NEWS
Happy Birthday, Bradley Lomax
He was born on September 13th, 1950. At age 19, he helped found the Washington chapter of the Black Panther Party, then went on to organize the first African Liberation Day demonstration in 1972. He became a key figure in the Disability Rights movement after moving to Oakland and taking part in the 504 Sit-in, the longest occupation of a federal building in U.S. history.
Lomax and his care worker Chuck Jackson were instrumental in gaining support from the Black Panthers during the 504 protest. The Panther brought daily hot meals to the occupiers. Many 504 veterans cite this kind of care as crucial for the success of the demonstration. His legacy lives on.
He joined the ancestor on August 28th, 1984. Rest in power, Brad Lomax.
Remembering 9/11
3 months after the attacks on the World Trade Center, New Mobility published “Unsafe Refuge: Why did so many wheelchair users die on Sept. 11?” by Josie Byzek and Tim Gilmer. In it, they asked where the 125 evacuation chairs purchased by the Port Authority were on the day of attacks that claimed the lives of many disabled people. “What will it take to increase awareness and overcome lax attitudes toward evacuation preparedness?” they write. “A concerted effort by the disability community is needed.”
Bootstrap Culture
The Washington Post published a comic series by A. Andrews about “that American ideal that anyone should be able to ‘pull themselves up by their bootstraps”’ and succeed at anything.”
Back to School
As students return to classrooms, those interested in disability and education might want to check out Tim Villegas’s Substack called The Weeklyish. Here are a few news items of note:
The Urgency of Equity, a grassroots coalition, has released “A Toolkit to Make Schools Safer for All from COVID-19.”
Emily Godbey, an art historian at Iowa State University, has filed a lawsuit over the handling of her request for disability accommodation.
The U.S. Department of Education is seeking public comment through Sept. 30th on how to improve IDEA Scorecards to advance equity.
The Ford Foundation’s U.S. Disability Rights Program has granted $1 million to the American Association of People with Disabilities to support disabled higher education Students and employees in COVID-19 landscape.
New Works
Alice Wong’s The Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life is now out from Penguin Random House. And there’s a Spotify playlist to go with it. And a feature in The Los Angeles Times.
In Chicago, Babes with Blades and the UIC Disability Cultural Center recently put on a disability-centric performance of Richard III.
Mad Crip care worker, psychiatric survivor, and Director of Project LETS Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu published “Visions for a Liberated Anti-Carceral Crisis Response.”
In the U.K., Not F**kin’ Sorry is a sexy, punk, crip cabaret using parody, testimony, lip syncs, and verbatim stories.
Love on the Spectrum U.S. took home a Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program.
On WQXR, Emi Ferguson has been exploring the role of syphilis in several classical composers’ work.
Megan Q. Linton talks with Canadian Dimension about her work to make the Invisible Institutions podcast.
Unlimited has debuted a new disabled artist database.
CBS announced its new Performers with Disabilities Talent Initiative.
On a light blueish purple background is a photo of x, a light skinned Afro-Asian trans person, paired with a comic-book style thought bubble that reads "Tune into Thursday Thoughts with x!" in orange text, in a somewhat handwritten font. In bubbly two-toned pink text reads in "ALL CAPS: LAUNCHING (ellipses) HYP-TV!". On the bottom right of the frame is bold, black bubble font reading: "Premiering Thursday, September 22, 2022 on IG LIVE". The HYP-TV logo is in the upper left: a black outline drawing of a retro style television with antennae containing a pink bubbly text that reads "HYP-TV" in ALL CAPS with an orange accentuating shadow on each letter, including the hyphen.
Artist James Thatcher was commissioned by Giphy to create video clips about “the mind altering effects of aural migraines.”
Blind actor Benjamin Wilson discusses theatre accessibility ahead of the opening of Much Ado About Nothing at Sheffield Theatres on Sept. 9th.
Artist Lizzy de Vita responds to The Sofa (ca. 1894-96) by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec as part of The Met’s #MetAccess Program: “In looking at this painting, it occurred to me that Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who lived with chronic illness and disability, might have had his own radically expansive ideas about beds and other places of rest. Here, he transforms his modest indoor studio into a lush garden-like landscape. The scattered brushstrokes making up the studio floor and wall suggest grass and wildflowers. The 'sofa' is sprawling, deep, like a blanket or bed.”
CALLS
Cripple has issued an an open call for content for an easy to interpret book about masking and unmasking in the Autistic and Neurodivergent community. Individuals whose content gets used in the publication will be provided a sliding scale of $0 - $50.
Water Damaged Paper Anthology and Our Crip Notes have issued a call for submissions on “Disability Culture, Identity, and Communities.” Submit by Sept. 30th. Graphic announcement in bold black text across white backgrounds framing a graphic image on top and bottom. The topic and deadline are listed beneath, reading Topic: Disability Culture, Identity and Communities, each highlighted with a different coloured background– periwinkle, peach and yellow respectively. A link to learn more and submit is listed as tinyurl.com/WDPAxOCN.
EVENTS
NYC: UP UNTIL NOW: midair for some time presented by the Center for Performance Research and Up Until Now Collective. Sept. 15-17. More here.
Peoples Hub also presents What We Fight For Is What We Get: Disabled Activists on Economic Cooperation with Cheyenna Weber, Sterling Johnson, and Nikki Jackson on Sept. 14th from 4-6pm ET. More here.
"Our Disability Roadmap": Judy Heumann talks with Samuel Habib about transition on Sept. 14th at 3pm ET. Register here.
Sounding Bodies: An Exploration of Creative Sound and Movement with Edie Skeard. Sept. 15th, 2022 from 6pm–8pm CST. Register here.
Portland, OR: Pill Joy presents Pill Party! A Make Your Own Custom Pill Organizer Party. Sept. 18th from 6-8pm PT. More here.