7/26 #ADA30InColor Online Event

 

On January 14, 2020, the Disability Visibility Project called for submissions by disabled BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) writers for #ADA30InColor: a series of original essays on the past, present, and future of disability rights and justice.

You are invited to the #ADA30InColor online event on Sunday, July 26, 2020, 4 pm Pacific. Moderated by Andraéa LaVant, the discussion will feature the following contributors: Jen Deerinwater, Timotheus “T.J.” Gordon, Jr., Reyma McCoy McDeid, Valerie Novack, and Lia Seth. Alice Wong, the editor and publisher, will join the conversation as well. 

ASL and live captioning will be provided. 10 registered participants will be randomly selected to win a free copy of Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century, Edited by Alice Wong.

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/ADAinColorPanel

Co-organized by the San Francisco Public Library, the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University, and the Disability Visibility Project.

Andraéa LaVant, Project Coordinator 

Andraéa LaVant is founder and president of LaVant Consulting, Inc., a strategy and communications firm dedicated to fostering disability-inclusive cultures across all sectors. As a communications consultant and inclusion specialist, Andraéa has over a decade of experience working with programs that support youth and adults with disabilities and other underserved populations. Andraéa is a strong advocate for exploring disability from an intersectional lens and offers a unique perspective on the initiatives that she supports.

Twitter: @andraealavant

Jen Deerinwater, Contributor 

Jen Deerinwater is a classically trained vocalist vagabond with a love for books, well made martinis, and antique maps. She has several degrees from over priced universities and the student loan debt to prove it. Jen is Bisexual, Two Spirit, Disabled, and is mixed race Tsalagi-a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. After several years spent in the trenches of ameriKKKan politics you can now find her stirring the pot of radical discourse through journalism and grassroots organizing. Jen is also the founder and executive director of Crushing Colonialism, an international, Indigenous, multi-media organization. You can follow her soapbox rants on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Timotheus “T.J.” Gordon, Jr., Contributor, #ADA30InColor

Timotheus “T.J.” Gordon Jr. is an autistic writer and researcher-activist in Chicago, IL. He is one of the co-founders of Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition, also known as Chicagoland DPOCC. Supported by the Institute of Disability and Human Development, Chicagoland DPOCC promotes disability acceptance and self-advocacy in communities of color throughout the Chicagoland area.

As a member of Advance Your Leadership Power (AYLP), a racial/disability justice group within Access Living, Timotheus supports and helps lead campaigns on combating police violence and mental health within the Chicagoland disability community. He is the creator of the Black Autist, a blog and social media outlet that promotes autism and disability acceptance in the African Diaspora. Timotheus uses writing and social media to discuss topics on disability in media, disability pride in marginalized communities, and caregiver violence against people with disabilities.

Twitter: @timgordonjr

Reyma McCoy McDeid, Contributor 

Reyma McCoy McDeid is a Center for Independent Living director and serves as treasurer for  the National Council on Independent Living and chair for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. She is the recipient of a 2019 AT&T Humanity of Connection award and her 2018 run for office was endorsed by the Working Families Party, the Asian & Latino Coalition, and Iowa Women for Progressive Change. She is also a single mom. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Vice, Pantsuit Nation, TIME , The Des Moines Register, The Cedar Rapids Gazette, and Progressive Voices of Iowa. Her vocation is mobilizing marginalized persons- the working class, people of color, folks with disabilities, religious minorities, and others- to engage with the political process at every available opportunity.

Twitter: @RunReymaRun

Valerie Novack, Contributor

Valerie Novack (she/her) is a Black and Latina disability policy researcher focusing on inclusive infrastructure and emergency management practices. She focuses on integrating the expertise of lived experience and grassroots efforts of marginalized peoples into policymaking at the local, state, and federal levels. Valerie was a 2019 Portlight Fellow focusing on legislative solutions to inaccessible emergency response practices in the United States. Currently, Novack serves as the Board Chair of the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies, teaches a college course on disability policy and justice, and works as a disability policy fellow. Novack has a bachelor’s degree in disability studies and urban planning from the University of Toledo and a master’s degree in disaster preparedness and emergency management from Arkansas State University. 

Valerie is a proud, queer and MAD woman who loves to travel, make music, and spend time with her husband, Chase, and her dog, Mac.

Twitter: @MADtastically

Lia Seth, Contributor

Lia Seth (she/her) is a Human Resources specialist living in the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula. She is a lifetime Girl Scout member, pub trivia host, and avid cross-stitch enthusiast. Her original writing has been used and featured by Pearson Education, the Gottman Institute, Practical Media Inc., Girl Scouts of Northern California, the Disability Visibility Project, AMI (Accessible Media Inc.) Radio, and local NPR radio stations. She has been diagnosed with sympathetic adrenergic overdrive and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, hypermobility type.

Twitter: @LiaSeth

Alice Wong, Editor/Publisher 

Alice Wong (she/her) is a disabled activist, media maker, and consultant. She is the Founder and Director of the Disability Visibility Project (DVP), an online community dedicated to creating, sharing and amplifying disability media and culture created in 2014. Currently, Alice is the Editor of Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century. Alice is also the host and co-producer of the Disability Visibility podcast.

Twitter: @SFdirewolf / @DisVisibility

 

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