A groundbreaking collection of first-person writing on the joys and challenges of the modern disability experience- Disability Visibility brings together the voices of activists, authors, lawyers, politicians, artists, and everyday people whose daily lives are, in the words of playwright Neil Marcus, "an art . . . an ingenious way to live." A Vintage Books Original.
Introduction by Alice Wong
PART 1: BEING
Unspeakable Conversations
Harriet McBryde Johnson
For Ki’tay D. Davidson, Who Loves Us
Talila A. Lewis
If You Can’t Fast, Give
Maysoon Zayid
There’s a Mathematical Equation That Proves I’m Ugly—Or So I
Learned in My Seventh-Grade Art Class
Ariel Henley
The Erasure of Indigenous People in Chronic Illness
Jen Deerinwater
When You Are Waiting to Be Healed
June Eric-Udorie
The Isolation of Being Deaf in Prison
Jeremy Woody, as told to Christie Thompson
Common Cyborg
Jillian Weise
I’m Tired of Chasing a Cure
Liz Moore
PART 2: BECOMING
We Can’t Go Back
Ricardo T. Thornton Sr.
Radical Visibility: A Disabled Queer Clothing Reform Movement
Manifesto
Sky Cubacub
Guide Dogs Don’t Lead Blind People. We Wander as One.
Haben Girma
Taking Charge of My Story as a Cancer Patient at the Hospital
Where I Work
Diana Cejas
Canfei to Canji: The Freedom of Being Loud
Sandy Ho
Nurturing Black Disabled Joy
Keah Brown
Last but Not Least — Embracing Asexuality
Keshia Scott
Imposter Syndrome and Parenting with a Disability
Jessica Slice
How to Make a Paper Crane from Rage
Elsa Sjunneson
Selma Blair Became a Disabled Icon Overnight. Here’s Why We Need
More Stories Like Hers.
Zipporah Arielle
PART 3: DOING
Why My Novel Is Dedicated to My Disabled Friend Maddy
A. H. Reaume
The Antiabortion Bill You Aren’t Hearing About
Rebecca Cokley
So. Not. Broken.
Alice Sheppard
How a Blind Astronomer Found a Way to Hear the Stars
Wanda Díaz-Merced
Incontinence Is a Public Health Issue—And We Need to Talk About
It
Mari Ramsawakh
Falling/Burning: Hannah Gadsby, Nanette, and Being a Bipolar
Creator
Shoshana Kessock
Six Ways of Looking at Crip Time
Ellen Samuels
Lost Cause
Reyma McCoy McDeid
On NYC’s Paratransit, Fighting for Safety, Respect, and Human
Dignity
Britney Wilson
Gaining Power through Communication Access
Lateef McLeod
PART 4: CONNECTING
The Fearless Benjamin Lay: Activist, Abolitionist, Dwarf
Person
Eugene Grant
To Survive Climate Catastrophe, Look to Queer and Disabled
Folks
Patty Berne, as told to and edited by Vanessa Raditz
Disability Solidarity: Completing the “Vision for Black
Lives”
Harriet Tubman Collective
Time’s Up for Me, Too
Karolyn Gehrig
Still Dreaming Wild Disability Justice Dreams at the End of the
World
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna- Samarasinha
Love Means Never Having to Say . . . Anything
Jamison Hill
On the Ancestral Plane: Crip Hand- Me Downs and the Legacy of
Our Movements
Stacey Milbern
The Beauty of Spaces Created for and by Disabled People
s.e. smith
About the Editor
About the Contributors
Further Reading
Alice Wong is a disabled activist, media maker, and research consultant based in San Francisco, California. She is the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated tocreating, sharing, and amplifying disability media and culture. Alice is also the host and co-producer of the Disability Visibility podcast and co-partner in a number of collaborations such as #CripTheVote and Access Is Love.From 2013 to 2015, Alice served as a member of the National Council on Disability, an appointment by President Barack Obama. You can follow her on Twitter- @SFdirewolf. For more- disabilityvisibilityproject.com.
ONE OF THE PROGRESSIVE'S BEST BOOKS OF THE
YEAR • ENTROPY'S BEST OF NONFICTION
“Disability rights activist Alice Wong brings tough conversations
to the forefront of society with this anthology. It sheds light on
the experience of life as an individual with disabilities, as told
by none other than authors with these life experiences. It's an
eye-opening collection that readers will revisit time and time
again.” —Chicago Tribune
“Shares perspectives that are too often missing from such
decision-making about accessibility.” —The Washington Post
“Implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) makes the case for
acknowledging and accommodating society’s overlooked population of
disabled people.” —The New York Times Book Review
“An exemplary collection. . . . This month’s #RequiredReading.”
—Ms. Magazine
“A raw, emotional collection, an investment in the power of
storytelling to foster vibrant connections, and an unapologetic
rejection of ‘internalized ableism’. . . . The 37 powerful
stories in Disability Visibility reveal the depth of everyday
courage and the extraordinary human capacity to find humor in the
face of life’s adversities.” —Shelf Awareness
“Roughly 15 percent of people around the world have a
disability, and yet their stories are often never told. Alice
Wong’s anthology, Disability Visibility, brings their
narratives front and center with the goal of showcasing the wide
range of modern disability experiences. . . . Ultra-impressive.”
—Shondaland, "10 Books Set to Become the New Feminist Classics"
“By its very nature, the disability community is incredibly
intersectional and diverse, including people from all walks of
life, backgrounds, and cultures. Disability Visibility reflects
that diversity with its contributors, giving . . . a look at a wide
range of experiences and types of disability.” —Book Riot
“Alice Wong . . . has long been at the forefront of the
disability justice movement.” —Bitch Media, “17 Books Feminists
Should Read in June”
“More resonant than ever. In this kaleidoscopic collection, Wong
and her contributors provide not just a snapshot of what disability
has meant in the past 20 years, but an urgent invitation to take
that understanding forward. . . . A landmark resource for
understanding disability.” —Autostraddle
“Diverse and poignant. . . . I was deeply moved by more pieces
than I could name.” —Shir Kehila, Columbia Journal
“Every piece in Disability Visibility evokes . . . tenacity, some
gut-wrenching and others inspiring. . . . The range of subjects is
impressive: assistive technologies, carceral injustice, fashion,
homophobia and heterosexism, medical care and medical abuse,
organizing strategies, psychotherapy, racism, relationships, sex,
and sexism.” —The Progressive
“Celebrates and documents the lived experiences, power, and culture
of the disabled community.” —Morning Brew
“Wong’s discerning selections, bolstered by the activism that
shines through, will educate and inspire readers.” —Kirkus
Reviews
“These essays are the heart, the bones, and the blood of Disability
Rights.” —Gaelynn Lea, musician and activist
“To Alice Wong, words like diversity and intersectionality aren’t
just buzzwords. They are marching orders. Everyone should take in
the wisdom woven throughout this book.” —W. Kamau Bell, host of
United Shades of America
“A celebration and a source of deep education for many to bear
witness (and feel seen by) the vastness of disabled stories,
voices, and backgrounds.” —Jennifer Baker, editor of Everyday
People: The Color of Life
“As a Deaf Asian American, it wasn’t until recent years that I
started considering myself disabled. This is a very informed
starting point for anyone who, like myself, would like to get a
better understanding of disability as a massive and beautifully
nuanced spectrum.” —Christine Sun Kim, artist
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