Skip to content
Posted by Alice Wong3 Comments on 2016: DVP Year in Review DVP Blog Posts and Essays

2016: DVP Year in Review

2016 was an amazing year and here are some highlights from the Disability Visibility Project™.

The Latest

-In November I started the process of editing and preparing blog posts featuring short audio clips and text transcripts from the +100 oral histories in our archive with two freelance audio producers.

Here are two that are available: Nina G & Alice Wong and Anthony Tusler and Fran Osborne.

Expect to see these oral histories uploaded to the DVP website sometime in spring 2017.

-In December I launched a crowdfunding campaign on Patreon to support and expand the activities of the DVP, enabling me to pay disabled writers, artists, and freelancers.

-This year I am thankful to have Heather Watkins and Denise DiNoto as volunteer co-moderators of the DVP Facebook group. They’ve been very generous with their time and energy.

Online Activism

–Election 2016: I became a co-partner with Andrew Pulrang and Gregg Beratan early 2016 in #CripTheVote, a nonpartisan online movement activating and engaging disabled people on policies and practices important to the disability community.

Graphic with a white background. In text in rainbow colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue purple), it reads: #CripTheVote. On the right side is the graphic of a voting box with a marked ballot and the box has 4 quadrants with pictures of a wheelchair, 2 hands signing, a person using a cane and image of a person's brain

We hosted 15 Twitter chats this year on disability issues and activism. We also partnered with Huffington Post and Rooted in Rights for a series of videos featuring disabled people about voting and political participation.

–Collective mourning: The DVP co-hosted an online vigil/Twitter chat on August 4, 2016 remembering disabled people murdered in Sagamihara, Japan.

 

Black image with white text that reads: Online Vigil and Chat Disabled People of Tsukui Yamayuri En Sagamihara, Japan Thursday, August 4, 2016 8 pm Eastern 9 am Japan (Aug. 5) Hosts @DisVisibility @dominickevans Guest host: @peckitt #Sagamihara #SagamiharaDVP

–DVP Twitter Chats: collaboration with guest hosts for DVP Twitter chats on intersectionality and disability, assisted suicide and ableism, Black disabled musicians in Hip-Hop, disability and transgender solidarity, Star Trek, and futurism.

A rectangular shaped graphic. The right half of the image has a black background and white text that reads: Disability Visibility Project™ Twitter Chat Assisted Suicide, Bioethics, and Disabled Lives September 12, 2016 4 pm Eastern Guest Host: @IngWongWard #ProjectValue. On the upper left-hand quadrant is a dark gray square with the logo that reads Project Value going in diagonal. The word 'PROJECT' is light gray and the word 'VALUE' is red. In the lower left-hand quadrant is a bright yellow square with the words 'disability visibility project™' in black with each word below the other.

 

 

Yellow image with the text in black that reads: #KripHopDVP Twitter Chat Disabled Musicians in Hip-Hop, Rap, Jazz & Blues Thursday, July 28, 2016 5 pm Pacific/ 8 pm Eastern Guest host Leroy Moore @kriphopnation & @DisVisibility On the left-hand side of the image is artwork featuring various disabled people of color. Image by: Carina Lomelli

 

Speaking/Presenting

The DVP gave presentations and participated in panel discussions and webinars on civil rights and social media, accessible social media, disabled artists, disabled Asian Pacific Americans, and disability advocacy.

Writing

The DVP co-authored a 2-part report on disabled people of color with Vilissa K. Thompson marking the 26th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

White background with black text that reads: #GetWokeADA26 Call for stories: Disabled people of color Ramp Your Voice and Disability Visibility Project. On the left-hand side is an image of a Black Wonder Woman character in a wheelchair. She has rainbow wristbands and a golden lasso by her wheel. Image: Mike Mort @MikeeMort

Original essays by the DVP on ableist violence and the film “Finding Dory” plus articles on disability representation in political campaign ads and accessible political participation.

Selfie of two young white women in a large call. Behind them you can see a stage with a lectern, multiple American flags hung up and patriotic bunting on multiple floors.

Interviews with disabled activists in the US, UK, and Canada: Emily Wolinsky and Laura Halvorson, Sandy Ho, Merry Cross, and Allen Mankewich.

Image of Sandy Ho, a young Asian American woman in a wheelchair, outdoors on a sunny day. She is wearing sunglasses.

Eight guest blog posts/reviews by: H. Lee, David Kilgannon, Heidi Johnson-Wright, Rachel Lovejoy, Henry Kingston, Avery Olmstead, Grace Tsao, and Eleanor Lisney.

Media

Community Storytelling Fellowship, Making Contact Radio: I produced my first radio story about interdependence and personal assistance featuring 6 disabled people from the SF Bay Area (some of these were from DVP oral histories). I also published a manifesto on Transom about disabled voices on radio as a result of the fellowship experience.

DVP media commentary: on community living, media, election 2016, bioethics, sports, popular culture, activism in the disability community, disability representation in film, diversity in advertising, and reproductive health and reproductive justice in articles, interviews, and podcasts.

Arts and Culture

 

Light green graphic with black text that reads: #CripLit Twitter Chat Resistance Through Writing, December 4, 2016, 7 pm Eastern Co-Hosts: @Nicolaz and @DisVisibility

#CripLit: a co-partnership with novelist Nicola Griffith. #CripLit Twitter chats are focused on disabled writers, publishing, and writing about disabled people in fiction/non-fiction. We hosted 4 Twitter chats this year with our most recent December chat, “Resistance Through Writing.”

Image of a stage with five people sitting and having a conversation. There is an Asian American woman in a wheelchair on the very left with a small table in front of her. To her right is a white woman with white-blonde hair and a black dress. Next to her is an older Black disabled man with a bright orange shirt and a wooden walking stick. Next to him is a younger Black man with long dreadlocks and a beard. He is wearing a gray top and dark pants. The final person on the right side of the stage is a woman of color in a wheelchair with a blue top and a table connected to her wheelchair.

Co-organized a DVP listening party with the Contemporary Jewish Museum featuring interviews from oral histories recorded at StoryCorps and a panel discussion with disabled artists in September 2016.

Image with a black background composed of 3 photos and text in white. On the lower left-hand corner is a photo of an African American woman with short black hair. She's inside an office and sitting nearby a table with a computer. She's wearing a beige pullover and smiling at the camera. In the upper-left-hand side is a photo of a young man with one above-the-knee amputation on his left leg. He is balancing two crutches with his left arm. He is wearing denim shorts, that, glasses and a beard. Behind him is a neighborhood by the beach with a row of palm trees. On the lower-right hand side of the image is a photo of a young white woman with long reddish-blond hair. Her left arm is raised and her hand bent against her face. She is smiling and wearing a white and magenta-striped t-shirt. On the upper right-hand quadrant is white text that reads: "Celebrating Disability Culture: Interviews with #Superfest2016 Judges"

Support for projects and events in the disability community such as the Superfest International Disability Film Festival, the Disability and Intersectionality Summit and Sins Invalid.

Looking Ahead: 2017

I can’t wait to share all the exciting projects and collaborations planned for this year. More updates to come. You can find the latest from our website, Facebook group, or on Twitter @DisVisibility. For any questions or comments, feel free to reach out: DisabilityVisibilityProject@gmail.com

There’s so much that needs to be done in 2017 and I’m all-in!

Alice Wong,

Founder and Project Coordinator, Disability Visibility Project™

 

Image of an Asian American woman in her bedroom. She's in a wheelchair and wearing a mask around her nose with a tube. She has a multi-colored plaid scarf around her neck.

THANK YOU!

Happy New Year!

Categories

DVP Blog Posts and Essays, DVP News and Events

Tags

, ,

Alice Wong View All

3 thoughts on “2016: DVP Year in Review” Leave a comment ›

  1. This is amazing!! It is great to know that you had a great year with building awareness and sharing the stories of those who are disabled and those who work in the community. I have been following what you are doing and would love to become more involved in what you do. It is great to know that people with disabilities are not left out of doing things that make them happy and I love that. It means alot to me especially being a women who suffers from a disability.

    Happy New Year!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Discover more from Disability Visibility Project

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading