Month and speaking about all the ways in which we are oppressed. Black disabled people are fought and murdered by the police at higher rates than non disabled Black people. Black disabled people have been constantly erased from history, and so that’s why I think it’s essential for Black disabled people to be centered in these conversations so we can honour our Black disabled ancestors who paved the way. Black disabled people exist and it’s time to start putting it to the forefront as no one is untouched from disability. I struggled a long time with the idea of Black disabled pride because being Black in itself is already a minority, and so it’s almost natural to want to dissociate from the reality of being doubly oppressed. All the more so I think it’s important to include prominent Black disabled figures specifically during Black History Month as to rid that erasure and let more pride come to the surface. I am really proud to identify as Black and deaf/ disabled. I am so proud of my identity because I am layered, complex, brilliant, I have so much lived experience to bring to the table and so much wisdom and knowledge to execute to others. And even with this heightened self-esteem, I still have my moments, but it gets easier as you grow more comfortable in your skin. I look back at my childhood and I had really big colourful earmoulds, and I feel tremendous pride and love to know that I proudly wore them. Being able to look back at that innocent confidence, even with what I know now to be true about the harsh realities of the world, if I could do it then, I can do it even better now. Flaunt yourself. Definitely. 100%. I was doing some research around you and I read a statement you made about the power of infographics and data visualization to enhance your messaging. So that’s what I’m learning right now in school with the program I am in. I wanted to conduct research specifically with deaf 186 // DISABLED PEOPLE: THE VOICE OF MANY.
and hard of hearing students examine what accommodations that they need, the accommodations that are being provided, how many are involved in the public education system, to begin with. Oftentimes, they’re very separated from mainstream education as they have deaf and hard of hearing schools and programs. I was mainstreamed my entire life and oftentimes I was the only one with hearing aids in the class. That basically meant that everyday I walked into class, I had to give away so much of my brain power to teach and remind educators about my accommodations only for it to hardly be followed through, which to me, I think is absolutely unacceptable. So I want to research more into the segregation that we deaf and hard of hearing people experience in education and I want to take all of the various research topics and convey it in a way that is comprehensible to the majority and that makes people care. And I can leave that for the infographics to portray a rather creative visual. And so when you’re having these conversations and making different outputs, are you, would you say, personally positioned within it? Yeah. I definitely include and use my lived experience as one of my biggest assets because that’s another thing I wanted to be centered in my movement. Our experience matters and oftentimes disability justice/ advocacy circles, spaces and organizations are not lead by disabled people. I find it extremely ironic that able-bodied people will work at an organization catered to accessibility and disability justice but yet fail to provide such opportunities to the people they allege to be fighting for. It’s a complete contradiction. Many able-bodied people enter this field of work for the wrong reasons, and not because they actually care about the evolvement of a marginalized community. We are the experts on our lives; we’re the experts on our needs and what works for us based on our experiences rooted in ableism and