NEWS
“Disability Justice”
Every so often, I report on some of the corners of the internet where I notice this term is appearing. Here are some recent findings:
On the site Course Hero, you can find materials about Disability Justice from a high school “Family Studies” course.
This Sunday, August 6th, Firelight Media and the BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia will feature Beyond Resilience: Disability Justice Panel on unseen, a film that is “a prism through which we can reflect and refract practices of care and intentionality around access in the filmmaking process.” The panel will include Set Hernandez Rongkilyo, filmmaker of unseen, along with the film's protagnist Pedro; Thomas Reid, who provided the audio description; and the film's producer Qudsiya Naqui, moderated by writer Keisha Zollar.
The first piece in Next City and Prism’s new disability justice series, “Disability Justice For All,” is about the slow and steady wins in accessibility lawsuits for city residents. The series has also published “Filling The Accessible Housing Gap For Disabled People Of Color” by Bianca Gonzalez.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University recently presented “Disability justice: Translating research into policy” in their Congressional Briefings series. The event covered “mental health, long COVID, accessibility within education, individuals with disabilities in clinical trials and research studies, and the needs of caregivers with disabilities.”
In May, the Trust for London announced the first grantees from its Disability Justice Fund, allocating more than £1 million to 16 organizations.
Legal scholar Jeanette Cox recently published “The ‘Essential Functions’ Hurdle to Disability Justice” in the Ohio State Law Journal, addressing one way that courts are distorting language about an ADA definition of a “qualified individual.”
Organizers Anita Cameron and Keith Jones were recently on the Laura Flanders Show to discuss ableism and roadblocks to Disability Justice.
Shelterforce is publishing “Not Just Ramps—Disability and Housing Justice,” the newest topic in its Under the Lens series.
New Works
Elvis Died of Burgers, with “a non-linear narrative and semi-improvised dance, theatre and spoken word,” will run from August 2nd - 13th during the Summerhall Festival in Edinburgh.
“My Disability Roadmap,” a short film by Samuel Habib that premiered in the New York Times’ Op-Docs series in May, has been nominated for an Emmy award for Outstanding Soft Feature Story: Long Form.
The premiere of “Lift Me Up” by Lachi, featuring James Ian and Gaelynn Lea, generated lots of press: from Google’s blog, on MTV, and in a Disability Pride playlist on TIDAL. The Grammy’s and the American Association of Independent Music also featured Recording Artists And Music Professionals With Disabilities (RAMPD).
An Accessible City for All: Disability Rights in New York, 1968 to 2017 is now on view at the Museum of the City of New York, as part of its Activist New York show.
How to Dance in Ohio, a musical about seven autistic young adults prepare for a spring formal dance based on Alexadrea Shiva’s film by the same name, will have its Broadway debut at the Belasco Theatre on November 15th.
The Multicultural Center at Illinois State University, recently published video from its April Disabled Artist symposium, featuring Jessica Karuhanga, Em Kettner, Jennifer Justice, Jillian Crochet, Emilie Louise Gossiaux, and Alex Dolores Salerno, moderated by Bert Stabler.
Creating Freedom Movements published an Instagram slide deck about Crip Theory.
For Truthout, Dr. Julia Watts Belser has published “Climate Crisis Makes Us Recognize Our Limits; Disability Culture Can Show Us How.”
The Church of England’s Diocese of London recently published “Rethinking Disability: A Theology of Justice in a Disabling World” by Fiona MacMillan.
Stage Left Theater in Spokane, WA has canceled a production of The Pillowman after receiving concerns about the play’s depiction of mental disability.
CALLS
The Vancouver International Film Festival is accepting applications from “emerging music professionals” for AMP, a Music in Film Summit taking place October 3rd - 7th. More here.
EVENTS
Tools for Access Design: Plain Language and Easy Read
Tuesday, August 1, 10 - 11am ET, on Zoom
How do we prepare written materials to be inclusive of readers with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)? In this session, we will be joined by expert Reid Caplan to look at some fundamental principles for translating documents in Plain Language and Easy Read formats. This event is designed for a general audience, including artists, organizations, and activists.
Audio Description for Dance with Krishna Washburn and Kayla Hamilton
Thursday, Aug. 3, 2 - 3pm ET, on Zoom
Presented by Art Sparks Texas: “This one hour conversation has the potential to change the way you think about describing dance, and other performance, forever.”
Styling Sick
Friday, Aug. 4 or Sat. Aug. 12, 2 - 4pm ET, on Zoom
What do you wear when you can’t get out of bed? How do your clothes help or hurt? Styling Sick explores and expands our relationships to the clothes we wear when ill, particularly when chronically ill. In workshops that build communal knowledge and a playful approach to one’s own closet, we celebrate disabled aesthetics. Hosted by the remote body via Zoom, and run by juliet johnson, there are two options: Friday, Aug 4th, or Saturday, Aug 12th. Each session will run no longer than 2 hours, beginning at 11am LA / 2pm NY / 7pm LDN / 8pm BER. Spaces limited. Email julietlouisejohnson@gmail.com to reserve your place. juliet (they/she) is an interdisciplinary artist from Los Angeles whose work creates idiosyncratic half-realities and ruminates on queer disabled embodiment, goops of all kinds. This workshop is one segment of a larger project on clothes and disability, towards a fashion line collaboratively designed and crafted.
Hi! This link appears to be broken:
"The first piece in Next City and Prism’s new disability justice series, “Disability Justice For All,” is about the slow and steady wins in accessibility lawsuits for city residents."
Hi! Typo on the date for Audio Description for Dance with Krishna Washburn and Kayla Hamilton, should be:
Thursday, AUG. 3rd, 2 - 3pm ET, on Zoom