NEWS
COP 27
“Climate change threatens the lives and existence of Disabled people,” Disability Rights UK writes in a letter to the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, a.ka. COP 27. “We are deeply concerned about global warming and the absence of Disabled people from decision making.”
Last year, disability and climate change organizers won official recognition as a caucus by the U.N. Secretariat and the AP reports on expanded access at this year’s conference.
The newly launched Disability and Climate Change Public Archive, directed by Julia Watts Belsar with many collaborators and a team of students at Georgetown, collects the stories and wisdom of activists, advocates, artists, first-responders, policy makers, and other communal leaders.
For more, check out Áine Kelly-Costello’s helpful set of resources about disability and climate change on Disability Debrief.
Rest in Power, Debra Shulkes
The Prague-based writer and organizer worked with the European Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry and fought for the rights of psychiatric survivors with the UN. She used care as a framework in her work as a researcher and editor. Organizer Dolly Sen writes in a memorial on Disability Arts Online that Debra “turned editing into a loving, gentle space that honoured people’s stories.”
After the COVID “Public Health Emergency”
There is no “after COVID.” But there will come a time, likely soon, when the U.S. federal “public health emergency” will no longer be renewed every 90 days as it has been since January 2020. Researchers recently published a detailed account of how COVID countermeasures will be affected. Nature also reported on the hopes and obstacles of research into nose sprays that might prevent infections.
New Works
The newest issue of Disability Studies Quarterly, edited by Lindsay Blewett, Angela Jones, and Milo Osbourn, focuses on sex work and disability.
The journal Public has published a new issue on Access Aesthetics, edited by Mary Bunch, Julia Chan, and Sean Lee and featuring many disabled artists and scholars.
Emilie Gossiaux has been named a 2022-23 Queens Museum-Jerome Foundation Fellow.
Disability Arts Cymru announced the artists for its Wales Venice 10 Commissions: Ffion Campbell-Davies, Giles W Bennett, Tessa Gray, Gareth Churchill, Marcy Saude, and Emma Frayne-Ford. Its Wales Venice 10 Fellowships: Farah Allibhai, Phoebe Davies, Paul Eastwood, Heledd C Evans, Rebecca Jagoe, Rhiannon Lowe, Owain McGilvary, Cinzia Mutigli, Cynthia MaiWa Sitei, and Jennifer Taylor. And its Wales Venice 10 Artes Mundi Commissions: Studio Cybi (a curatorial duo, comprised of artists Rebecca Gould and Iwan Lewis), Freya Dooley, and Kandace Siobhan Walker.
Emily Lim Rogers was a guest on The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast to discuss ME/CFS, digital activism, and long COVID.
SUNY Empire student Andy O’Rourke has launched All Abilities Productions.
Not New News
I’m grateful when readers write to me to help me think through news that doesn’t get reported out as often as it should. Or to think about the many disabled people whose experiences are eclipsed by more prominent coverage about a topic.
For example, the U.S. Department of Transportation reports that ~29 wheelchairs are lost or damaged by airlines every single day.
Please feel free to send ideas for a recurring section on news that’s not new, that is so consistent we just assume its regularity in the background of reporting.
CALLS
If you have long COVID, the U.S. National Institutes of Health are seeking participants in several studies.
The Processing Foundation is looking for a p5.sound Fellow to “focus on re-envisioning sound in the p5.js project, as a beginner-friendly intro to working with sound on the web and integrating sound into interactive audiovisual projects.” Apply by Dec. 7th. More here.
Heidi Latsky Dance is still seeking an Executive Director. The company tells me they are interested in hiring a disabled artist, with any necessary work accommodations.
EVENTS
PeoplesHub: RACE + DISABILITY virtual conference 2022
Online. Thursday, Nov. 17th, 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM EST
Half-day virtual conference on Race + Disability, featuring keynote by Dustin Gibson, PeoplesHub.
Christopher “Unpezverde” Núñez at Danspace Project: The Circle or Prophetic Dream
In-person, NYC. Thursday, Nov. 17th - Saturday, Nov. 19th at 7:30pm ET.
The Circle or Prophetic Dream is an anthropological research on how the body and sound inhabit social space as new forms of nomadism, in the midst of the current international migration crisis caused by displacement, climate change and land appropriation.
5K Community Run with Chella Man + Nike
Brooklyn, in-person, 127 Plymouth St. Saturday, Nov. 19th, check-in at 9am, start at 10am.
The Disability, Debility, and Form Working Group
Online. Monday, Nov. 21st, 1:30 - 3pm ET
Image description: Purple image with red sun and inner black circle. There is black text above the circle that reads Disability, Debility, and Form Working Group. Inside the circle in white text, it lists the three speakers for the fall with access for the event and the time and date.
For more information on the lectures, access needs or joining the group, email mae.esk@upenn.edu.
radical mental health first aide workshop with Oumou Sylla
Online. Sunday, Nov. 20th, 3 - 5pm ET
This workshop will teach you some of the skills necessary to support those experiencing a crisis in a trauma informed, embodied and consent aware way.
In Conversation: Liza Sylvestre and Dr Sarah Hayden
Online. Tuesday, Nov. 15th, 18:00 – 19:00 GMT
Join artist Liza Sylvestre and Dr Sarah Hayden for a conversation around Sylvestre's current John Hansard Gallery exhibition, asweetsea.
Screening: I Didn’t See You There (discounted tickets!)
Cinépolis Chelsea, NYC. Tuesday, Nov. 15th at 5:15pm ET
D.I.S.P.L.A.Y.E.D by Heidi Latsky Dance
In-person, Jersey City, NJ. Nov. 18th - 20th.
An art exhibit where the art is live and the audience can walk through the sculpture court and then experience dynamic dancing as the performers break out of their stillness, it is a magnificent opportunity to experience inclusion.
Online. Tuesday, Nov. 16th, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (GMT-5)
Join patient advocates and researchers, policy experts, and Ryan Prior, author of "The Long Haul: Solving the Puzzle of the Pandemic's Long Haulers and How They Are Changing Healthcare Forever,” a new book out on November 15, in discussing the need for a federal response to Long COVID and other complex chronic conditions that have disabled millions of Americans.
Disability Unite invites participants in The People's Money Civic Engagement Commission events
Online. Various dates/times this week.
Seeking Collaborators
I want to grow this newsletter. If you’ like to collaborate or know others who would be interested, please get in touch by replying here or emailing me at kevin.gotkin@gmail.com.
[tears welling up in eyes emoji] this is deeply felt.
Not new News: This newsletter means a lot to a lot of people.