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Posted by Alice Wong DVP Blog Posts and Essays

DVP 2019: Year in Review

Photo on the of an Asian American disabled woman in a wheelchair in front of a pool of water with tropical water plants in the background lit with purple & magenta lights inside a greenhouse. She is wearing a puffy gray jacket and a mask over her nose attached to a tube.
Photo on the of an Asian American disabled woman in a wheelchair in front of a pool of water with tropical water plants in the background lit with purple & magenta lights inside a greenhouse. She is wearing a puffy gray jacket and a mask over her nose attached to a tube.

Hello friends! Time flies, seriously. In 2014 the Disability Visibility Project (DVP) started a year before the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and here we are about to approach the 30th anniversary of this landmark civil rights law in 2020. This is a brief year in review (you can check out last year’s review here) highlighting the amazing people I’ve had a chance to work and collaborate with this year. Much gratitude to everyone’s support and love! 

I have lots of exciting plans for 2020 including my first major publication as an editor, Disability Visibility, an anthology published by Vintage Books in July. Stay tuned for the latest on my website, Instagram or Twitter!

If you have the means, I hope you will consider making a donation and support my work in creating and amplifying disability media and culture via PayPal or Patreon. 

 

Publications

Wrote the following essays, articles, and blog posts 

On Valentine’s Day, Let’s Recognize Why #AccessIsLove. Rooted in Rights, February 14, 2019.

Disability Narratives for the Win. Symposium on Eli Clare’s Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure. Syndicate Network, February 26, 2019.

The Rise and Fall of the Plastic Straw: Sucking in Crip Defiance. Special Section on Crip Technoscience, Vol. 5, No 1, Catalyst Journal, April 1, 2019.

Unbroken and Unbowed: Revisiting Disability Representation on “Game of Thrones”, BitchMedia, May 29, 2019.

“The Olmstead Decision & Me”: My thoughts on the Olmstead decision and what community living means to me, June 27, 2019.

“Rest in Power: Carrie Ann Lucas, Bill Peace, and Ing Wong-Ward,” July 7, 2019.

Conducted 11 Q&As with the following people

Day Al-Mohamed on fantasy and queer disabled representation, Michelle Nario-Redmond on ableism, Pia Justesen on disability and human rights, Haben Girma on her new memoir, Frances Ryan on austerity and disabled people in the UK, Annabelle Oxley on disabled transgender people in Australia, Bess Williamson on the history of accessibility in the US, Diana Elizabeth Jordan on being a disabled film director in Hollywood, Katherine Beattie on writing for television, Victoria Rodríguez-Roldán on exclusion and lack of diversity the legal community, and playwright Paul David Power on disability culture. 

Edited and published 19 guest blog posts for the DVP

Essays by Vilissa Thompson, Imani Barbarin, Dana Bishop-Root and Dustin Gibson in collaboration with Bekezela Mguni, Rebecca Cokley, Corbett OToole, Stacey Milbern, Jen Deerinwater, Kendra Scalia, Da’Shaun Harrison, D’Arcee Charington Neal, Kalia Douglas-Micallef, Noor Pervez, Azza Altiraifi, Amy Gaeta, Neal Carter, Krys Méndez Ramírez, A.H. Reaume, Anna Landre, and Amy Gaeta & Haley Moss.

Podcast

Co-produced and hosted 26 episodes of the Disability Visibility podcast (episodes 42-67) with audio producers Cheryl Green, Geraldine Ah-Sue, and Sarika Mehta. Check out the latest one featuring an interview with actor Liz Carr! 

Media 

Interviewed by Pacific Standard, Rewire News, The Hill, Time Magazine, Daily Dot, Capital Public Radio, ABC News, and New Mobility, about the 2020 election, political participation of disabled people, and my work as a co-partner in #CripTheVote with Andrew Pulrang and Gregg Beratan.

Appeared as a guest on the following podcasts: Contra*, Reid My Mind, HER with Amena Brown, Hip-Hop Bruha, Pigeonhole, Healing Justice, and The Vocal Fries. 

Talked about plastic straws (again!) with Kyli Rodriguez-Cayro for Bustle. As if bans on plastic bans aren’t ableist enough, I was interviewed by Janelle Bitker from the San Francisco Chronicle on cafes no longer using disposable cups. Here’s a recap of some of the conversation. 

Interviewed by Soleil Ho along with Haben Girma, John Marble, Srin Madipalli, and Robin Wilson-Beattie, Equal Access? Dining While Disabled, for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Interviewed for an article by Rose Eveleth, It’s Time to Rethink Who’s Best Suited for Space Travel, for Wired.

Interviewed by Lauren Ober on ‘good’ voices for WNYC. 

Interviewed by Angel Powell on the visibility of disability for Adolescent.net.

Interviewed by Terrence Doyle on the impact of Medicaid work requirements on people with disabilities for HMM Daily. 

Interviewed by Kelly Dawson on the cost of accessibility for Gay Magazine. 

Interviewed by A.K. Whitney on green menstrual products and accessibility for Dame Magazine.

Interviewed by Imani Barbarin on the cost of being disabled for Good Company.

Interviewed by Vilissa Thompson on long movies and pee math for MTV.

Interviewed by Alaina Leary on activism and celebrating disabled people for Hello Giggles. 

Interviewed by Ingrid Tischer for her Disabled in Development Project Storyteller series.

Activism

Launched #AccessIsLove project in collaboration with Mia Mingus and Sandy Ho. We believe access should be a collective responsibility instead of a sole responsibility placed on a few individuals. We outlined 10 ways to start creating and expanding access and included a list of readings and resources on accessibility & disability justice. 

We also have clothing, mugs, totes and stickers available at our online store! A different advocacy group will be highlighted every 2 months. Check out the latest group we’re showing-up for with Love, Solidarity, and Disability Justice.

Photo of 3 disabled Asian Americans, Mia Mingus, Alice Wong and Sandy Ho (from left to right). Mia is wearing glasses and large hoop earrings. Alice is wearing a brightly colored scarf and an army-camouflage-print jacket. She is wearing a mask over her nose with a tube for her Bi-Pap machine. Sandy has wavy short hair and is wearing a black sweater. Behind them is a concrete wall with a door. On the top against a white background in black text: “ACCESS IS LOVE” in white. The “O” in “LOVE” is a red heart.
Photo of 3 disabled Asian Americans, Mia Mingus, Alice Wong and Sandy Ho (from left to right). Mia is wearing glasses and large hoop earrings. Alice is wearing a brightly colored scarf and an army-camouflage-print jacket. She is wearing a mask over her nose with a tube for her Bi-Pap machine. Sandy has wavy short hair and is wearing a black sweater. Behind them is a concrete wall with a door.
On the top against a white background in black text: “ACCESS IS LOVE” in white. The “O” in “LOVE” is a red heart.

Supported and amplified the work of #PowerToLive and Mask Oakland during the PG&E voluntary power shutoffs in fall 2019 including a call for stories and a recap of some of the online conversation on emergencies and disabled people.

Created a video in support of the Medical Abuse Hotline by Health Justice Commons in remembrance of the life and work of Carrie Ann Lucas.

Created Herd Immunity Is Love merchandise to spread the word about vaccines during flu season.

Presentations and talks

Panelist at Netroots Nation session, “Cripping the Movement: How Disability Inclusion Will Save Progressives” moderated by Rebecca Cokley with Reyma McCoy McDeid, Sarah Blahovec, and Patrick Cokley.

Panelist at Netroots Nation session, “Sparkle or Shade? Let’s get real about inclusive politics” moderated by Jenn Pae with Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, Alicia Garza, Alejandra Gomez, and Nse Ufot (video description and transcript).

Panelist at Werk It podcast festival, “Taking Up Your Space: Real Talk About Hosting,” moderated by Shereen Marisol Meraji (Co-Host, Code Switch) with panelists Misha Euceph (Host and Producer, KPCC), Rund Abdelfatah (Co-Host and Co-Producer, Throughline).

Gave a keynote address at the 2019 Autistic Self Advocacy Network Annual Gala (video description and text transcript).

Twitter Chats

Co-hosted 10 #CripTheVote Twitter chats and live-tweets of the Democratic debates with Gregg Beratan and Andrew Pulrang on political participation and the disability community. Check out all the recaps here. 

In my capacity as a research consultant I co-organized and hosted 2 Twitter chats with the Disability Organizing Network on solidarity as an act of love in February and disability advocacy in May.

In my capacity as a research consultant I co-organized and hosted a Twitter chat on ableism & rape culture with SF Women Against Rape and Sins Invalid in March.

Co-hosted a Twitter chat with Mia Mingus and Sandy Ho on access & solidarity as a form of love with co-host House of GG in March.

Co-hosted a Twitter chat on disability representation in One Day at a Time co-hosted by Liz Lopez of the National Coalition for Latinxs with Disabilities in April.

Co-hosted a Twitter chat on accessibility & disabled performers with Gaelynn Lea and Kalyn Heffernan in April.

In my capacity as a research consultant I co-organized and hosted a Twitter chat with Sandy Ho of the Lurie Institute on civic participation and the disability community in May.

Other Delights

Appeared in The Chronicles of San Francisco (2018), a digital mural by JR, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Appeared in Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women’s Fight for Their Rights by Mikki Kendall and A. D’Amico.

 

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