry up and our friends and family stop inviting us places. For various reasons, we find it harder and harder to go out, but it’s not our fault. In the hopes [ ]
Shock conveys many things. Usually, we use it to describe good surprises and breaks in our mundane lives that are eventually welcome. What often goes unsaid about it is that shocks break up routines and events with expected outcomes. Society rarely questions ableism and the barriers that prohibit disabled people from going after those things [ ]
This spring, I had the opportunity to sit down and collaborate with three amazing women, Emily Ladau, Maryangel Garcia-Ramos and Hannah Soyer and discuss the ways in which media shapes our understanding and how that affects our daily lives for South by Southwest. Below is our video. I am very proud of our work and [ ]
There’s a unique invisibility that comes with being black and disabled. Looking to see yourself in the world can feel like standing in a room made of one-way mirrors. Every way you turn in the hope that someone sees you, you realize that they can only see themselves. While more representations of disabled people have [ ]
The 2020 presidential election is upon us and God help us all. With a multitude of candidates already announcing their intention to run for the presidency, I’m getting flashbacks to 2016 and the dread that comes with it. Will this be a repeat of 2016, or will it be even worse? With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulling [ ]
On my left knee, there’s a strange scar. It wasn’t stitched all the way down, and so the one end curves down into the shape of a spoon. Travel a little bit down, and there’s a scar that’s dimpled deeply from the keloids beneath my skin, it pulls from the inside and looks like a [ ]
I know this is something you likely don’t want to hear about your Breaking Bad fave, but he’s problematic. When I heard that Breaking Bad would be casting RJ Mitte, a disabled actor for the role of Cranston’s disabled son in the series, I was elated. Cranston even used the decision to advocate for the [ ]
I can feel the rage inside me. It feels like I’m vibrating from deep inside—from a place within me that wants to make itself known. I can’t remember myself before it. I wish it away like an uninvited guest. I didn’t ask for it to be here, but it addresses me by my name like [ ]
I am looking for a job. Most of my friends are in the same boat. I was talking to one of my closest friends and they briefly mentioned they weren’t all that concerned about the job hunt, that once they put their mind to it, they’d likely find one immediately. I can’t relate. Everything about [ ]
I want to tell you a story. I have spent a majority of my life dreaming of the future—dreaming of college and all of the things I would do there. As a kid living in New York City, I would spend some of my free time going on college tours around the city. I had [ ]
Have you ever been forgotten about? Like, people didn’t even think to consider you exist? So completely that you, yourself wondered if you even mattered to the person at all? I mean, you must. Right? They shared all those pictures that got all those likes. You made sure to pose for them when they asked. [ ]
My body is uncooperative. It moves to a beat that at times I cannot hear. Next to the images of thin, pale models, I am an affront to their image. My dark skin insults those with a fancy for a-historical revisionism and half-truths. My uterus is in the hands of men who will never have [ ]
"I am ashamed to say that I saw Anthony Bourdain as my inspiration. "
I live in France and despite the fact that a Costco opened just outside of the city, I deeply miss bulk shopping. So, when my dad asked me what I wanted him to bring from home, it was simple: paper plates. Can I get them here? Sure. But can I get 700 at once? No. [ ]
My mom and I were in the store when it happened. It wasn’t the first time and it wouldn’t be the last, unfortunately. It was a common occurrence, “par for the course” as they say. An acquaintance of my mother (my mom’s real friends know better) had walked over to us and started a conversation [ ]
I can feel your gaze. If you think you’re being slick, you’re not. I don’t even have to look in your direction, I caught your head on a swivel from the moment you heard me coming. Am I odd to you? What is the story you’re concocting in your head about me? What will you [ ]
Sometimes I find myself walking down the street huffing and puffing from going to fast. I am in no hurry, I have no where to go, but for some reason I am moving with the speed of someone running late to meet the president (Obama). There’s no need for it. I have nowhere in particular [ ]
Let me make myself clear, this post is not an opportunity for majority culture to attack black people, not even a little bit. With that in mind, I have noticed over the past few years a disturbing trend among people of otherwise marginalized groups. Specifically, mine. Ableism is rampant in the black community. Despite being [ ]
This week is my birthday, so in the spirit of gift-giving, I want to share you a mundane moment that changed my life. You can take or leave the lesson I learned from it (as you know, I’m not about one person’s experiences being used as another’s prescription), I can just say that it changed [ ]
Stephen Hawking, renowned physicist and vocal defender of disability rights has passed at the age of 76. In addition to being a rock star in the scientific community, he served as a living reminder of the potential of the human mind given the physical access necessary for disabled people to thrive in their given careers. [ ]
Spoilers. OK, so since I’ve written spoilers 3 times now, I’m going to forge ahead. Fans have been waiting years for the newest season of Netflix s Jessica Jones to be released. While I greatly enjoyed what I was watching, the show hit home with the themes of disability and “other-ness.” Mental illness bloggers have long [ ]
It’s 3PM and my mom and I have had a long day. I’m 9 and had just had a very taxing workload in the 4th grade. Fractions. So, I’m a bit cranky when we stop at the studio again, but I keep it to myself. I know we are here for me. My mom hops [ ]
This evening could not have been pulled off without the help of some amazing friends and femmes. They are good at what they do, hire them! Stylist Aalyiah Heath (first in photo) is a stylist, fashion blogger of Dimanche Jaune, and branding consultant. You can check out her next endeavor Pop Out Magazine on Instagram. [ ]
There’s a spirituality to black femme-dom. A current in the room when a group of black femmes get together. It is the lifeblood that courses through several nations even ones we had no intention of traveling to to begin with. It is the reason I would go to church when it was hard to get out [ ]
The first post of the year took awhile for me to write. I could say this was due to a hectic holiday schedule, me winding up my graduate studies or starting a new internship, but that would be a lie. The real difficulty came after I asked myself one simple question: “What do you say [ ]
*All the Trigger Warnings (even if you re a fan, you DO NOT owe it to me to read this) In the hospital room after breaking my leg a couple of years ago, I asked my night nurse to go to the bathroom. With more attitude than I have on my worst days, she refused to [ ]
No one plans for this to befall their friends or family, but now that ableds are in your life, you suddenly become aware that they are, in fact, actual people. So what do you do now? This has thrown off all of your plans! For your life, for theirs—what is to become of your relationship? [ ]