Today I’m in conversation with my friends Andrew Pulrang and Gregg Beratan. The three of us are co-partners in #CripTheVote, an online movement encouraging the political participation of disabled people that we started in 2016. You’ll hear us talk about the origins of #CripTheVote, the differences between the 2016 and 2020 election on disability policies and engagement, and looking ahead with the Biden/Harris administration. Please note our conversation took place in December 2020, a few weeks after the Presidential election.
Andrew Pulrang, a white, clean-shaven man with glasses and black hair, wearing a blue shirt. A tracheostomy is visible around his neck just above the shirt collar.
Andrew Pulrang is a disability-focused freelance writer, online activist, and former Center for Independent Living director. He is a contributing writer for Forbes.com. Andrew is also a co-partner of #CripTheVote, a nonpartisan online movement encouraging the political participation of disabled people with fellow disabled activists Gregg Beratan and Alice Wong.
Gregg Beratan, a white man with brown hair and a brown beard. He is smiling and wearing a white shirt with narrow gray stripes.
Gregg Beratan is one of the Co-founders and organizers of #CripTheVote. He is the Director of Advocacy at the Center for Disability Rights. He has been involved in Disability Rights and Disability Justice efforts in the United States, the UK, Poland & India.
Today I’m in conversation with Alena Morales, who will graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Sciences with a minor in Disability Studies at UC Berkeley in Spring 2021. Alena is a queer disabled advocate of color and the former Chair and Co-Founder of the Disabled Students Commission, and through loving interdependence and collective labor with her fellow crips, she co-created one of the few Disability Cultural Centers in the country at UC Berkeley. You’ll hear Alena talk about developing her disability identity, finding community, and getting involved in community organizing at school. She’ll also talk about the importance of creating space for the broader disability community with the formation of the Disability Cultural Center and the years-long process that made it happen.
Alena Morales, a Mexican Filipina woman, sitting in her wheelchair among San Diego palm trees. Her long brown hair is styled down around her shoulders, and she dons red lipstick with winged eyeliner. She is wearing a white button up shirt with black polka dots, and her central line hangs out from the neckline of her shirt.
Alena Morales (she/her) is a queer disabled advocate of color. She will graduate with her DPD BS in Nutritional Sciences with a minor in Disability Studies at UC Berkeley in Spring 2021. Alena is the former Chair and Co-Founder of the ASUC Disabled Students Commission, and through loving interdependence and collective labor with her fellow crips, she Co-Created one of the few Disability Cultural Centers in the country. After graduation, Alena hopes to combine disability justice activism and nutrition to ensure that people with disabilities are represented in key nutrition policy dialogues ultimately opening up her own disability justice organization that tackles socioeconomic and clinical nutritional inequities for the community she calls home.
Today I’m in conversation with Mustafa Rfat. Mustafa is a graduate student in the Public Administration Program at West Virginia University. He’s also a trainee at Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) at the university. Mustafa came to the U.S. as a refugee from Iraq in 2011. You’ll hear Mustafa talk about his experience as a refugee and his adjustment to life in the United States. Mustafa will also describe the unique challenges and needs of refugees with disabilities.
Photo of three people gathered around a white grand piano. On the left sitting on the piano bench, Nazli Khazirova, a woman with a purple head covering and a navy blue outfit smiling widely. Her arm is extended toward Mustafa Rfat on the right, a man wearing a navy blue business suit with a white shirt and red tie who is also smiling. In the center, laying on top of the piano is Defne Rfat, a little baby girl with a white flower-like headband and a white and pink tulle outfit like a ballerina
Photo of Mustafa Rfat, a man with short dark brown hair wearing a navy blue blazer with v-neck blue shirt. Behind him is a dark gray background.
Mustafa Rfat is a graduate student in the Public Administration Program and a trainee at Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) at West Virginia University. Mustafa came to the U.S. as a refugee from Iraq in 2011. He is a passionate advocate for equal rights for people with disabilities and refugees/immigrants. He is in the process of applying for Ph.D. programs in Social Work to further his education in research and community work.
Today’s episode is about art and technology featuring a conversation with Lindsey D. Felt and Vanessa Chang. Lindsey and Vanessa curated Recoding CripTech, a multidisciplinary art exhibition at SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco in early 2020. You’ll learn about how their collaboration and friendship started, what it was like curating this exhibit, some of the disabled artists that were part of the exhibit, and why CripTech, disability culture, and accessibility is more important than ever in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Photo of curators Vanessa Chang and Lindsey D. Felt standing shoulder to shoulder in front of a graffiti installation, beaming at the camera. Lindsey has wavy blonde hair and wears translucent glasses and a gauzy black and white dress with a black double buckle belt. Vanessa has a short dark brown bob and wears a gold choker necklace and a long sleeved white kimono top. A brown bag strap crosses her chest.
Lindsey D. Felt and Vanessa Chang curated Recoding CripTech, a multidisciplinary art exhibition at SOMArts Cultural Center in 2020. Their curatorial work has been profiled in venues such as Art in America, KQED Arts and DisTopia.
Dr. Lindsey D. Felt, a Bay Area native, writer and deaf scholar, is a lecturer at Stanford University, where she teaches courses on disability, writing, and technology. She received her Ph.D. in English from Stanford University. Her research focuses on disability innovation and technology in the postwar era, specifically how disability shaped conceptions of electronic communication; science fiction and disability futurity; access and assistive technologies; and disability rhetorics. Most recently, her writing has appeared in Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience, and she serves as the Disability and Impact Lead at Leonardo/ISAST.
Dr. Vanessa Chang is a writer, curator and educator who builds communities and conversations about art, technology and human bodies. She is Senior Program Manager at Leonardo/ISAST and teaches in Visual and Critical Studies at California College of the Arts. She holds a Ph.D. in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University, where she was a Geballe Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center. Recent exhibitions include Intersections at Fort Mason Center for the Arts and Artobots, a CODAME festival of art, automation and artificial intelligence. She has appeared on NPR’s On the Media and State of the Art, and written for Wired, Slate, Los Angeles Review of Books and Noema Magazine, among other venues.
Ep 95: Black Doctors with Disabilities
Jan 23, 2021
In today’s episode I’m in conversation with Dr. Justin Bullock. Justin is currently an Internal Medicine Resident in San Francisco, California. You’ll hear Justin talk about his experiences disclosing his disability at work, the process he had to go through to prove his fitness to serve as a physician because of his disability, the systemic ableism and racism in medicine and medical education, and the benefits and risks of telling your story and being visible. You’ll also hear Justin talk about article he wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine titled “Suicide—Rewriting my story” which describes his battle with bipolar disorder and suicidality during undergraduate and graduate medical education.
Please note our conversation took place in September 2020 and there will be discussions of hospitalization, death and dying, suicidality, suicidal ideation, and trauma.
I am proud to say that after 441 long days, today is my last as an intern. I survived some of my roughest days & discovered my voice in a new, beautiful way. Excited to close this chapter & turn to opportunities as a PGY2. #DocsWithDisabilities#BlackMenInMedicine#GayMedTwitter
This Sunday, I am honored to get to do a live interview for ~200 basic scientists from @UCSFneuro at their annual retreat to talk abt mental illness, stigma & creating structures to improve mental health. Excited to continue this convo with my PhD colleagues#DocsWithDisabilities
Because I can't not say this: A bunch of people protesting right now that black lives matter just watched me get destroyed my institution's fitness for duty process in silence (without a single black person in sight on the "well being committee").#showupwhenitsuncomfortable
Update re: Physician Well Being Committee/Fitness for Duty Process(FFD)! Some powers that be thought they were sending me to get support; institution now seems to acknowledge that that was NOT the case and is trying to improve that for others…A THREAD/1https://t.co/uhj5lLdan4
Despite this, I must have regular check ins with a faculty 'mentor', a case manager (whom I call my parole officer), I continue to meet with my own psychiatrist & therapist (as I was before all this). My institution was fixated on me doing a very specific type of therapy: DBT. /3
I won't belabor the myriad of ways that the Fitness for Duty Process has undermined my current and future mental health, but what I would like to focus on are the changes that are currently underway. /5
From my reports on the ground and from institutional leadership, the committee has already begun to diversify its membership. There is a task force currently reviewing the committee, and I have been asked to speak to share my story with the task force. /7
Someone who deeply understands the nuances of the committee & has tangible power to change it was both apologetic and actionable oriented. We discussed how our institution exists w/in a challenging state legal structure w/ respect to providers w/ mental health & substance use. /9
Dr. Justin Bullock, a Black man with short hair wearing a navy suit with a white shirt and dark red tie. He is smiling at the camera.
Dr. Justin Bullock is a current Internal Medicine Resident in San Francisco, California. Justin is passionate about medical education, and diversity in medicine. His article in the New England Journal of Medicine titled “Suicide—Rewriting my story” tells the story of his battle with Bipolar Disorder and suicidality during undergraduate and graduate medical education.
It’s been over eleven months since the pandemic emerged in the United States and things are worse than ever. Hospitals across the country have reached full capacity and utilizing crisis standards of care, guidelines used when there is a shortage of resources and care.
Today’s episode is about healthcare allocation in the time of COVID with Britney Wilson, a civil rights attorney with the National Center for Law and Economic Justice. This center, along with three other disability rights organizations, filed a class action complaint in October 2020 against the State of New York. The lawsuit challenges the New York State Ventilator Allocation Guidelines as discriminatory. The Guidelines allow hospitals to reallocate ventilators from people who use them in the community. Britney will talk about her role in the case and how the case came about, how these existing guidelines are ableist and harm disabled people, and the goals are from the lawsuit. Please note we talked in November 2020 and I included a short update at the end of the episode.
Britney Wilson, Black woman with curly natural, black hair and glasses in a blue chambray suit and white and blue polka dot top standing on crutches in an office.
Civil rights attorney Britney Wilson is a staff attorney at the National Center for Law and Economic Justice in New York.
Today’s episode features an interview with Johnnie Jae who is from the Otoe-Missouria and Choctaw tribes of Oklahoma. Johnnie is a journalist, organizer, creator, and futurist and the founder of A Tribe Called Geek, an award-winning media platform for Indigenous Geek Culture and STEM, and #Indigenerds4Hope, a suicide prevention initiative designed to educate, encourage, and empower Native youth. Johnnie will talk about her experiences accessing healthcare and staying safe as an immunocompromised person, the pandemic’s impact on disabled Indigenous, the systemic inequalities facing Indigenous communities, and the movement to remove racist imagery and terms in popular culture.
Please note there will be discussions about hospitalization, genocide, settler colonialism, medical racism, racist mascots.
I am the great granddaughter of the late Johnnie & Minnie Moore and Nelson & Emaline Morris.
I was born and raised in Oklahoma, spent about 10 years living in Taos, New Mexico and now reside in Hollywood, California.
— Johnnie Jae aka The Brown Ball of Fury (@johnniejae) November 1, 2019
Great thread! Please support Disabled Indigenous people, there are links in thos thread. https://t.co/W2QKuQ4nUS
Pregnant Native American women were singled out for COVID-19 testing based on their race and ZIP code, clinicians say. While awaiting results, some mothers were separated from their newborns, depriving them of the immediate contact doctors recommend. https://t.co/rsQOqZ9GfX
“I knew if I could get Fresno High School to remove the mascot, that the logic of it would kick in, you don’t vote to remove a mascot that’s Native from one school in the district without saying, ‘We can’t just remove one.” – Jamie Nelson (Yokuts)https://t.co/84xoVAEfNI
I always seem like a wet blanket because I do not stan or put folks on a pedestal. I am critical and very idealistic when it comes to Native representation because I am not just thirsty for representation….i am thirsty and starving for GREAT representation and accountability.
— Johnnie Jae aka The Brown Ball of Fury (@johnniejae) December 18, 2020
My latest for the @AP: For many Native American tribes, losing elders to the coronavirus means losing irreplaceable pieces of culture. So tribes are fighting to protect their must vulnerable members. https://t.co/Lzunxsljr8
Picture of Johnnie Jae, black hair, bangs brushed to the right side of her face. She is wearing glasses that are slightly too big for her head, nude pink lipstick, a dusky pink shirt with a necklace featuring a round citrine pendant.
Johnnie Jae is an Otoe-Missouria and Choctaw rabble-rousing journalist, organizer, creator, and futurist who loves empowering others to chase their passions and create for healing and revolutionary change in the world. She is the founder of A Tribe Called Geek, an award-winning media platform for Indigenous Geek Culture and STEM, and #Indigenerds4Hope, a suicide prevention initiative designed to educate, encourage, and empower Native youth. Jae is a co-founder of Not Your Mascots and LiveIndigenousOK. She is a member of the Women Warriors Work Collective and served as a co-chair for the 2017 March for Racial Justice. She was the host of the Indigenous Flame and A Tribe Called Geek podcasts and worked as a producer for several other podcasts on the Success Native Style Radio Network.
While primarily recognized for her work with A Tribe Called Geek, Jae also facilitates several workshops that address Mental Health and Suicide in Indian Country, Native Mascots & Stereotypes, Indigenous Representation & Journalism, Indigenous STEM & Tech, and the Utilization of Social & Digital media for Business and Activism. Her ability to seamlessly shift from humor and pop culture to advocacy and business has made her a much-sought after speaker, panelist, and commentator.
Today’s episode features an interview with Jen White-Johnson, an Afro-Latina disabled artist, photographer, educator, and designer. Jen is also an Assistant Professor of Visual Communication at Bowie State University. Jen will talk about how being the parent of a neurodivergent Black son politicized her and her work in the midst of racist violence and police brutality this year. You’ll hear her describe one of several graphics she created this year that features the raised solidarity fist in black with an infinity sign at the wrist with the words Black Disabled Lives Matter below. You can find more of Jen’s work on her website at https://jenwhitejohnson.com/.
Please note this interview contains mentions of antiblackness, violence, and police brutality.
Photo of Knox White-Johnson, a Black Autistic boy smiling and holding a sticker designed by his mother, Jen White-Johnson, an illustration of a raised solidarity fist in black with an infinity symbol at the wrist in white with the words ‘Black Disabled Lives Matter’ below.
Wow. Thank you @AyannaPressley for sharing my #ToyinSalau visual tribute in solidarity. Her life had value and purpose and it continues to be our responsibility to uplift and understand that black women deserve protection, care, respect, and amplification. https://t.co/A6wCriWaHp
Photo of Jen White-Johnson, an Afro-Latina woman who is wearing a light blue denim shirt. She has a cinnamon complexion with a small brown birthmark on her left cheek. She is wearing earrings with the raised solidarity fist with an inverted triangle below. She is also wearing a wide-brimmed brown hat.
Jen White-Johnson is a Designer, Photographer, Art Activist, and Art Educator. Currently, she teaches as an Assistant Professor of Visual Communication at Bowie State University where her work focuses on the intersection of content and caregiving with an emphasis on redesigning ableist visual culture. When her son was diagnosed as Autistic at age 2 she began to examine the absence of black disabled children in digital and literary media, this motivated the release of an advocacy photo zine entitled “KnoxRoxs.” Dedicated to her Autistic son, the zine is a way to give visibility to children of color in the black Autistic community. As an artist-educator with Graves disease and ADHD, her heart-centered and electric approach to disability advocacy bolsters these movements with invaluable currencies: powerful, dynamic art and media that all at once educates, bridges divergent worlds, and builds a future that mirrors her Autistic son’s experience. Since its release, the zine has received national and international recognition, including features in AfroPunk, Today at Apple, and is permanently archived in Libraries at the The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. This year her activist work has been featured in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Crip Camp: The Official Virtual Experience, and she was recently selected as an honoree on the 2020 Diversability’s D-30 Disability Impact List.
Today’s episode features an interview with Emily Ackerman, a doctoral candidate in chemical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh and a disabled activist. Emily will talk about how she got into chemical engineering, her advice for disabled students who want to be scientists, her experiences last year on campus with a delivery robot, and the importance of accessibility in the design and development of technology.
Hi! I'm a 6th year chemE PhD candidate applying systems biology approaches to viral infections like the flu and COVID-19. I'm a wheelchair user and am passionate about, among many things, the intersection of disability, tech, and education. #DEHEM#DisInHigherEd#DEHEMRollCallpic.twitter.com/EgFtrtQFp3
— Emily Slackerman Ackerman (@EmilyEAckerman) October 1, 2020
Emily sits among plants in a power wheelchair behind a glass door. She is dimly lit, with long brown hair, a tan turtleneck, and black pants and boots.
Emily Ackerman is a doctoral candidate in chemical engineering and a disabled activist. She is particularly invested in achieving equity in STEM education and technology for the disabled community. She lives in Pittsburgh with her cat, Poppy.
Every political issue is a disability issue and as the daughter of immigrants, I know that immigration is an important disability issue. Today I get a chance to talk … Continue Reading Ep 90: Disabled Immigrants
Ep 89: Museums
Nov 01, 2020
I love museums. I miss going to them but am glad there are so many museums with online exhibits and programming. Today we’re talking about museums with Amanda Cachia, … Continue Reading Ep 89: Museums
Ep 88: Policy
Oct 19, 2020
With Election Day just two weeks away in the United States on November 3rd, this is the perfect time to talk about policy. Today’s episode features an interview with … Continue Reading Ep 88: Policy
Ep 87: Climate Action
Oct 05, 2020
Today’s episode is on climate action with Kera Sherwood-O’Regan, an indigenous multidisciplinary storyteller and activist based in Aotearoa, also known as New Zealand. Kera’s work and activism centers structurally oppressed … Continue Reading Ep 87: Climate Action
Ep 86: Transportation
Sep 20, 2020
Today’s episode is about transportation with Maddy Ruvolo. Maddy is a disabled urban planner passionate about transportation access for the disability community. She also just graduated this year from … Continue Reading Ep 86: Transportation
Ep 85: Fat Liberation
Sep 07, 2020
Today’s episode is all about fat liberation with Max Airborne and Caleb Luna. Max is an organizer for collective liberation, rooted in fat liberation and disability justice. They co-founded … Continue Reading Ep 85: Fat Liberation
Ep 84: Anthologies
Aug 23, 2020
Today’s episode is all about anthologies with Kelly Jensen, a writer and editor who has a new anthology out now titled, Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy. … Continue Reading Ep 84: Anthologies
Ep 83: Disabled Dancers
Aug 08, 2020
Today’s episode is all about disabled dancers with India Harville, an African American queer disabled femme teacher, somatic bodyworker, dancer, instructor, activist, and educator. You’ll hear India talk about … Continue Reading Ep 83: Disabled Dancers
82a: Americans with Disabilities Act
Jul 26, 2020
Surprise! This is a bonus episode talking about disability rights and the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (also known as the ADA). I recently spoke with … Continue Reading 82a: Americans with Disabilities Act
Ep 82: Americans with Disabilities Act
Jul 26, 2020
We’re right in the middle of the summer and the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and other countries around the world continues to spread with little end in … Continue Reading Ep 81: Bioethics
Ep 80: Fashion
Jun 28, 2020
Today’s episode is about fashion with Stephanie Thomas. Stephanie is a Disability Fashion Styling Expert and Founder and CEO of Cur8able, a business dedicated to the art and science … Continue Reading Ep 80: Fashion
Ep 79: Disabled Candidates
Jun 15, 2020
For the last four years I’ve been a co-partner #CripTheVote which is an online movement encouraging the political participation of disabled people. Getting involved can mean voting, volunteering, attending a … Continue Reading Ep 79: Disabled Candidates
Ep 78: Hate Crimes
Jun 01, 2020
Today’s episode is about hate crimes with Dr. Sachin Pavithran, the Director of Policy at the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University. Sachin is also a … Continue Reading Ep 78: Hate Crimes
Ep 77: Mental Health Advocacy
May 17, 2020
This May is Mental Health Awareness month and today I speak with Kathy Flaherty about mental health advocacy. Kathy is the Executive Director of Connecticut Legal Rights Project a … Continue Reading Ep 77: Mental Health Advocacy