Disability Justice: What Does it Mean and What Does it Look Like in Practice?

Disability Justice is revolutionary. It works to put forth the intersectional experiences of all folks in the disabled community, highlighting the disparities each of us faces  at the hands of these capitalist, ableist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, colonial, carceral (I could go on forever) etc. systems of oppression that we  are forced to exist in.

When I was growing up, intersectionality was not a part of any conversation, and disability was not a positive discussion topic. I grew up in a small White town where my family was the only Black family on our street  for many years. This fact alone was hard enough for the white, able-bodied people in town to swallow, never mind the fact that I was the only disabled person in my family.

Existing as a Black and disabled student, especially as a female, was isolating I was not treated with the same respect and autonomy that my siblings received in school. Kids were mean and adults were worse (even though they were supposed to know better). This is not to say that my siblings did not face racism and prejudices in school, but it was different for them. They always had friends to sit with at lunch and did not have people ask what happened to them. if my siblings ever saw or heard about me being mistreated, whether in school or out in the world---they would be the first one’s there to defend my honor. My sister once punched a kid on the playground for making fun of me. But that is a story for another time.

The concepts of intersectionality and disability justice  were brought to my attention when I came to university. From the moment I stepped into my first-year women and gender studies class, back in 2019, something clicked!

I finally belonged somewhere, and it opened my world. This course taught what it means to be a part of a community—to show each other, love, and grace without limits. Everyone in that class was coming to it from different perspectives and diverse backgrounds. No one was too knowledgeable to learn something new and we were doing it together, which was even more enriching.

 I felt the same way when I met my current friend group here on campus, at Carleton University, through the Attendant Services Program. My disabled babes are the true embodiment of the disability justice principles and what unconditional love looks like, in practice. They see me, sit with me, recognize my wholeness, fight for me, and support me in fighting for myself. They  sustain me, mobilize with me, elevate my voice when the world does not hear me, and they find ways to help me access the world with them. I do the same for them too. Community care and collective access are [ key in everything I do. My work and the spaces created by me, are the embodiment of the phrase: “Nothing About us, Without Us” (Charlton 1998).

You cannot look at me without seeing my passion for it all, and the sparkle behind my eyes. It is magical.

Until next time, keep rolling, growing, stimming, moving, shaking, resting, resisting and loving.

Jay Baldwin xx

(they/them)

•   Check out Sins Invalid for further details on the “10 Principles of Disability Justice” (Sins Invalid 2015) and access the book Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression and Empowerment (Charlton 1998) for more information on the Disability Justice/Rights movement, its relevance, and the importance of considering both the individual and collective voices and experiences of Disabled/Mad/Neurodiverse/Chronically ill communities everywhere!

Bibliography

1. Sins Invalid. 2015. “10 Principles of Disability Justice.” Sinsinvalid.org https://sinsinvalid.org/10-principles-of-disability-justice/.

2. Charlton, James I. Nothing about Us without Us: Disability Oppression and Empowerment. 1st ed., University of California Press, 1998, https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520925441.