III. Feminist Five

Titled after her able-bodied, identical twin’s nickname The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me is an honest, challenging, and hilarious collection of essays that detail Keah Brown’s life, love, and pop-culture obsessions. As her quote below confirms, Keah Brown uses The Pretty One to push past the need for her cerebral-palsy to be a source of inspiration and instead encourages her readers to see her disability as just one of her many other interesting and powerful traits and accomplishments (including her love for cheesecake!) The Pretty One has received praise from well-known artists and writers like Roxane Gay, Lena Dunam, and Deepak Chopra.

The Pretty One also unpacks Keah Brown’s viral social media campaign #DisabledandCute. Initially a personal hashtag posted by Brown to celebrate her personal journey with self-love, #DisabledandCute has transformed into an online community of disabled people celebrating themselves and proving that “being disabled and being cute aren’t mutually exclusive.” Like most online content created by Black creators, however, #DisabledandCute is occasionally referenced without crediting Keah Brown. So to all of our lovely BALI readers that might want to contribute to the hashtag, make sure to tag her @Keah_Maria!

“Idon’tmindbeinganinspirationifitisforavalidreason, suchasadmiringhowmany slicesofpizzaIate, anessayoranarticleIwrote, myclothingchoices, orhowquicklyIcan learn the lyrics to songs . As long as the inspiration doesn’t come with pity or self-congratulatorypatsontheback, Iamallforit . Letmyloveforcheesecakeinspireyouthe wayitwillonedayinspireanation . Atleastyoucansayyouweretherefirst . - KeahBrown

In addition to being an author, Keah Brown is a notable journalist, actress, and screenwriter. Brown has written for and been featured in established publications including Essence, Cosmopolitan, and Teen Vogue. Keah Brown is also featured in

Tarana Burke and Brené Brown’s transformative anthology You Are Your Best Thing.

This, however, is just the beginning for Keah Brown. In 2022, she will publish her first children’s book, titled Sam’s Super Seats. Illustrated by Sharee Miller, this upcoming book will follow a young girl with cerebral palsy as she goes back to school shopping with her best friends. Though more information has yet to be released, Keah Brown is also set to publish a book geared towards young adults in the next few years. Brown has big dreams when it comes to television, many of which have already been accomplished, but for now, we should all take the time to read her extensive works and wait to see what she does next!