“Disability justice challenges the idea that our worth as individuals has to do with our ability to perform as productive members of society. It insists that our worth is inherent and tied to the liberation of all beings.” – The Body is Not an Apology
In the conversation about educational equity, disability rarely gets the attention it deserves. Many of us lack the words to describe and understand disability and we exist in a society where even understanding "disability as ‘not wrong’ is a huge shift in thinking.” (Mia Mingus) This month, we explore organizations working to dismantle ableism in learning spaces and create alternatives that are truly inclusive.
Register below with a sponsorship code or via sliding scale pricing that begins at $25. Note, the sliding scale is an intentional effort to make inspiration as accessible as possible and to distribute resources equitably between organizations we work with.
October 28th | 10:00 - 12:00 PST
What can the movement for disability justice teach us about accessibility, care, and activism?
Field trip guests
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Gastonia Freedom School
Gastonia, North Carolina
Gastonia Freedom School offers real-life education in an environment that encourages creativity and independence. Our center serves homeschool students with autism, ADHD, and intellectual disabilities. We use self-directed learning to empower children to learn academics and life skills at their own pace.
We will be joined by founder Crystal Byrd Farmer.
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DIsability Justice Literature class
Amherst, Massachusetts
Sara Barber-Just is the English department chair at Amherst Regional High School, where she has been a teacher for 25 years. In 2001, she developed a curriculum for the nation’s first LGBTQ literature course in a public school. At ARHS, Sara teaches 10th grade Literature, Writing, and Public Speaking; LGBTQ Literature; Journalistic Writing; and has spearheaded work in her district centered on mindfulness, anti-racism, trauma-informed teaching, accessibility, and curricular reform.
Sara and her student Walter will be joining us to talk about a new Disability Justice Literature course they designed in collaboration.
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The Transition Academy
Kansas City, MO
The Transition Academy (TTA) is a disability college and career preparation center. Its mission is to make economic inclusion a reality for youth with disabilities, especially for young people of color who have historically been failed by systems.
We will be joined by Kim Riley, a parent determined to make sure students with disabilities get to explore college and career options after high school.
Syllabus
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Disability justice is a framework developed by disabled activists of color that responds to gaps in the disability rights movement in the United States. That movement centered the experiences of white disabled people, and those who could navigate a “civil rights”-based approach that - while important - was largely rooted in legal victories.
Disability justice reconsiders disability as intertwined with other identities, like race, class, gender and more.
https://www.sinsinvalid.org/blog/10-principles-of-disability-justice
Sins Invalid curriculum: https://www.sinsinvalid.org/curriculum
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Crip Camp is a documentary about disability activists who met at Camp Jened in the early 1970s.
Curriculum: https://cripcamp.com/curriculum/
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Alice Wong (she/her) is a disabled activist, writer, editor, media maker, and consultant. Alice is the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to creating, sharing, and amplifying disability media and culture. @SFdirewolf // https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/
Rebekah Taussig is a writer, teacher, advocate, and human lady person. @sitting_pretty // https://rebekahtaussig.com/
Get your wheels turning about this month’s theme.
Want to share a resource to add here? Email info@theinspirationproject.org
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
BERTHA OTOYA
Participants will receive a unique postcard featuring art by Bertha Otoya.
Untitled by Bertha Otoya, 2011 © Creativity Explored Licensing, LLC
In this piece, Otoya created a linoleum block print of the central figure in black ink, which was applied after the initial drawing was done. The background is a tea wash, which uses tea to tint the paper. The figures appear to be covering their mouths, and to have initially been rendered without clothing, which was added after drawing the body. (You can see the layers of her lines and the naked belly buttons.)
Otoya often copied passages from art and history books that she was referencing for images right into her work, resulting in a poetic – somewhat random and wandering – collection of prose that surrounds the figures.
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Bertha Otoya joined the Creativity Explored studio after moving to the United States from Peru. Originally focused on textile work, Otoya used traditional Peruvian techniques to create tapestries and quilts as she enjoyed the repetitive process of sewing. In 2009, her practice grew exponentially as her focus shifted to printmaking. Stripping her color palette to black and white (occa- sionally red and blue), her print work has achieved an iconic status and is avidly collected by patrons.
The influence of her printmaking is now evident in her traditional drawing work where repeated images of fish and snakes are layered over washes of color or given alternating shades on their appendages.
Creativity Explored was founded in San Francisco in 1983 on a belief that art is essential to life. Its life-changing programs continue to open doors of inclusion to center the personhood and creative vision of over 130 developmentally disabled artists. Most importantly, Creativity Explored is a source of community, empowerment and dignity.