Crip News v.152

An issue of intensities.

Oct 14, 2024

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

hey’all. since v.70, i’ve tried putting stuff that is likely to press on our tender points at the very bottom of the newsletter. i did this after several people reached out to say that some stuff i was including was just too much.

recently, there’s been so much packing each issue that i’ve found myself repeatedly bumping the intense stuff into the draft for the next issue. so today’s issue is that content.

today is also a national holiday in the U.S. that celebrates the dehumanization that affords settler colonialist projects their deadliest weapons. phew, it’s a lot.

thanks for being here.

-kg

Rest in Power

An Instagram image shows a smiling Black woman with rectangular glasses inside an ornate gold frame. Text says IN LOVING MEMORY, Atinuke Abayomi Paul. Beloved daughter, granddauther, aunt, cousin, friend, writer, and activist. 52 wonderful years. O DA BO O. EBGON RERE. OLOJU ANU. SU RE

Tinu Abayomi-Paul was a writer, activist, and founder of Everywhere Accessible. Her work in long Covid and disability communities has been transformative. "If you would wear a ribbon for a cancer patient,” she wrote, “you should be wearing a mask for everyone". The Sick Times collected some of the tributes to Tinu’s life. You can donate to help her family pay for funeral, medical, and other expenses here.

An image of an Asian American nonbinary person in round glasses, smiling at the camera in a library. Text says, In memoriam, Mel Chua, shown as a PhD graduate student at Purdue.

Mel Chua was described by a friend as “Deaf techie/community organizer/human jumper cable.” Their imaginative understanding of Deaf access, disability, and academia imprinted on many fields. Announcing Mel’s passing, their sibling wrote that we can carry on their legacy “by always thinking about accessibility, both things we need and things those around us may need, even if they don’t yet know it themselves.”

A photos of a memorial altar. At the center, leaning on a table surrounded by dozens of candles and plants in white pots, is a digital illustration of a Black woman with a high bun surrounded by white and red flowers. — Photo and artwork by **Jen White-Johnson**.

Sonya Massey was a beloved mother, daughter, and friend. “I don’t know how she does it,” her son said, “but she was just a ball of love.” She was murdered in her home by police while experiencing a mental health crisis. The officer who stole her life had been trained in crisis intervention as well as mental health crisis response, leading many to again demand the end of lethal police tactics.

Steve Silberman poses for a portrait. He is wearing a cobalt blue shirt and black suspenders and standing in front of a teal backdrop. — Photo by **David Levene/Redux**.

Steve Silberman was a science journalist and author of the game-changing 2015 book NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity. His work has been deeply influential for a new generation of neurodivergent organizers. Correction: The original version of this issue incorrectly listed Silberman as autistic.

And so many more…

It is impossible to condense the amount of disabled death into a space like this. In 2023, 30,000 people in the U.S. died while waiting on disability determinations from the Social Security Administration. Canada is euthanizing poor and disabled people instead of helping them meet their basic needs (and 74% of Americans support this). In Gaza, getting sick is a death sentence. Disaster planning is fatally ableist. Covid normalization is making public life, including hospitals and other health care settings, a matter of life and death. Gun violence, war, isolation, and neglect all steal an unfathomable amount of life from us. May the memories of all disabled people be a revolution.

NEWS

Outrage

Israel continues to weaponize disability against Gaza. (Note: the opening paragraphs of this article are particularly difficult to read.)

A wheelchair using boy is smiling at the camera. The headrest of his powerchair is wrapped in a keffiyeh. — **Yazan Tamimi**. Image from **@iamharaldur/X**.

Iceland nearly deported an 11 year-old Palestinian boy who was receiving essential medical care.
Reform of U.S. policing is failing to reduce the fatality of autistic people’s encounters with law enforcement. Rest in power Ryan Gainer.
Texas is set to execute an autistic man for a crime that never occurred. Tell Gov. Abbott to halt the execution of Robert Robertson now.
New reporting from KFF Health News reveals that Deloitte has $6 billion in state contracts to run the systems that determine eligibility for Medicaid and other government programs, but it take years and millions more dollars to fix the errors that plague their systems while people lose access to health care and food.

A photo of a Black woman with wavy hair and green eyeshadow as she stares into the middle distance.

Wendy Williams is not unique: Black people have a disproportionate connection to dementia in the U.S.
U.S. abortion bans amplify the legacy of eugenics and harm more than 3 million disabled women, especially disabled women of color. Meanwhile, prenatal testing is giving parents the “terrible freedom” not to bring disabled life into the world.
California has spent more than $1 million fighting a single disabled student’s access to education.
Disabled people’s lawsuits are the primary enforcement mechanism for the Americans with Disabilities Act, which the Supreme Court nearly gutted.
Gov. Kathy Hocul’s decision to block congestion pricing in NYC will come at the cost of mass transit accessibility projects.
Across the U.S., hundreds of thousands of disabled kids are waiting for state-covered services, sometimes 10 years or longer.

A middle aged disabled woman with no arms is sitting on the floor, surrounded by plants, wearing shimmering metallic clothes and smiling widely. — Photo by **Harry Truman/BBC/Chalk Productions**.

The BBC’s In My Own Words: Alison Lapper explores the renowned disabled artist’s life as she grapples with the death of her son Parys.

CALLS

Disabled impacted by #Helene, need help? Call/text Disability & Disaster Hotline 800-626-4959 or hotline@disasterstrategies.org. If you have coin to spare, you can donate here.
A disabled student at UNC Chapel Hill needs support after being targeted and brutalized by police. Donate here.
The Fannie Lou Hamer Leadership Program’s ASCEND (Alliance of Students Creating Educational Networks for Disability Rights) Cohort is seeking young Black identified disabled advocates (ages 16–25) who are committed to advancing educational equity and advocacy at the intersections of disability and education. Apply by Oct. 21. More here.
Vanessa Hernández Cruz’s interdisciplinary Void Decryption ERROR project needs funds to make the work sustainable for a team of artists, collaborators, tech, & crew. Donate here.
Disability Arts Online is hiring a Curator. Apply by Oct. 28. More here.

EVENTS

Disabled Erotics

Mondays through Nov. 4, 6 - 9pm ET, in-person at Abrons Arts Center (NYC) & online

This course led by Mae Howard explores the connections among kink, BDSM, disability intimacy, and state-sanctioned debilitation. This course will explore the legacies of important kink scene figures like Audre Lorde and Bob Flanagan to consider how pain, labor, and excess relate to intimacy, inspection, and production. A culminating creative project will explore interdependence and the relationship between disability and BDSM.