Crip News v.134

Prides, new works, calls, and events. Thanks for being here.

Jun 03, 2024

Happy Prides!

A repeating gif of a white woman with two braids, bold car eye makeup, and a brown t-shirt pulled off one shoulder reading from cue cards and saying Hi gay! Behind her is an antique-looking carriage wheel. — **Meg Stalter**’s iconic 2021 corporate satire ad was published without captions, which is a gay bummer given that many social media platforms make this simple.

In the U.S., June is LGBT Pride Month, followed by Disability Pride Month in July. Let the prides begin!

Next month, I’ll lay out some crip critiques of pride. For now, here are some things that might make you wag your finger (a queer shame reversal spell):

The organizers of NYC’s Queer Liberation March continue their fantastic analysis of resistance by naming accessibility as a top priority in their coalition work. This year’s march on Sunday, June 30 is expected to offer several beautiful access features again, including remote viewing, wheelchair access, an access bus, and snacks, honey, snacks.
It’s the 20th anniversary of the publication of Queer Crips: Disabled Gay Men and Their Stories, edited by Bob Guter and John R. Killacky, which won the 2004 Lambda Literary Award for the Anthologies/Non-fiction category. Shake someone down for a copy because a new one somehow costs $58.99. [upside down smiling face emoji.]
During Pride month 2 years ago, Crip News published a call from a Barnard student seeking a disabled crew to work on a new short film. Now, Daisy Friedman’s queer, interabled love story As You Are starring Bri Scalese and Estefania Giraldo has won 8 awards, including ones from Outfest, Newfest, the Frameline Film Festival, and will be part of the 2024 Frameline Voices program. The Advocate has an exclusive clip. Slay, Daisy!

New Works

Three cats peer out, intensely curious, soft, and wise. Black eyes and chiseled features inviting, calling us into their world. Their lavender, bright blue, and white bodies shine against the sky blue background. A bright blue line outlines each cat and one, yes, is that right? Yes, one is upside down. All three kitties live in a heart-shaped window with a chunk sliced off the right lobe.

The legendary I wanna be with you everywhere festival is back for another “hybrid-online pop-up solstice gathering” on June 21 from 4 - 10pm ET. This year’s hang features a stunning lineup of performers and emcees: Kayla Hamilton and Elisabeth Motley of Crip Movement Lab, Jia Bin, Delicia Daniels, JJJJJerome Ellis, Conor Foran, and Kristel Kubart of People Who Stutter Create, Dickie Hearts + Special Guest, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha + Cyrée Jarelle Johnson, Johanna Hedva + NEVE, and Chella Man + Oliver Stabbe.

Two brown skin hands with pink nail polish hold a sheet of paper. At the top pink text reads “Internal Disability Justice Audit.” Directly below on the left is a pink cell phone with text messages reading “What if we had a disability justice audit?!” “Holy shit! Tell me more?” “…” To the right is a toolbox with a Stacey Fest sticker and holding papers labeled “Access Rider,” “Checklist,” and “Vendors.” A speech bubble reads “This could super build capacity in our movements.” More text reads “beyond ADA compliance checklists” and “beyond 101 trainings from a white disability rights perspective.” To the right is a mug with coffee and a pen and paper that says “DJ Audit.” A speech bubble reads “And so much of this is things people need to think through on their own ard multiple times.” More text reads “being really vulnerable and grappling with trauma and shame” and “thinking about the histones of disability in your organization.” To the right is a sign that says “Mask up!” In the middle of the page, pink banners with white text read “setting up,” “our team,” and “policy.” The bottom half of the paper has a grassy scene with a path, flowers, houses, and people with different access supports including wheelchairs, a cane, a platform lift, ramp, computers, and tracheostomy tube. Blocks of text read: “Do we have a list of access support vendors?,” “Do we have a list of accessible venues for events?,” “Do our budgets help everyone take part?,” “Do we have standard emails orienting folks towards access requests before an event?,” “Do we have a checklist to ensure access during events?,” “How many people with disabilities are in our group? Are any of them leaders? Do we check in with them about how they feel?,” “Has anyone with a disability left because it was hard for them? What did we learn? How did we try to fix it?,” “What is our policy around disability, sick or caregiving access requests?,” “How do we decide if someone’s doing a good job?,” “What do we do if someone needs extra help to do their job? What proof do they need to give us?,” and “If someone needs time off because they’re sick, what do we do?” — Artistry by **@lizar_tistry.**

Disability Justice: An Audit Tool, written by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and envisioned with Stacey Park Milbern, has a set of new graphics.
Many crips were part of a recent action in San Ramon, CA to disrupt the shareholder meeting of Chevron, a business that literally fuels Israel, providing 70% of its energy consumption, and profits from the genocide in Gaza.
resting up collective has published an expression of the dream for a free Palestine, with resources and reading for disability solidarity and action.
This week, Irish artist AlanJames Burns and collaborators will exhibit Augmented Body, Altered Mind, an interactive and immersive installation exploring “the intersections of the climate crisis, individual agency, and variations in the human brain and cognition.”
London-based travel writer Kinza Shenn recently published “What I've Learned From Traveling With Chronic Pain” in Condé Nast Traveler.

CALLS

Able Zine is seeking community feedback as its organizers consider producing another issue. Take the survey here.
Visual AIDS has issued the call for proposals for “new video works highlighting stories of harm reduction and drug use and their intersection with HIV” for Day With(out) Art 2025. Proposals are due June 26. More here.
Creatives Rebuild New York has released survey data from 13,377 artists in New York State and is requesting proposals from advocacy organizations for grants of up to $15,000 “to support the analysis and/or creative use of
[the] data in an advocacy initiative or strategic communications campaign.” Proposals are due June 26. More here.

EVENTS

Ramp Your Voice! 10th Anniversary Conference

Friday, June 7, 11:30am - 5:30pm ET, online

This conference will intentionally center Black disabled perspectives and create spaces to candidly discuss the topics that matter to us, as well as learn about the talented individuals who are a part of our dynamic community. At the inaugural Ramp Your Voice! Conference, we will make the unseen seen and form new connections across fields and endeavors, to lift up and support the intellectual, creative, and joyful talent that runs right through our powerful community. This will go beyond the typical conference - we want to spotlight what WE do.

Health Justice Commons June Rad Healers and Healthcare Workers Solidarity Gathering: Palestine Solidarity

Thursday, June 6, 8:00pm ET, on Zoom

This panel discussion will explore the intersections of ecological justice, Disability Justice, global liberation struggles and Palestine solidarity. This is a gathering for and by rad healers and healthcare workers, Disability Justice activists, organizers, and community members who are engaged in the work of transforming healthcare systems and creating alternatives. We include the daily work of survival as a form of rebellion for us as chronically ill, neurodivergent, Mad, and disabled people. Our survival is a source of deep wisdom!

Care in Film Series

Wednesday, June 5, 7pm ET, on Zoom

Join Caring Across Generations for a virtual film screening and a powerful conversation about care, featuring the films Flower and Take Me Home. We'll be joined by world-renowned ballet dancer Misty Copeland, award-winning director and writer Liz Sargent, Emmy-award winning producer Leyla Fayyaz, and Caring Across Generation's Executive Director Ai-jen Poo.

There’s a tilted horizon and thin lines that shoot out from a vanishing point like a sunset (the usual Crip News header) except the colors are inverted and it’s a black background with white lines, like nighttime. Big text floats over the land-line: INTENSITIES BELOW. Smaller text under: we could breathe, hold the breath and let it out slow, mist the plants, or notice a sensation, get water, leave the screen entirely, nap

Two dolls in plastic packaging, like something you would buy at a toy store. One is a coffin, labeled “Suicide Edition.” Text reads “Just because you are dead, it doesn’t mean you can’t work.” The other doll is a Barbie-like figure in a hospital gown connected to oxygen and an IV with a bloody gauze wrap on their head, labeled “Coma Edition".”

Disabled artist Dolly Sen recently published images of a “Range of Death” edition of DWP dolls, a project that creates miniaturizes the enormous scale of the U.K. DWP’s fatal lack of care.