What You Need to Know About Disability Justice
If you’ve explored the BADT core values along with us, you’ll know that we are committed to accessibility.
Accessibility is the practice of honoring varying and different needs. It undoes the myths of ableism-- the messages that say all we have to do is work “harder” and “smarter”; the messages that impose and reinforce oppressive hierarchies, that define worth and value as dependent on a person’s productivity under capitalism, and that fail to recognize the power of human diversity - in both our needs and our capacities. Accessibility seeks to see and honor our unique Disabilities and abilities and the intersections of our many identities.
In this piece, we will dig deeper into our understanding of Disability, and furthermore, Disability Justice. Our students, teachers, and clients are human beings who are valid, valuable, important, sacred, and whole. We explore Disability Justice because we are committed to the vision of a world in which all people, all neurotypes, all bodies are cared for in the unique ways they need to be cared for.
What is Disability Justice?
“The term disability justice was coined out of conversations between disabled queer women of color activists in 2005, including Patty Berne of Sins Invalid (and Mia Mingus & Stacy Milbern, who eventually united with Leroy Moore, Eli Clare, and Sebastian Margaret) seeking to challenge radical and progressive movements to more fully address ableism.
Disability justice recognizes the intersecting legacies of white supremacy, colonial capitalism, gendered oppression and ableism in understanding how people's’ bodies and minds are labelled ‘deviant’, ‘unproductive’, ‘disposable’ and/or ‘invalid’. - Project LETS
Additionally, Sins Invalid offers the following: “A Disability Justice framework understands that:
All bodies are unique and essential.
All bodies have strengths and needs that must be met.
We are powerful, not despite the complexities of our bodies, but because of them.
All bodies are confined by ability, race, gender, sexuality, class, nation state, religion, and more, and we cannot separate them.”
Exploring Definitions of Disability
Disability is a wide variety of things. It is an umbrella term to describe a huge range of medical conditions, mental health conditions, and neurodiversity. It is a way of describing how social systems fail to include people whose body-minds are different from what is considered “standard” or “healthy.” Furthermore, It is a political identity. It represents a legally protected class of people. There are different ways of thinking about Disability, but because Disability describes so many experiences, no one model applies to every Disabled person’s experience.
That said, people will use different words and terms to describe their identity and lived experience. It is our job as doulas and advocates to ask the people we are partnering with, “What terms or language do you prefer to use to describe your lived experience?”
People are Disabled, not by their inability to do something, but by the fact that our society is not accessible. This results in our varying dependencies being seen as exceptional.
Some Disabilities are visible, like a missing limb, and some are invisible, like Lupus or other chronic illnesses. While there is a list of “qualifying” disabilities that entitle a person to legal protections, Disability extends far beyond this list, and includes things that aren’t often acknowledged by most medical and legal systems as Disability like addiction.
As we explore Disability Justice, Reproductive Justice, and their intersections, it is crucial that we stay committed to broadening and deepening our understanding of language. This work continually calls us to expand our understanding of one another. Simultaneously, it calls us to undo oppressive systems that fail to see, support, love, and care for our bodies and minds in all of their beautiful and unique variations. Keep reading for 7 practical ways to engage in this work today, tomorrow, and every day.
Ways to Engage with Disability Justice
Sign up for Birth and Disability, BADT’s Continuing Education Course. This 4-week course covers frameworks and models of Disability, centering Disabled narratives and experiences, connections between Disability Justice and Reproductive Justice, and how to make your birth practice access-centered.
Follow and learn from Disability Justice (DJ) educators. Check out this expansive DJ Curricula from Project LETS.
Support disabled activists and creators across social media platforms. These are just a few to get you started.
Explore your own relationship to ableism. Vilissa Thompson, LMSW and Disability-Rights Consultant, offers some ideas for getting started.
Participate in mutual aid projects. Give or receive as you can and need. Check out this visual history of mutual aid; hint: this is not a new strategy for getting people the care they need. QTBPOC folks have facilitated mutual aid efforts and networks across time.
Read books about disability and disability justice. Check out these books that have been (or will be) published by disabled writers in 2020 and 2021.
Listen to the stories of disabled people. The stories are as varied and unique as each person. Remember: disabled people are not a monolith. Disability Visibility Podcast, hosted by Alice Wong, is a great place to get started.
Engage in Community
A key part of Disability Justice is community. Rugged individualism is antithetical to this movement. So, we are glad you are here. BADT strives to be, create, and expand community. We need ALL of you (everyone) and ALL of you (your whole self) here. If this work resonates with you, check out our courses; we’d love to learn alongside you.