Colorblind: Say it Loud - I'm Black, Disabled, and Proud
Patrick and Rebecca Cokley are amazing individuals, and there is no question that their actions have helped to spark change and growth within the disability advocacy narrative. However, both also have pushed for inclusive advocacy, such that policy, events, and organizations are truly representative of the disability community. During our chat, Rebecca and Patrick spoke with candor, grace, and humility on intersectionality, the black disabled community, and hopes for the future of civil rights and advocacy. I am so grateful to share our lunch conversation, and I know this will not be the last time I mention either of these two dynamic powerhouses. Thank you. #ADADIRTY30 I am disabled, black, gifted, and proud. Say. My. Name.
It's important that intersectionality be recognized, understood, and prioritized. Living a life as a black woman with a disability means that I am ONE human being feeling as if I must straddle TWO worlds. Guess what? It's exhausting, to say the least. The pressure of wondering which identity I should say first and the difficulty with which I try to frame and conceptualize my existence in a crooked gray room leaves me feeling ephemeral and lost. Why does this matter? Because my story is not unique, in the least. The literacies, experiences, and voices of intersectional identities are muted within social justice movements, posing a dangerous and harmful fracture within in-groups. It's a paradox that continues to require me to tell my story using two different languages. Continuing to comply with the current structure, one of partial framing, causes me to remain a victim to identity trafficking; my advocacy is only recognized if it is bent, shaped, and sharpened to hit a specific social justice group target. This is social injustice, and it must change now. If not, the intersectional identities lost to violence will continue to go forward as partially framed, half narratives - populating an abysmal amount of support and outcry for true inclusive justice. We must recognize and revolutionize our advocacy. We must be responsible, humble, communicative, and empowering of all. If not, we continue to be the siloed silencers on the fatal weapon of ignorance.
Patrick and Rebecca Cokley are amazing individuals, and there is no question that their actions have helped to spark change and growth within the disability advocacy narrative. However, both also have pushed for inclusive advocacy, such that policy, events, and organizations are truly representative of the disability community. During our chat, Rebecca and Patrick spoke with candor, grace, and humility on intersectionality, the black disabled community, and hopes for the future of civil rights and advocacy. 
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