Accessibility and Disability Services and Student Disability Services joins The Mosaic Center and all UMBC partners with honoring Black History Month.
Rediscover how some members of the Black Civil Rights Movement also played essential roles as activists in the US Disability Rights Movement, and paved the way for disability rights activists to influence social change and legislation. Many people with disabilities were part of both movements and continue to be today.
Dr. Sami Schalk presented at UMBC less than a year ago on 504 and Beyond: Disability Politics and the Black Panther Partyvia the Dresher Center - the and co-sponsorship with ADS and I3B.
Some of the intersection of Crip Camp shows how intersectional being black and disabled can be - beyond the Black Panthers. Further back in history, learn new things about the famous Black figures who also had disabilities. For instance, Harriet Tubman lived with epilepsy and narcolepsy, a reminder that disability is both directly and indirectly linked to many forms of violence.
In the links described below, you may rediscover or learn for the first time about Black history being made in this moment, and there is so much to learn from the past. Research forays have been known to start at Brad Lomax, and end up at the Wild Zappers, a DC-based all black all deaf dance company - what new-to-you ancestral influencers and history-makers will become front-of-mind to you? The research of Dr. Stephanie Keeney Parks takes a racially nuanced approach to Autism via In A Different Key. In 2022 Megan Thee Stallion launched a website to support mental health. Haben Girma remains an important advocate for disability inclusion.
Test your knowledge by taking this quiz with the National Black Disability Coalition (NBDC): (link)http://www.blackdisability.org/content/black-disabled-trivia
Important figures in Black History:
· Enter “Black History” plus any disability (i.e. "autism," "dyslexia," etc.) into a search engine and explore more about the intersectionality of disability.
Explore Black History and Disability Rights:
The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) has a great article about the integral role Black disability rights activists played in securing rights for all US citizens with disabilities. (link)https://www.ncld.org/news/honoring-black-history-month-unsung-heroes-of-the-disability-rights-movement/ For more on Brad Lomax, a leader in the 1977 protests that led to the implementation of section 504 of the rehabilitation act, see this NYT obituary (link) https:/www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/obituaries/brad-lomax-overlooked.html
Black Disabled and Proud: College Students with Disabilities is a website by the HBCU Disability Consortium. Their page titled “Black Lives Matter and Disability” speaks to the recent and daily making of Black history as it intersects with disability. (link)https://www.blackdisabledandproud.org/black-lives-matter.html The page includes links to thoughtful articles as well as self-care info.
The Disability Visibility Project’s Black Lives Matter page has podcasts (with transcripts) that explore the individual experiences of people who are actively contributing individually and/or organizing to raise awareness about being Black and having a disability. (link)https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/tag/black-lives-matter/ Click through on the posts and find things like Jen White Johnson’s Black Disability Lives Matter mural (link)https://jenwhitejohnson.com/Black-Disabled-Lives-Matter-Mural-Project
The Zinn Education Project offers Teach The Black Freedom Struggle classes with ASL and transcripts via this link - with the reminder that violence in any format may create disability. If you are looking for UMBC-based disability resources - use these links:
Welcome back, SDS Students!
MDoD NEEDS YOUR HELP!
Please take a few minutes to complete the MDoD survey to help them create the next State Disabilities plan. Tell them what is most important to you.
·What is working?
·What is not working?
·What would you like to see in the future?
They want the plan to reflect your priorities and goals. Give your honest feedback and suggestions for ways to improve the policies and systems that impact Marylanders with disabilities. Share the survey with your friends, family and community! The more input, the better our plan will be!
If you need the survey in an alternative format, please contact Yesheva Kelly, yesheva.kelly@maryland.gov or 410-767-3659.
The Maryland Disabilities 2020-2023 Plan is linked here as a reference
As the “Voice of the Caregiver” the Maryland Commission on Caregiving wants to know more about the experiences of family caregivers in the state and they want your help!
Family caregivers are people who assist adults aged 18 or older with disabilities, illnesses, diseases, or limitations that make it hard for them to take care of themselves. Caregivers help with things like personal care, household chores, managing money, arranging services from others, or regularly visiting to check on how they are doing.
MCoC has developed a 15-minute online and anonymous survey that asks questions about the person being cared for and the caregiver’s knowledge of available programs and priorities for supports and services. If you care for someone, they would appreciate it if you could take the time to complete the survey through the link below. If you aren’t a caregiver but know other caregivers, please consider sharing this information via copy and paste via email to them so they can obtain as many responses as possible.
Results from the survey will be shared publicly with special attention to legislators and the Departments of Human Services, Disabilities, Aging, and Health to improve policies and programs for MD caregivers just like you!
The Caregiver survey will remain open until December 31, 2023.
December 1 is the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities, honoring the United Nation's commitment for promoting the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities - more than 1 billion people worldwide are in this demographic, the world's largest minority. The day raises awareness of the political, economic, social and cultural aspects of disability that affects people around the world.
The theme for 2023 is "united in action to rescue and achieve Sustainable Development Goals for, with and by persons with disabilities. The theme reflects recent consideration of the impacts of COVID-19, climate change, and the invasion Ukraine. More information about the UN Virtual New York Commemoration event, including registration is linked here. To view the December 1 10a-1p activities remotely, click here at that time.