Disability Culture Lab

@disabilitylab.bsky.social

DCL is a nonprofit disability media and narrative lab, by and for disabled folks. We exist to dismantle ableism and celebrate disabled community and culture.

https://linktr.ee/disabilityculturelab

@disabilitylab.bsky.social

Colonialism is disabling, and Indigenous people are dealing with the impacts of that oppression. Johnnie Jae, an Otoe-Missouria and Choctaw journalist, media critic, and artist, writes about Indigenous Peoples' Day for a new piece in Disability Culture Currents. Read more: tinyurl.com/DCCurrents.

Text reading: “’Indigenous Peoples’ Day can be more than recognition of Native presence. It can be a chance to consider how we care for one another and what we're building for those who come next. Disabled Native people have always been part of our communities. Our knowledge, leadership, labor, relationships, and experiences belong in the future of Indigenous Nations.’ Johnnie Jae, they/them. Journalist, media critic, and multidisciplinary artist. ‘Indigenous People’s Day Calls Us to Be Better Relatives.’ Link in bio: tinyurl.com/DCCurrents.” The graphic is light green with dark teal text and a subtle lightning bolt pattern.
@disabilitylab.bsky.social

We can’t thrive as a disability community without interdependence, and one of the ways that shows up is in the ways we both provide and receive care. In a piece for Disability Culture Currents, MJ Griego, explores the work of mutual caregiving as disabled people. Read more: tinyurl.com/DCCurrents.

A graphic featuring the newest illustrated piece on Disability Culture Currents. “Sunlight in a Cold Cellar” is a purple and white comic by MJ Griego (they/them), artist and community facilitator. Link in bio: tinyurl.com/DCCurrents. Image description: A panel from the illustration. Purple scrawled text on a white background reads, “Meanwhile, the most important work I do is with my community. Many wouldn’t even call it work. But for us, checking in saves lives, makes days worth having, makes a new world a little more real.” In the bottom right of the panel is a purple phone with white inside line details of buttons, held by a purple outlined hand. On the phone the person holding it has texted, “Hey babe, you ok?” and a text bubble response says, “Thx 4 asking TT-TT.”
@disabilitylab.bsky.social

In a new Disability Culture Currents piece, Rebecca Cokley, Director of Ford Foundation’s U.S. Disability Rights program and Co-Founder of Artichoke Credit Union, reflects on how — and why — the new institution was designed with and for the disability community. Read more: tinyurl.com/DCCurrents.

Text reads: “Quote from Rebecca Cokley (she/her), Director, Ford Foundation’s U.S. Disability Rights program, Co-Founder, Artichoke Credit Union. ‘As a credit union, Artichoke is member-owned. That means that, unlike a regular bank, this is an entity owned by people with disabilities, our families, and the organizations that support and serve us. We designed Artichoke Credit Union so that no disabled person is treated as an afterthought in our own financial story.’ ‘A New Approach to Closing the Disability Wealth Gap.’ Link in bio: tinyurl.com/DCCurrents.” Graphic with black and white images of Rebecca Cokley, a white woman with dwarfism and red hair, wearing a black jacket and an animal print shirt. There is a white text bubble with a quote from the piece against an orange background with a lightning bolt pattern.
@disabilitylab.bsky.social

For Mariana Ortiz-Padilla, liberation for the disabled Latine community looks like not being an afterthought. Even in disabled spaces, people of color are often left out, and that is why she created the Latinx Disability Association.

Text reads: “Mariana Ortiz-Padilla (she/her/ella). Mariana Ortiz-Padilla is a Latina Disability advocate working for a better standard of living for her community. She advocates within school and local government systems and encourages others to use their voice.” Image Description: There is an image of Mariana Ortiz-Padilla. Mariana is a tan skinned Mexican woman with long burgundy/red hair moved to the right side of her head. She has brown eyes and a beige sleeveless blouse. The background is black with text in white and blue graphic elements. At the top is the Disability Culture Lab logo, and in the bottom right is the page number, 1. Text reads: “Mariana Ortiz-Padilla (she/her/ella). Q: What does liberation look like for disabled Latine people? ‘Liberation for Latine disabled people is working toward a society where we are not considered an afterthought. More often than not, we have to do the work for our community because if we do not, who will? Even within disabled spaces, POC are told to wait their turn in advocacy and avoid inflammatory topics. But liberation involves getting rid of ICE, caring about our planet, and ensuring culturally competent healthcare without patronization.’” Image Description: There is an image of Mariana Ortiz-Padilla. Mariana is a tan skinned Mexican woman with long burgundy/red hair moved to the right side of her head. She has brown eyes and a beige sleeveless blouse. The background is black with text in white and blue graphic elements. At the top is the Disability Culture Lab logo, and in the bottom right is the page number, 2. Text reads: “Mariana Ortiz-Padilla (she/her/ella). Q: What does liberation look like for disabled Latine people? ‘I created the Latinx Disability Association because I was tired of waiting for a seat at the table, so I decided to build my own. Someone does not have to prove they are deserving of care by being a “perfect” disabled person. It involves changing the idea within our culture that disability is something shameful, a burden and allowing individuals to live full and joyful lives.’” Image Description: There is an image of Mariana Ortiz-Padilla. Mariana is a tan skinned Mexican woman with long burgundy/red hair moved to the right side of her head. She has brown eyes and a beige sleeveless blouse. The background is black with text in white and blue graphic elements. At the top is the Disability Culture Lab logo, and in the bottom right is the page number, 3.
@disabilitylab.bsky.social

For Latine Heritage Month, Cynthia Guerra tells us what liberation for disabled Latine people looks like for them: “Liberation for me means releasing ourselves from the shame of struggle.” They talk about not working past your boundaries in caring for others.

Text reads: “Cynthia Guerra (they/them). Cynthia Guerra is a Mexican-American disability advocate and single parent from Houston, Texas. They are passionate about creating spaces where disabled people and their families can connect, advocate for themselves, and thrive.” Image Description: There is an image of Cynthia Guerra. Cynthia is a brown-skinned person with shoulder-length, naturally curly dark hair, wearing large cat-eye tortoiseshell glasses, and a small nose stud and gold septum ring. They are wearing a gray shirt and looking directly at the camera with a gentle smile. The background is black with text in white and blue graphic elements. At the top is the Disability Culture Lab logo, and in the bottom right is the page number, 1. Text reads: “Cynthia Guerra (they/them). Q: What does liberation look like for disabled Latine people? ‘Liberation for me means releasing ourselves from the shame of struggle. In many of our families, women and femme-presenting people are taught to keep going, put everyone else first, and endure quietly, sometimes sacrificing our own needs and boundaries to keep the peace or remain connected to the family unit. Our Latine traditions of family, generosity, and care can be beautiful, but too often that care is taken for granted or expected at the expense of ourselves. Our boundaries are ignored.’” Image Description: There is an image of Cynthia Guerra. Cynthia is a brown-skinned person with shoulder-length, naturally curly dark hair, wearing large cat-eye tortoiseshell glasses, and a small nose stud and gold septum ring. They are wearing a gray shirt and looking directly at the camera with a gentle smile. The background is black with text in white and blue graphic elements. At the top is the Disability Culture Lab logo, and in the bottom right is the page number, 2. Text reads: “Cynthia Guerra (they/them). Q: What does liberation look like for disabled Latine people? ‘For disabled Latine people, this expectation can be especially painful. Liberation means understanding that caring for others should not require abandoning ourselves. We deserve to rest without guilt, set boundaries without shame, and acknowledge when something is too much. We should not have to become martyrs to prove that we love our families.’” Image Description: There is an image of Cynthia Guerra. Cynthia is a brown-skinned person with shoulder-length, naturally curly dark hair, wearing large cat-eye tortoiseshell glasses, and a small nose stud and gold septum ring. They are wearing a gray shirt and looking directly at the camera with a gentle smile. The background is black with text in white and blue graphic elements. At the top is the Disability Culture Lab logo, and in the bottom right is the page number, 3.
@disabilitylab.bsky.social

For Latine Heritage Month, @hectormramirez.bsky.social talks about what liberation for disabled Latine people means to them. “For Latine disabled people, liberation during these horrifying times of ICE means choosing LOVE and COURAGE as the foundations for building our lives/homes.”

Text reads: “Héctor Manuel Ramírez (they/them/el). Commissioner Héctor Manuel Ramírez is a California-based public policy professional, disability rights advocate, and labor leader, born in Mexico and of Apache ancestry. They are Autistic, hard of hearing, and live with complex mental health trauma.” Image Description: There is an image of Héctor Manuel Ramírez. Hector is a brown-skinned person with short gray hair and clear-framed glasses. They are wearing a heather gray t-shirt with a mountain-ridge graphic in rainbow Pride stripes across the chest and are riding an LA Metro bus. The background is black with text in white and blue graphic elements. At the top is the Disability Culture Lab logo, and in the bottom right is the page number, 1. Text reads: “Héctor Manuel Ramírez (they/them/el). Héctor serves as a state-appointed Commissioner on the California Commission on Disability Access and a county-appointed Commissioner on the Los Angeles County Commission on Disabilities.” Image Description: There is an image of Héctor Manuel Ramírez. Hector is a brown-skinned person with short gray hair and clear-framed glasses. They are wearing a heather gray t-shirt with a mountain-ridge graphic in rainbow Pride stripes across the chest and are riding an LA Metro bus. The background is black with text in white and blue graphic elements. At the top is the Disability Culture Lab logo, and in the bottom right is the page number, 2. Text reads: “Héctor Manuel Ramírez (they/them/el). Q: What does liberation look like for disabled Latine people? ‘For Latine disabled people, liberation during these horrifying times of ICE means choosing LOVE and COURAGE as the foundations for building our lives/homes. Love is the foundation; courage is the roof sheltering all we hold within. In this space, we bring our family-familia, chosen, cultural-and build a structure of nurture and joy. Love has a price: grief, because we risk losing what we love.’” Image Description: There is an image of Héctor Manuel Ramírez. Hector is a brown-skinned person with short gray hair and clear-framed glasses. They are wearing a heather gray t-shirt with a mountain-ridge graphic in rainbow Pride stripes across the chest and are riding an LA Metro bus. The background is black with text in white and blue graphic elements. At the top is the Disability Culture Lab logo, and in the bottom right is the page number, 3. Text reads: “Héctor Manuel Ramírez (they/them/el). Q: What does liberation look like for disabled Latine people? ‘It may hurt so much we feel we cannot go on, yet that is why we keep choosing love. Courage also has a cost. Choosing it means moving away from certainty and safety, stepping into uncertainty where we may fail, get hurt, lose more, or never try again. Sometimes courage means facing the challenge alone. But we choose courage because we know inaction costs more. Liberation for Latine disabled people in times of ICE is choosing LOVE and COURAGE.’” Image Description: There is an image of Héctor Manuel Ramírez. Hector is a brown-skinned person with short gray hair and clear-framed glasses. They are wearing a heather gray t-shirt with a mountain-ridge graphic in rainbow Pride stripes across the chest and are riding an LA Metro bus. The background is black with text in white and blue graphic elements. At the top is the Disability Culture Lab logo, and in the bottom right is the page number, 4.
@disabilitylab.bsky.social

For Latine Heritage Month, we ask the question, what does liberation for disabled Latine people look like? Dr. Conchita Hernández Legoretta says that for her it “looks like a future where no one is persecuted, put into concentration camps and separated from our families.”

Text reads: “Dr. Conchita Hernández Legoretta (she/her/ella). Conchita is a disability justice advocate, educator, and public speaker.” Image Description: There is an image of Dr. Conchita Hernández Legoretta, Conchita is a brown-skinned woman with long dark brown hair, holding a cane and wearing sunglasses while standing in front of a wooden door. She is wearing a light orange shirt and an orange bag. The background is black with text in white and blue graphic elements. At the top is the Disability Culture Lab logo, and in the bottom right is the page number, 1.Text reads: “Dr. Conchita Hernández Legoretta (she/her/ella). Q: What does liberation look like for disabled Latine people? ‘In this moment the uncertainty of immigration enforcement is all too real for disabled Latinos and our communities. Liberation looks like a future where no one is persecuted, put into concentration camps and separated from our families. Liberation looks like a place where disabled Latinos do not live in fear for themselves and their communities.’” Image Description: There is an image of Dr. Conchita Hernández Legoretta, Conchita is a brown-skinned woman with long dark brown hair, holding a cane and wearing sunglasses while standing in front of a wooden door. She is wearing a light orange shirt and an orange bag. The background is black with text in white and blue graphic elements. At the top is the Disability Culture Lab logo, and in the bottom right is the page number, 2. Text reads: “Dr. Conchita Hernández Legoretta (she/her/ella). Q: What does liberation look like for disabled Latine people? ‘Liberation is viewing migration and disability as natural experiences that have existed for thousands of years and will continue to exist. Liberation is looking beyond the headlines into the humanity of all human beings.’” Image Description: There is an image of Dr. Conchita Hernández Legoretta, Conchita is a brown-skinned woman with long dark brown hair, holding a cane and wearing sunglasses while standing in front of a wooden door. She is wearing a light orange shirt and an orange bag. The background is black with text in white and blue graphic elements. At the top is the Disability Culture Lab logo, and in the bottom right is the page number, 3.
@disabilitylab.bsky.social

We have ten policy priorities that grew out of our Disability Community + Movement North Star Memo. These policies touch on things like building interdependent, joyful communities and creating infrastructure like a National Guaranteed Income. Read the full memo: tinyurl/com/DisCoNSV.

Text reads, “Disability Community + Movement North Star Memo. Ten Policy Priorities. Tinyurl.com/DisCoNSV.” The graphic is off-white with text in dark teal, yellow triangular shapes in the top right corner, and dark teal triangular shapes in the bottom right corner. Text reads, “Ten Policy Priorities. 1) Accessible and affordable housing, food, care, education, communication, and joy in our communities as basic human rights. Tinyurl.com/DisCoNSV.” The graphic is off-white with text in dark teal, and yellow and teal triangular shapes. In the top right corner there is the number 1. Text reads, “Ten Policy Priorities. 2) Everyone enjoys freedom of movement, with access to communities via free, affordable, and safe mobility aids, public transit, infrastructure, accessible communication, and designated parking. Tinyurl.com/DisCoNSV.” The graphic is off-white with text in dark teal, and yellow and teal triangular shapes. In the top right corner there is the number 2. Text reads, “Ten Policy Priorities. 3) Interdependent, joyful communities where bodily autonomy, safety, and care are respected and supported. Tinyurl.com/DisCoNSV.” The graphic is off-white with text in dark teal, and yellow and teal triangular shapes. In the top right corner there is the number 3.
@disabilitylab.bsky.social

In our Disability Community + Movement North Star Memo, we identified key problems that the disability community is facing and solutions that will help us in our fight for liberation. Here are those problems and solutions. Read the whole memo via the link in our bio: tinyurl.com/DisCoNSV.

Text reads, “Problems + Solutions. Problem: Disabled people across the U.S. are in crisis, forced to live in poverty, and subjected to exclusion and criminalization. Solutions: Everyone has enough to live and thrive, regardless of disability. Disabled people deserve housing, food, transit, meaningful work, community, and joy regardless of our ability to labor for a wage. Deep funding for access and care, and abolition of all carceral systems, including institutionalized health care settings such as forced nursing home and psychiatric facilities, prisons and jails, immigrant detention centers, guardianships, and the family regulation system. Tinyurl.com/DisCoNSV.” The graphic is dark teal on the top and off white on the bottom with dark teal and yellow text and dark teal and yellow triangular shapes. In the bottom right corner, there is the page number, 2.Text reads, “Problems + Solutions. Problems: The U.S. is built on a history of white supremacist, eugenic, disabling violence that continues today. The current Administration is echoing this history and founding of the United States: using eugenic rhetoric and policy, institutionalization, tear gas, guns, and violent arrests as part of its strategy to delegitimize, disappear, mass-disable, and kill us. Solution: Inclusive interdependent communities, that we choose for ourselves, where everyone belongs and has autonomy and control over their own lives. Tinyurl.com/DisCoNSV.” The graphic is dark teal on the top and off white on the bottom with dark teal and yellow text and dark teal and yellow triangular shapes. In the bottom right corner, there is the page number, 3. Text reads, “Problems + Solutions. Problem: Billionaires and their allies in government put profits and power before people, using corporate abuse, state violence, and eugenics to disable people. Solution: An end to sacrifice zones and sacrifice community politics — and a process of accountability and repair for both. Tinyurl.com/DisCoNSV.” The graphic is dark teal on the top and off white on the bottom with dark teal and yellow text and dark teal and yellow triangular shapes. In the bottom right corner, there is the page number, 4. Text reads, “Problems + Solutions. Problem: Capitalism is disabling. It values billionaire profits, power, and production over people. It casts and stigmatizes disabled people as fakers and takers who threaten the bottomline and therefore are not worthy of care, dignity, joy, or investment. Solution: All disabled people have access to the care we need, for ourselves and our loved ones. We are allowed to work, save, and marry freely without tax or penalty; and benefits are tied to need, not work, income, or savings. Tinyurl.com/DisCoNSV.” The graphic is dark teal on the top and off white on the bottom with dark teal and yellow text and dark teal and yellow triangular shapes. In the bottom right corner, there is the page number, 5.
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For Disability Culture Currents, our Executive Director Meier Galblum Haigh + Managing Director Kenrya Rankin write about The U.S. Political Model of Disability, a new way of understanding disability from DCL’s Disability Community + Movement North Star Memo. Read more: tinyurl.com/DCCurrents.

Text reads: “Systemic oppression — from transphobia, anti-Black racism, and colonialism to capitalism, climate change, and imperialism — is disabling.’ By Meier Galblum Haigh (they/them), Founding Executive Director, Disability Culture Lab and Kenrya Rankin, Managing Director, Disability Culture Lab. “All About The U.S. Political Model of Disability. Link in bio: tinyurl.com/DCCurrents.” Circular portraits of Meier Galblum Haigh (a white trans-masc nonbinary person with short cropped dark curly hair in a masculine blue suit and light blue linen shirt) and Kenrya Rankin (a dark-skinned Black woman with dark brown locs, wearing rose gold glasses on a chain, purple lipstick, and a shirt with a hot pink, purple, and teal print). The background is light pink with a repeating lightning-bolt pattern and yellow and pink accent lines.
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With our Disability Community + Movement North Star Memo, we developed The U.S. Political Model of Disability. It’s a new way to think about disability, where we understand that disability is shaped by policy choices made by the people in power. Read the full memo: tinyurl.com/DisCoNSV.

Text reads, “Disability Community + Movement North Star Memo. The U.S. Political Model of Disability. Tinyurl.com/DisCoNSV.” Image Description: The graphic is dark teal with yellow text and yellow triangular shapes. In the bottom right corner, there is the page number, 1.Text reads, “The U.S. Political Model of Disability. Oppression is disabling: Policy and power impact who does and does not become disabled. Tinyurl.com/DisCoNSV.” Image Description: The graphic is off-white with text in dark teal, and yellow and teal triangular shapes. In the bottom right corner, there is the page number, 2.Text reads, “The U.S. Political Model of Disability. Disability is a natural part of life. Disabling another person for profit, convenience, or hate is an act of harm. This does not mean disability itself is inherently negative or positive, but it does acknowledge that many of our paths into disability identity include trauma. Tinyurl.com/DisCoNSV.” Image Description: The graphic is off-white with text in dark teal, and yellow and teal triangular shapes. In the bottom right corner, there is the page number, 3. Text reads, “The U.S. Political Model of Disability. Governments, billionaires, and corporations all shape who is and is not disabled through “sacrifice-zone politics” as well as systems of power, violence, and plunder. Tinyurl.com/DisCoNSV.” Image Description: The graphic is off-white with text in dark teal, and yellow and teal triangular shapes. In the bottom right corner, there is the page number, 4.
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