Please join us in attending the virtual University of Maryland Disability Summit  that helps us carry disability inclusion forward while we navigate new realms of accessibility and many disability issues that the pandemic made plain. This free conference will  help build the momentum of access and inclusion, especially in crisis. There are many skills that we need to carry into the "new normal" which must center intersectional applications of racial and disability justice. 

The 4th University of Maryland (UMD) Disability Summit will be held April 12th-14th, 2021 via Twitch, YouTube, Livestream, and Zoom. The goal of the summit is to bring focus to and promote discussion of key current events and research impacting disability in society.

Accessibility and Disability Service and Student Disability Services highlight 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. 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.

In the links described below, we hope you may find information you will be happy to rediscover or learn for the first time. Black history is being made this moment, and there is an endless amount to learn from the past. A little time spent exploring Black history this month may lead you in enlightening directions. While researching this post, I started at (link)Brad Lomax, and ended up at the (link)Wild Zappers, a DC-based all black all deaf dance company.

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:

• National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) has a Black History Bio for each day of February: (link)https://www.ndrn.org/resource/disability-rights-in-black/
• On the website for Respect Ability, an advocacy organization, you can find an article featuring the experiences and voices of current African-American celebrities who have disabilities. (link)https://www.respectability.org/2018/02/highlighting-african-americans-disabilities-honor-black-history-month/
• Learn about Black History heroes who are or were deaf or blind: (link)https://dcmp.org/learn/203-black-history-month

·       Google “Black History” plus any disability (i.e. "autism," "dyslexia," etc.) and find something to share. Add it to the comments at the end of this post.

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

More UMBC posts and events are going up over the course of the month. Please keep looking. Here are a few to check out at UMBC:

LSAMP at UMBC has a great post that spans Black History, education history and today. (link)https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/lsamp/posts/99034

The UMBC Women’s Center posted on “Black Women in History from A to Z.” Their first on the list is Audre Lorde, a black poet, activist and scholar who lived with the effects of breast cancer from 1978 until her death in 1992. Her writings about identity have influenced most social justice movements in the US and beyond, including the disability rights movement and scholarly critical disability studies. (link)https:/my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/womenscenter/posts/98941

UMBC’s own Dr. George Derek Musgrove launched a website on February 1, 2021 that documents the history of Black Power in Washington DC. The department will host a discussion event with Dr. Musgrove on February 25th, at noon. (link)https:/my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/history/posts/98905

A photo of two black young women with their hair in white headbands at a 1960's era protest  with one larger sign behind them reading "Martyr Medgar Evers" and a poem that begins "The Black Man Fell and helpless lay,/ A Gaping Wound upon his back,/ A Witness to the Savage Way,/ A Beast Had Made His Foul Attack...." accompanies this post. Photo credit: Unseen Histories downloaded from Unsplash.com

Facilities Management and the Office of Accessibility and Disability Services are hosting a review of recent, current and potential construction projects that enhance accessibility, improve the physical environment of UMBC, and benefit the entire community while supporting accessibility for people with disabilities. 

Come see the progress made during remote work, new projects on the horizon, and share ideas to inform the proposal process for UMBC's continued participation with the AccessMD Program.  We do provide updates beyond the scope of the program as well.

Post event addition: If you missed the event, a recording is available via this link.

Please RSVP via the event website below for any interim communications and save the Webex link. 

Questions about, and ideas for accessibility-enhancing projects may be submitted  prior to the event here. The campus accessible route map is linked here for remote reference. 

Captioning will be provided.  ASL interpretation is available upon request. Contact the host, slazar@umbc.edu  for ASL connection details, event questions, access needs or any accommodation request

Ideas for additional projects may arise at any time, and we would like to hear about them. Contact Celso Guitian in Campus Planning via cguitian@umbc.edu and Stephanie Lazarus, ADA/Section 504 Coordinator via slazar@umbc.edu / 410-455-5745.  Bring UMBC accessibility concerns to our attention via this linked reporting form. Tawny McManus, Assistant Vice Provost for Accessibility & Disability Services will also be on the panel for the event.

A photo of a UMBC accessible route way-finding sign with two directional arrows above a white-on-dark brown wheelchair/step-free accessibility icon illustrates the post.

Please see the attached diagram depicting the extents of the work and impacts to campus described above. Visit the Facilities Management website for additional information about this and other University projects.

Accessibility is part of the design process, and we work in partnership with Accessibility and Disability Services which supports faculty, staff, students and visitors with disabilities. If you have a concern about accessibility, or want to inquire about a disability-based accommodation, please do so through their website.

Thank you for your patience as we work to maintain and enhance the UMBC campus.

December 3rd is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, honoring the United Nation's commitment for promoting the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. The day raises awareness of the political, economic, social and cultural aspects of disability that affects people around the world.