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.
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.
–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.
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.
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.
Interviews with disabled activists in the US, UK, and Canada: Emily Wolinsky and Laura Halvorson, Sandy Ho, Merry Cross, and Allen Mankewich.
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
#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.”
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.
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™
THANK YOU!
Happy New Year!
Categories
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!
Thank you so much!! Happy New Year to you as well!
You’re welcome